Letter from Shahryar Rashed

Rashed, Shahryar. Letter from Shahryar Rashed. To Noori, Mohammad Fakhrul Haq. Aug. 6, 1993. 5 pp. 5 sheets. 7.5 x 10. Handwritten. Letter from Shahryar Rashed sent to Mr. Mohammad Fakhrul Haq Noori, Shohba-e-Urdu at Oriental College, Punjab University, Lahore. He addresses him as "Prof. Noori." He confirms that he received Prof Noori's letter dated 16 July 1993 about his work on the "Noon Meem Project" and Shahryar expresses his apologies about not being able to assist him in any way. He explains that part of the reason why he has been unable to help is because his job has him moving from place to place, so even now the materials that could have been helpful are stored away in Holland. He elaborates that his association with his father was limited to his youth, and even then he can only provide something to the effect of reminescences. Most of these reminisces can be found in Dr. Aftab Ahmad's book "Noon Meem Rashed: Fann aur shakhsiyyat." Shahryar also encloses a copy of M.A.R. Habib's publication "The Dissident Voice: Poems of N.M. Rashed." He then names several people he believes will be better equipped to help Prof. Noori, including Mr. Ijaz Batalvi, bar-at-law, Justice Ataullah Sajad, Justice Yaqub Ali Khan, Mrs. Sheila Angelini Rashed, Munir Niazi, Ahmed Faraz, and Zia Mohyeddin. He writes that the most important respect of Rashed's relationship to his children were his sense of responsibility. He tried his best to keep the family together after the children's mother, his first wife, passed away. He recalls how Rashed encouraged his children to be independent-minded, so when Shahryar visited Tehran in 1972 and wanted to explore by himself, Rashed made all the arrangements for him to safely get around himself. For Shahryar's sisters, he encouraged them to get good jobs and education before they got married. Rashed's first wife passed away in 1960 after which he married Sheila, Tamzin's teacher, in 1964. Rashed had a very affectionate relationship with his youngest son Nazeil, but Shahryar writes that he opted out of the family early so he was not able to benefit from Rashed's advice. He writes that Rashed was secretly proud of his son's decisions. He writes that he was prone to losing his temper if someone was behaving irrationally, and although he never showed affection, his children knew he loved them. When Shahryar showed him some poems in high school, he remarked that there were a few good lines but they were bad poems in all, so he was always very straightforward. He encouraged his children to spend money wisely, but never liked to impose on anyone, and on visits to Pakistan would opt for staying at hotels rather than in a relative's home. He was very fond of chess, and spent many hours playing the game with his own father. Shahryar recalls that when her mother passed away from a thrombosis which occured from a wrongly administered intramuscular injection, Rashed was playing chess. He was a fair person who believed "life must be taken by the horns." He also liked to make jokes and play little pranks. While he disciplined his children moderately, with his own discipline he was "ruthless", as Shahryar remembers it. He was an incise and keen thinker, who was innately curious about the world around him, which made him an enthusiastic learner. Shahryar describes him as "non-ideological" particularly after his disappointment with the Khaksar Movement. Shahryar wonders whether his war-time travels as a Captain in the British Imperial Army sparked his belief in the futility of ideological confrontation. He describes Rashed as a universalist. He concludes by recalling how Rashed always made time for his children no matter how busy he was, and apologises again that he did not have any more documents to share. English. Box 1. Folder 17: Sheila interviews and book donations. 001. Digitized by Zain Mian. Catalogued by Alainah Aamir. Donated (2015) by Yasmin Rashed Hassan to the Institute of Islamic Studies. Full item here.