Portrait of Rahat Zakheli
Rahat Zakheli Unknown photographer, via Safia Haleem · All rights reserved · Image source ↗ (opens in a new window)

Modern · Pioneering prose and poetry

Rahat Zakheli

راحت زاخیلي

A poet, journalist, translator, and pioneer of modern Pashto prose who also produced two poetry collections.

Life and work

Introduction

Sayyid Rahatullah Rahat Zakheli was a poet, writer, and journalist born in Azakhel Bala, Nowshera, in 1883. He played an important role in publishing the Pashto weekly Afghan from 1911.

Rahat holds a pioneering place in the development of the Pashto novel, short story, journalism, and translation. He also produced two poetry collections and rendered Iqbal's Shikwa and Jawab-e-Shikwa into Pashto verse.

A founder of modern Pashto prose and journalism and an early representative of realist poetry.

Sources

Biographical references

Recorded works

Poems

Books and editions

Bibliography