Timsal Masud is a lecturer of Hindi-Urdu, translator, editor, and textbook author. He completed a Ph.D. at Lucknow University in 2008, where he studied trends in Urdu translations of modern Persian short stories. Since completing his Ph.D., he has continued to remain interested in translation, publishing Urdu translations of The Little Prince and Patrick Süskind’s The Story of Mr. Sommer. While teaching language classes, he noticed the need for a concise, user-friendly Urdu dictionary. This inspired him to write the Essential Urdu Dictionary (Hodder & Stoughton. 2015). He has also revised Complete Urdu (Hodder & Stoughton. 2014), and co-edited (with Dr. Syed Akbar Hyder) Urdu-namah (City Press: 2020), an intermediate-advanced reader of Urdu texts for the classroom. In recent years, his research interests have turned towards the study of the literature of Awadh, including Wajid Ali Shah’s literary work and the works of Mir Anis, particularly his marsiya (elegy). As part of an effort to ensure Awadh’s literature reaches a wider public, he is currently editing and translating a series of books about Wajid Ali Shah’ works to the Devanagari script. The first book, Lucknow Ka Shahi Stage (The Royal Stage of Lucknow), came out in 2019 and the second one, Wajid Ali Shah (The last king of Awadh) will appear in 2021 with Aakhar Prakashan Press. A three-volume edition of Mir Anis’s marsiya is forthcoming from City Press, Karachi. The collection will include a critical introduction. Lastly, Masud has published on translation, Awadh history and literature, and more generally Urdu literature in The Journal of Urdu Studies, Duniyazad, and Aaj. Prior to joining Columbia University, Masud taught Hindi and Urdu at The University of Texas at Austin and The University of Chicago.
Publications:
2021 Hindi-namah: A Textbook for Intermediate and Advanced Hindi
Co-edited with Syed Akbar Hyder. New Delhi: Aakhar Prakashan. (Forthcoming)
2021 Wajid Ali Shah
Edited and translated the biography of the last king of Awadh Wajid Ali Shah from original Urdu to Hindi with a useful glossary and notes. New Delhi: Aakhar Prakashan. (Forthcoming)
2021 Mir Anis Ke Ek Sau Gyarah Marsiye (An Anthology of Mir Anis’s Marsiya Poems)
Edited three volume collections of Urdu marsiya poetry by Mir Anis. Karachi: City Press. (Forthcoming)
2020 Urdu-namah: A Textbook for Intermediate and Advanced Urdu
Co-edited with Syed Akbar Hyder. Karachi: City Press.
2019 Lucknow Ka Shahi Stage (The Royal Stage of Lucknow)
Edited and translated Sahitya Academy Award winning book of Masud Hasan Rizvi Adeeb from Urdu to Hindi with a useful glossary and notes. New Delhi: Aakhar Prakashan.
2017 Complete Urdu (Learn Urdu with Teach Yourself)
Revised for a new edition. London: Hodder & Stoughton. (1st edition came out in 2014)
2015 Essential Urdu Dictionary (Learn Urdu with Teach Yourself)
London: Hodder & Stoughton.
2012 Mir Anis Ka Ek Marsiya (One Marsiya Poem of Mir Anis)
Edited and transliterated into Devanagri and Nastaliq script with the addition of Hindi and Urdu glossaries and notes. New Delhi: Arshia Publications.
2018 Mir Anis Ke Matboa Marsiyon Ki Fehrist (A Detailed Index of Mir Anis’s Published marsiya Poems) www.emarsiya.com
2018 Qavaed-E-Taht-Ul-Lafz Khvani (Instructions for Reciting Marsiya Poetry)
Edited and revised for a new edition of Syed Mehdi Hussain’s book (published in 1884).
2022 Sikandar: Translation & transliteration of a marsiya poem with notes and critical introduction
Co-authored with Peter Knapczyk. Journal of Urdu Studies, Brill. (Forthcoming)
2022 Aam Bolchal Ki Zabaan Urdu Aur Meyari Zabaan Urdu (The Spoken Urdu and the Literary Urdu)
Lahore: Bazyaft, University of Punjab, Pakistan. (Forthcoming)
2021 “Shams ur-Raḥmān Fārūqī” by Nayyar Masʿūd
Annotated and Translated with Dr. Isabel Huacuja Alonso. Journal of Urdu Studies, Brill. URDS 2.1
2019 Naiyer Masud Ke 15 Register (Naiyer Masud’s 15 Register)
Karachi: Duniyazad. New Delhi: Aajkal Urdu journal, September 2017.
2018 Klasiki Adab Ka Hamdardana Mutalea: Naiyer Masud Ka Bunyadi Nazariya (Sympathetic Study: Naiyer Masud’s Approach Towards Classic Literature). Karachi: Duniyazad.
2017 Mazaar-E-Anis Ki Tameer Ki Dastaan (The Story of the Construction of Mir Anis’ Mausoleum)
Lahore: Roznama 92 news, September 11, 2017. Lucknow: Urdu Daily Sahafat, 2013., Lucknow: Urdu Daily Avadhnama, 2013.
2017 Mexico Me Jab Fatima Ka Church Dekha (Finding Fatima Church in Mexico)
Lucknow: Urdu Daily Aag, July 23rd.
Advisory Board Member of Urdu journals
Tehqiq Nama, Government College University, Lahore, Pakistan
Tahqeeqi-o-Tanqeeqi Jareeda, Government College Women University, Sialkot, Pakistan
Bazyaft, University of Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan