Asif Aslam Farrukhi (; 16 September 1959 1 June 2020) was a Pakistani writer, translator, and literary critic active in both Urdu and English. He was also a public health expert and polyglot. He translated books from English into Urdu, as well as from Sindhi to Urdu and English. His collections of vernacular Pakistani writers translated in English are considered critical anthologies. From 2000 to 2020, he was the editor and publisher of the Urdu literary journal Dunyazad.
Early life
Asif Aslam was born in Karachi in 1959 to Dr Aslam Farrukhi, a Professor of Urdu at Karachi University, and his wife Taj Begum. He was the elder of two sons. He was educated at St Patrick's High School and D.J. Sindh Government Science College, and then went on to complete his MBBS degree at the Dow University of Health Sciences in 1984. He published his first book of short stories, using the name Asif Farrukhi, while still a student at Dow University in 1982. From 1988-1989, he completed a master's degree in public health at Harvard University. He also founded the Scheherazade Press in 1999 to showcase new writings in Urdu. In 2016, he briefly served as Interim Dean of the University's School of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences.
Awards
- Tamgha-e-Imtiaz (Medal of Excellence) by the President of Pakistan in 2006 He had been a long-term diabetic.