Iftekhar Raghib, a well-known Urdu poet of Indian origin living in Qatar, has published his fourth book – an anthology of Urdu ghazals (sonnets) named Yaani Tu (That is, you). An engineer by profession, Raghib’s earlier three books had received multiple accolades from the Urdu-speaking community in the country.
Sharing details of the new Urdu poetry book with Community, Irshad Ahmed, Bazm-e-Urdu Qatar (BUQ) media secretary, said that Raghib’s new book has 148 pages and contains 77 fresh Urdu ghazals, a popular form of poetry in Urdu. The book was published by Arshia Publications, a leading publisher from New Delhi. 
Ahmed said that Raghib is a native of eastern Indian state of Bihar. He graduated from Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi and has been living in Qatar since 1999, working with Arab Engineering Bureau (AEB), a well-reputed consultancy firm in Qatar, since 2005.
The BUQ media secretary further noted, “Raghib, a Civil Engineer by profession, is currently a project manager at AEB and has dedicated the book to CEO and Chief Architect of AEB, Ibrahim Mohammad Jaidah.”
Besides the sweet ghazals written by Iftekhar Raghib, the new book includes well-thought essays, both in Urdu and English. The essays point out hidden beauty of the poet’s work in his latest book and have been written by Dr Hasan Raza, the president of Idara Adab-e-Islami Hind; Dr Faisal Hanif, Chairman of Bazm-e-Urdu Qatar (BUQ) and the president of Guzergah-e-Khayal Forum; and Foziya Rabab, a young and dynamic Urdu poetess from Goa, India. The English essay has been written by Karachi-based prominent Pakistani poet Shamsul Ghani.
Praising Raghib’s achievements, Ahmed added, “The poet has been playing an important and active role in promotion of Urdu language and literature in Qatar. He has successfully represented Qatar’s Urdu community several times outside the country in his capacity as an Urdu poet. He is voluntarily associated with many Urdu organisations. Since 2010, he is serving as general secretary to the BUQ.”
The BUQ media secretary said that Raghib’s earlier three poetry collections – Lafzon Mein Ehsas (Emotions in Words), Khayal Chehra (Face of Imagination) and Ghazal Darakht (Chandelier of Ghazal) – have received huge appreciation throughout the Urdu world. 
The publishers anticipate that Raghib’s fourth book Yaani Tu (That, is You) will be received with warmth by Urdu readers and poetry lovers. The book is also available as Android app together with the other three books, free of charge. The name of the app on the Google Play store is Iftekhar Raghib – Urdu Poetry.
Talking about the BUQ, Ahmed said that the Bazm is the oldest organisation in Qatar working for the promotion of Urdu. Established in 1959, the Bazm has been organising events to promote Urdu regularly. 
“Conducting mushaira (recitation of poetry) has been a regular feature of the BUQ. The organisation mainly promotes young poets to come up and share their works with Urdu speaking audience in Qatar. A good number of people will always attend the mushaira as we often conduct the shows on weekends,” said Irshad Ahmed.
Iftekhar Raghib, being the general secretary of BUQ, always attends the mushaira. Ahmed hoped that the new book will help attract even more people to BUQ’s mushaira gatherings. 
“The most loved activity of the BUQ has been holding of programmes on Mirza Ghalib, a great Urdu poet. Young poets and poetry lovers have been giving the programme a greater appreciation and attention,” Ahmed said.
While acknowledging the fact that the promotion of Urdu in Qatar is a rather difficult task – with Arabic and English being the dominant languages – Ahmed said, “We are, however, not hopeless and will not give up trying.”