Poets

Ada Jafri (Urdu: ادا جعفری) real name Aziz Jahan, born in 1924 in Badayun, India, was a Pakistani poet who is regarded as the first major Urdu poet who published as a woman and had been called "The First Lady of Urdu Poetry". She entered in poetry world as Ada Badayuni but after her marriage adopted Ada Jafri. She was without a doubt the first female poet from Pakistan who became famous in male dominated poetic world. The expressive value of her poetic art made her a prominent figure in contemporary Urdu literature.


Birth and Early Life

Ada Jafarey was born in Badayun, UP, India on August 22, 1926 and was named Aziz Jehan by her mother. Ada was born in a traditional society where women were not allowed to think and express independently, but she was bold enough to express herself without inhibitions. Her poetic quest, which now spans over seven decades, started when she wrote her first verse at the age of 9 years. Encouragement in her childhood and early youth from her mother and then, after marriage, from her husband Nurul Hasan Jafarey kept her literary spark going.

Poetic Art

Her individuality was not without social consciousness. She made herself invisible from the art of poetic construction. Her personality was absent from her poetry. Her early life was spent in jealously-guarded boundaries.

Naturally, tradition was ingrained in her personality, but her individual talent could not surrender itself completely and she sta..