Parveen Shakir (pronounced [ˈpəɾʋiːn ʃɑːkɪɾ]; 24 November 1952 – 26 December 1994) was a Pakistani poet and civil servant of the government of Pakistan. She is best known for her poems, which brought a distinctive feminine voice to Urdu literature.
Since her death in a road accident when she was only 42, the "Parveen Shakir Urdu Literature Festival" has been held every year in Islamabad in her memory.
Shakir was born as Syeda Parveen Bano on 24 November 1952 into a Shia Syed family in Karachi, Pakistan. Her father Shakir Hussain Saqib, also a poet, was from Laheriasarai in the Darbhanga district of Bihar and had migrated to Karachi after the partition of India.
She received two undergraduate degrees, one in English literature and the other in linguistics (from Sir Syed Government Girls College), and obtained MA degrees in the same subjects from the University of Karachi. She also held a PhD, and another MA degree in Bank Administration.
In 1982, Shakir qualified for the Central Superior Services (CSS) Examination. In 1991, she obtained an MA degree in public administration from Harvard University.
Shakir started writing at a very young age. She wrote both prose and poetry, contributed columns in Urdu newspapers, and a few articles in English dailies. Initially, she wrote under the pen-name "Beena".
After teaching for nine years, she joined the Civil Service of Pakistan in October 1982 and worked in the customs department. In 1986, she was appointed second secretary of the Central Board of Revenue (now Federal Board of Revenue) in Islamabad, Pakistan.
In 1976, Shakir published her first volume of poetry Khushbu (Fragrance) to great acclaim. She was awarded one of the highest honours of Pakistan, the Pride of Performance, for her outstanding contributions to literature. She subsequently published other volumes of poetry including Sad-barg (Marsh Marigold) in 1980, and Khud Kalāmi (Soliloquy) and Inkār (Denial) in 1990. These poetry books are collected in Māh-e-Tamām (Full Moon). She also published a collection of her newspaper columns, titled Gosha-e-Chashm (Corner of the Eye). Kaf-e-Āina (The Mirror's Edge) was released posthumously with works from her diaries and journals.
On 26 December 1994, Shakir's car collided with a truck while she was on her way to work in Islamabad. The accident resulted in her death.
The road on which the accident took place is named after her as Parveen Shakir Road in sector F-7 Islamabad.
The two main styles she wrote in were ghazal and āzād nazm (free verse) where she utilized several literary techniques and examined delicate topics to create a full image of the female experience.
Shakir's ghazliāt are considered "a combination of classical tradition with modern sensitivity", and mainly deal with the feminine perspective on love and romance, and associated themes such as beauty, intimacy, separation, break-ups, distances, distrust, infidelity and disloyalty.
Most of Shakir's ghazliāt contain five to ten couplets, often interrelated. Sometimes, two consecutive couplets may differ greatly in meaning and context, an example of this can be noted in the following couplets:
The ghazliāt rely heavily on metaphors and similes, which are repeatedly and thought-provokingly used to bring force and lyricism in her works. A fine example of this is seen in one of her most famous couplets:
Here, Shakir relates fragrance to an unfaithful lover, air to the unfaithful person's secret loves, and flower to the person being cheated. Other metaphors Shakir commonly uses are titlī (butterfly) for a Romeo, bādal (cloud) for one's love, bārish (rain) for affection, āṅdhī (storm) for difficulties and chāṅd (moon) for loneliness. An example with the central theme of loneliness using the moon as a metaphor is:
Some of her ghazliāt have gained iconic status in Urdu literature. Another notable couplet that is often quoted to comment on the often surprising knowledge and awareness of the younger generation is:
Compared to her ghazliāt, Shakir's free verse is much bolder and explores social issues and taboos, including gender inequality, discrimination, patriotism, deceit, prostitution, the human psyche, and current affairs. It is written in a way which was and is still considered modern in Pakistan.
Other than topics of femininity and female sexuality, Shakir also used free verse to write about topics related to economic disparities and the tendency of society to exploit the weak and poor. Several of her poems lament the harsh reality that many low-income laborers around the world face. For example, her poem "Steel Mills Worker" speaks about the deplorable conditions and long hours workers find themselves doing every day. The poem also describes how these workers are taken for granted and used as a means to an end by those who employ them. The last lines of the poem paint this stark picture vividly.