{"id":13300,"date":"2025-07-11T12:05:34","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T12:05:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=13300"},"modified":"2025-07-11T12:05:34","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T12:05:34","slug":"esteemed-urdu-scholar-cm-naim-dies-at-age-89-after-dedicating-his-life-to-the-language","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=13300","title":{"rendered":"Esteemed Urdu scholar CM Naim dies at age 89 after dedicating his life to the language"},"content":{"rendered":"
Renowned Urdu scholar, author and translator CM Naim died at age 89 on Wednesday in Chicago, his family has told the press.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Naim\u2019s love for Urdu literature was evident in the nearly 60 years he dedicated to painstakingly restore the language he feared was falling out of favour for good in the subcontinent. Born in Barabanki, he attended Lucknow University, followed by the University of California, Berkeley. In 1961, Naim joined the faculty of the Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago. Years later, he later chaired the department from 1985 to 1991. He remained associated with the university until 2001. As a mark of the impact of his decades of teaching, Naim was conferred the title of Professor Emeritus.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Naim\u2019s extensive bibliography comprises a large collection of research publications, translations, and articles. His notable 1989 essay Two Days in Palestine for the New York monthly magazine The Message International (with the title later being changed to In the Eye of the Intifada, A Muslim\u2019s Journey to the Land of Oppression) still resonates today, over three-and-a-half decades after it was written.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Experts in the field widely agree that among Naim\u2019s most memorable work is his article on Hasrat Mohani titled The Maulana who Loved Krishna, published in Economic & Political Weekly in 2013, as well as his biographies of Mir Taqi Mir and Mirza Ghalib.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Scholars leave tribute<\/p>\n

As per the Indian Express, Naim\u2019s unique approach towards making Urdu approachable to everyone left an indelible mark on the global literary landscape.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was so much knowledge, understanding and research, but also it was so accessible,\u201d said Indian classical singer Vidya Rao, who was also commissioning editor for Urdu Crime Fiction,1890-1950: An Informal History (2023). \u201cHe was not writing for just a small group of people. He was reaching out to people who may not be scholars.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like so many others who had enjoyed a professional relationship with Naim, Rao fondly recalled the impact of his efforts to ensure the Urdu language remained entrenched within the hearts and minds of those who call it their mother tongue.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHis work was not just on literary studies, but actually on the Urdu language, its history and the cultural world, which is very important because otherwise we tend to see a language as separate from the lived life of the people,\u201d Rao stressed.<\/p>\n

As per the publication, Khalid Alvi, Naim\u2019s close friend and former professor at Zakir Husain Delhi College, agreed with Rao\u2019s fond memories of the late Urdu scholar. Commenting on Naim\u2019s commitment to shining the spotlight on the language, Alvi recalled,\u00a0 \u201cHe was someone who would write about people and things that one would otherwise overlook. He was the person who brought people like Munshi Tirath Ram Ferozpuri and Mirza Fida Ali Khanjar Lakhnawi \u2014 who had written early detective fiction in Urdu \u2014 to the forefront.\u201d<\/p>\n

Noting that Naim\u2019s expertise was not limited to merely allowing other writers to shine, Alvi added, \u201cHe also wrote about Zafar Umar, an IPS officer who took to writing after tragically losing a limb. [He also] wrote about how one of Umar\u2019s stories, Neeli Chhatri, was named after his home in Aligarh.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Naim\u2019s contributions were not limited to the subcontinent; his legacy includes his wealth of influence left behind in the global West for those whose heritage includes the Urdu language.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had a multinational personality. He didn\u2019t teach literature, but language –\u00a0because he knew that language was the foundation,\u201d noted fellow Urdu scholar Khalid Jawed, who had met with Naim in a professional capacity at the University of Virginia and Princeton University. \u201cHe had of course written, translated and edited several classical Urdu texts, but his contribution can be felt deeply in the way he shaped three generations of Urdu-speaking people in the US.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

With his endeavours and passion for preserving the Urdu language, Naim entrenched himself in the hearts and minds of those he encountered throughout his professional life. Professor, historian and author Esmat Elhalaby summed it up best with the tribute he left to the late scholar on X: \u201cPeace to the great CM Naim (1936 \u2013 2025). When I started studying Urdu I started reading everything he ever wrote, and haven’t stopped.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Have something to add to the story? Share it in the comments below.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Renowned Urdu scholar, author and translator CM Naim died at age 89 on Wednesday in Chicago, his family has told the press.\u00a0 Naim\u2019s love for Urdu literature was evident in the nearly 60 years he dedicated to painstakingly restore the language he feared was falling out of favour for good in the subcontinent. Born in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13300"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13300\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}