اسلامی تہذیب، شعر و ادب اور آج کی دنیا Islāmī Taḥzeeb, Sh’er-o Adab aur Äj kī Duniya
Annemarie Schimmel
Mehr Afshan Farooqi
DOI:10.5281/zenodo.16536427
Abstract. Abstract. This is the Urdu translation of a speech delivered to an assembly of writers, publishers, and public officials, including the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Roman Herzog. The occasion was the awarding of the German Book Trade’s annual Peace Prize to Annemarie Schimmel. The speech was translated from German and published in the London-based weekly, Q-News. When the announcement of the Peace Prize for Schimmel was made in April 1995, approximately two hundred German and European intellectuals protested, claiming that she supported so-called Islamic fundamentalism. However, many other groups and individuals in Germany and beyond came to her defense, dismissing the malicious claims against her. JUST was among the organizations that submitted a petition to the German government on her behalf. Professor Annemarie Schimmel is recognized as one of the leading German scholars of Islam.
Keywords. Annemarie Schimmel
Works cited:
Jaffer, Nina. A Good Word Is Like a Good Tree by Annemarie Schimmel. www.amaana.org/articles/schimtree.htm.
شمل، این میری۔ اسلامی تہذیب، شعر و ادب اور آج کی دنیا۔ شب خون، جولائی 1997، 48-42۔
Prof. Annemarie Schimmel (1922-2003) was one of the leading experts on Islamic literature and mysticism (Sufism) in the world. She wrote more than 80 books and essays, and lectured at universities and conferences around the world. Professor Schimmel’s teaching posts included Ankara University, the University of Bonn, and Harvard University. Her writings include translations into English and German from works in Persian, Urdu, Arabic and Turkish, as well as studies of Muslim saints, Sufism, and Islamic literature. Her book Mystical Dimensions of Islam (1975) is considered a classic in its field (Source: http://www.worldwisdom.com/public/authors/Annemarie-Schimmel.aspx).
Prof. Mehr Afshan Farooqi is an esteemed scholar, critic, translator, and columnist, currently serving as Associate Professor of Urdu and South Asian Literature at the University of Virginia. Born and raised in Allahabad, India, she distinguished herself academically early on—graduating from Allahabad University with multiple gold medals and later earning her Ph.D. there.Her research centers on literary modernity, bilingual creativity, and the intersections of religion, language, and culture in Urdu literary traditions. A particular focus of her scholarship is the work of the pivotal critic and writer Muhammad Hasan Askari. Her first major monograph, Urdu Literary Culture: Vernacular Modernity in the Writing of Muhammad Hasan Askari (2012), later republished in India as The Postcolonial Mind (2013), earned critical acclaim. In 2008, she edited The Oxford India Anthology of Modern Urdu Literature, a comprehensive two-volume collection that remains a touchstone in Urdu studies. Her more recent scholarly endeavor is Ghalib: A Wilderness at My Doorstep (Penguin Allen Lane, 2021), a critical biography and textual exploration of Mirza Ghalib’s poetry, including his unpublished or “rejected” verses. An accomplished translator, Farooqi has brought Urdu poetry and fiction—especially the ghazal tradition—into English through both her translations and original critical commentary. She is also a regular columnist for Dawn, where she discusses historical and contemporary Urdu literary culture.
At the University of Virginia, she continues to nurture diverse interests, teaching and researching bilingual literature across Urdu, Hindi, and English, with a keen interest in translation, modernism, and literary history. Beyond academia, she is known personally as a passionate gardener, animal lover, and poetry enthusiast—particularly devoted to the ghazals of Ghalib and Mir.
Email: maf5y@virginia.edu
اسلامی تہذیب، شعر و ادب اور آج کی دنیا Islāmī Taḥzeeb, Sh’er-o Adab aur Äj kī Duniya © 2025 by Annemarie Schimmel Mehr Afshan Farooqi is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
