This past month marked the 27th death anniversary of the renowned poet, thinker, and translator Moniruddin Yusuf. He became widely popular in the Indian subcontinent after he translated Persian poet Ferdowsi’s epic Shahnama into Bangla language.
He was awarded Ekushay Padak in 1999 posthumously for his contribution to Bangla literature and the Bangla language. Other than Ekushay Padak, he was awarded Governor’s Award (1968) Habib Bank Literary Award (1968) and Abul Mansur Ahmed Literary Award (1985).
Apart from Shahnama, he also translated Rumi’s Masnabi and Iqbal’s collection of poems.
He also wrote a number of biographies. Of them, the biographies of the prophet Muhammad, his daughter Fatima and his youngest wife Aisha are notable.
Moniruddin Yusuf was a person of multiple talents.
His books on Islam have greatly contributed to the Islamic literature in Bangla language. In addition, his translation works have contributed to the Bangla literature as a whole.
In a way, he has unique contributions to Bangla language in that he wrote an entire book tackling the influences of mysticism in Bangla literature titled ‘Influences of Sufism in Bangla literature.’
He was a foresighted thinker and wrote several books which address the socio-political situation of the country.
His last two novels ‘Ponsher Kata’ and ‘Or Boyosh Jokhon Egaro’ were inspired by the 1971 Liberation War and the post war situation.
