Afzal Ahmed Syed

Afzal Ahmed Syed (افضال احمد سيد) is a contemporary Urdu poet and translator based in Pakistan, who is known for his mastery of both classical and modern Urdu poetic expression.

Born in Ghazipur, British India, in 1946, Afzal Ahmed Syed has lived since 1976 in Karachi, Pakistan, where he worked as an entomologist until his retirement in 2005. He is the author of the modern nazm collections چھينی ہوئ تاريخ (An Arrogated Past, 1984), دو زبانوں ميں سزاۓ موت (Death Sentence in Two Languages, 1990), and روکوکو اور دوسری دنيائيں (Rococo and Other Worlds, 2000). Another collection of classical ghazals is titled خيمہُ سياہ (The Dark Pavilion, 1988).

Syed's poetry was anthologized in An Evening of Caged Beasts: Seven Postmodernist Urdu Poets (New York: OUP, 1999). The Wesleyan University Press Poetry Series has published a selection of Syed's poetry in translation, titled Rococo and Other Worlds in 2010, which features poetry from his three Urdu nazm collections.

Syed has translated a wide and important body of works by contemporary poets, playwrights and novelists. He was one of the first Urdu translators of Gabriel García Márquez and Jean Genet. His work has been widely published in leading Urdu literary periodicals such as Shabkhoon, Aaj, and Dunyazad. He currently teaches at Habib University.