A personal web-site of this nature can, perhaps, do just as well without a formal foreword. Afterall, there is not much I can say about my own web-site! To say that it showcases my literaray endeavors would be stating the obvious to very small purpose. However, there are a couple of important things that do need to be mentioned here.

This web-site represents the labor of friendship and goodwill on the part of my friend Younus Khan of the Urdu site www.mushaira.org. Unbeknownst to me, he not only skillfuly designed this site in all its complexities but, one fine evening, gifted it to me out of the blue as a token of his affection and friendship. Needless to say I was totally surprised and wonderously delighted! As I, a complete novice at this art, explore the intricacies of the workings of the site and wonder at the depth and power of its many features, I can only guess and marvel in awe and admiration at the time and effort that Younus must have expended in its design and preparation. I wish to extend to him my heartfelt gratitude and thanks for this wonderful gift!

The web-site itself is divided in two sections- Urdu and Roman Urdu (a euphemism for Urdu written in English script). This is an Urdu literary site and, therefore, the need for its presentation in Urdu is obvious.

Roman Urdu is designed for those of my readers who may not know Urdu or may not be quite fluent in it. Since most of the lovers of Urdu poetry and literature do no possess Urdu software and many of the Urdu sites do not yet accept postings in the Urdu script, Roman Urdu has become the :language of choice: on these sites. Moreover, there are a large number of Urdu enthusiasts whose mother tongue is not Urdu. The use of Roman Urdu caters to their love of the language and its poetry. Thus, Roman Urdu definitely has a place in the Urdu sites on the net.

The scheme of transliteration used in the Roman Urdu section of this site was developed by me and is presented in the Urdu as well as English portions of the "Articles" section of the web-site. It is hoped that this sceme will be found to be easy and helpful in the understanding of the site-contents. The scheme was designed to be particularly useful for transliteration between Urdu and Roman and the reader should have little difficulty in the comprehension of the intricacies of Urdu diction and lexicology thru this device.

This site represents almost six decades of my literary efforts. I would try to delineate my literay progression by giving dates where deemeed necessary. Needless to say that it will not be possible always to define the chronology of all of my work. It is perhaps unnecessary also!

I owe a heartfelt word of love and gratitude to my wife Qaisar Razi who has been my inspiration thru a lifetime of literary effort. If it were not for her selfless devotion and encouragement I would not have been half as prolific or successful in my endeavors at writing. To her I dedicate this site in love and in gratitude!

Sarwar Alam Raz "Sarwar"
February 20, 2005

============================================================
Harf-e-Awwal:

ek Zaatee web-site ke liYe Ghaaliba" kisee tamheed yaa deebaacheh kee Z^aroorat naheeN hai. aaKhir maiN is ke muta,a'lliq keh bh`ee kyaa saktaa hooN siwaaYe is ke keh yahaaN meree she'ree aur adabee taKhleeqaat pesh kee gayee haiN? ph`ir bh`ee do ek baateN aisee aham haiN keh in kaa likh`naa munaasib bal.k ashad Z^arooree hai.

yeh web-site mere a'zeez dost Younus Khan (www.mushaira.org) kee muHabbat aur dost-nawaazee kaa jeetaa jaagtaa cuboot hai. unhoN ne meree laa-i'lmee meN baalaa hee baalaa yeh KhoobSoorat site apnee tamaam jalwah-t^araaziyoN ke saath` sajaa aur banaa kar ek din mujh` ko tuHfeh meN a't^aa kar diyaa aur maiN masarrat aur Hairat se dekh`taa kaa dekh`taa reh gayaa! maiN computer ke rumooz se Khaal-Khaal hee waaqif hooN likin jaise jaise is site kee muKhtalif karishmah-saaziyaaN mujh` par a'yaaN hotee jaatee haiN meree Hairat meN iZ^aafah hotaa jaataa hai aur Younus kee meHnat aur muHabbat kaa iHtiraam mere dil meN baRhtaa hee chalaa jaataa hai. maiN is teHreer se un kaa shukriyah adaa karnaa apnaa ek nihaayat Khush-gawaar farZ^ samajh`taa hooN aur un ke Haq meN dua'a-e-Khair kaa t^aalib hooN!

yeh site do HiSSoN meN munqasim hai: (1) Urdu (2) Roman Urdu

Urdu ke jawaaz meN kuch` kehnaa teHSeel-e-laaHaaSil hai. z^aahir hai keh maiN Urdu meN likh`taa hooN to meraa site bh`ee Urdu meN hee ho gaa! reh gayee Roman Urdu to internet kee Urdu meHfiloN kee maujhoodah Soorat ke pesh-e-naz^ar Roman meN likh`naa naa-guzeer hai. internet par Urdu kaa beshtar kaam Roman meN hee ho rahaa hai. is se un Urdu-dost logoN kee adabee tashaffee kaa saamaan muhayyaa hotaa hai jo yaa to Urdu se naa-waaqif haiN yaa jin kee Urdu kamzor hai.

yahaaN Roman Urdu kitaabat kaa jo niz^aam ista'maal kiyaa gayaa hai woh maiN ne hee murattab kiyaa hai. is niz^aam kee t^afSeelaat isee site par :maZ^aameeN: ke teHt ("Roman Urdu kaa ek jaame' niz^aam") dekh`ee jaa saktee haiN.

is site par pesh kee gayee taKhleeqaat kam-o-besh 55-56 saaloN kee meHnat aur mashq-e-suKhan kee aa,eenah-daar haiN. ummeed hai keh har shaa,iq-e-Urdu ko apnee pasand kaa kuch` nah kuch` saamaan yahaaN mil jaaYe gaa.

ab tak meree nau (9) kitaabeN shaa,e' ho chukee haiN jin meN GhazaloN ke teen (3) majmooe' shaamil haiN. maiN ne kaheeN kaheeN apnee taKhleeqaat par taareeKh-e-ishaa,a't bh`ee likh` dee hai. is se mere adabee irtiqaa kaa andaazah ho saktaa hai. yeh kehne kee Z^aroorat naheeN hai keh har taKhleeq par us kee taareeKh denaa naa-mumkin hai. aur shaayad is kee Z^aroorat bh`ee naheeN hai!

aaKhir meN yeh meraa intihaayee Khush-gawaar fareeZ^ah hai keh maiN apnee shareek-e-Hayaat "Qaisar Razi" kaa dilee shukriyah adaa karooN. agar un kee muHabbat, eecaar aur madad meree shaareek-e-Haal nah hoN to maiN apnee adabee koshishoN meN kabh`ee kaamyaab naheeN ho saktaa th`aa!

maiN yeh web-site isee jaZbah-e-tashakkur-o-muHabbat ke e'tiraaf meN QAISAR RAZI kee muHabbatoN ke naam mansoob kartaa hooN:

afsaanah ban nah jaaYe kaheeN baat raaz kee
yooN muKhtaSar Hikaayat-e-naaz-o-niyaaz kee! (Raz Chandpuri)

Sarwar A. Raz "Sarwar"