Ibn-e-Insha is the Urdu writer readers reach for when they want poetry that laughs and travel writing that reads like a conversation. He was a poet, a humorist, a travel writer and a newspaper columnist. One thing should be said plainly at the start: Ibn-e-Insha was a poet, a humorist and a travel writer, not a novelist. This ibn-e-insha books guide takes his shelf one book at a time — the three poetry collections, the five travelogues, the book of humour, the letters and the translations. The ibn-e-insha books in this guide contain no novels. What they offer instead is a writer who could make a ghazal out of an ordinary street and a travelogue out of a missed train.
A life in brief
Ibn-e-Insha was born Sher Muhammad Khan on 15 June 1927 in Phillaur, in the Jalandhar district of what was then British India. He took his B.A. from Punjab University in 1946 and his M.A. from the University of Karachi in 1953. He worked for Radio Pakistan, the Ministry of Culture and the National Book Centre of Pakistan, and he also served with the United Nations — work that took him to Japan, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Iran, Turkey, France, Britain and the United States. His teachers included Habibullah Ghazenfar Amrohvi and Ghulam Mustafa Khan. In the late 1940s he lived briefly in Lahore with the film poet Sahir Ludhianvi, and he was active in the Progressive Writers Movement. He spent the rest of his life in Karachi. He died of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in London on 11 January 1978, aged fifty, and was buried in Karachi.
Chand Nagar (1955)
Chand Nagar — “Moon City” — was his first poetry collection, published in 1955 by Maktaba Urdu, Lahore, according to a Rekhta e-book listing. It introduced his voice: ghazals and nazms in a diction that reaches back to Amir Khusro and down into the earthy, everyday speech of the Hindi-Urdu world. Read it first: it is the earliest of his books.
Dil-e-Wehshi
Dil-e-Wehshi — “The Wild Heart” — is his second poetry collection. No first-publication year is established in the sources consulted: a Rekhta e-book listing dates an edition to 2009, a reprint year rather than a first publication. The book carries the same blend as Chand Nagar — classical form, plain speech, and humour breaking through the romance.
Is Basti Ke Ik Kooche Mein (1976)
Is Basti Ke Ik Kooche Mein — “In a Lane of This Town” — was his third poetry collection. Its first edition appeared in August 1976, and by 2003 it had run to twenty-two further editions. It holds his most famous ghazal, “Insha Ji Uttho Ab Kooch Karo”, which the classical singer Amanat Ali Khan popularised in 1974 — the title is given here by name only; no verse is quoted in this guide.
Billo Ka Basta and the children’s shelf
For younger readers there is Billo Ka Basta, a book of rhymes for children. A Rekhta e-book listing dates an edition to 1996, after his death, so the original publication year is not established. It shows the humorist writing simply, for children.
Awara Gard Ki Diary
Awara Gard Ki Diary — “Diary of a Wanderer” — is the first of his travelogues, and the one that gave him his wandering reputation. Rekhta e-book listings date editions to 1971 and 2008. It is a diary of travel rather than a guidebook: places, people and mishaps, told in the same easy, joking voice as his newspaper columns.
Dunya Gol Hai
Dunya Gol Hai — “The World Is Round” — is his second travelogue. A Rekhta e-book listing dates an edition to 1982; the first-publication year is not established. The title is the argument: the world is round, so the traveller keeps coming back to where he started, a little wiser and a little more amused.
Ibn Battuta Ke Taqub Mein (1974)
Ibn Battuta Ke Taqub Mein — “In the Footsteps of Ibn Battuta” — appeared in 1974. In it he follows the route of the great fourteenth-century traveller Ibn Battuta, measuring the modern world against the old one and finding both wanting and wonderful in turn. It is the most deliberate of his travelogues.
Chaltay Ho To Cheen Ko Chaliye (1960)
Chaltay Ho To Cheen Ko Chaliye — “If You Are Going, Go to China” — is the travelogue of his journey to China. Wikipedia dates it to 1960, the same year he translated a collection of Chinese poems into Urdu; Rekhta e-book listings give 1979 and 1981, which appear to be later editions. It pairs naturally with that translation, Chini Nazmein.
Nagri Nagri Phira Musafir
Nagri Nagri Phira Musafir — “The Traveller Who Wandered from Town to Town” — is the last of the five travelogues named in the sources. No publication year is established for it, so none is given here. The title has become shorthand for the man himself.
Urdu Ki Aakhri Kitab (1971)
Urdu Ki Aakhri Kitab — “The Last Book of Urdu” — appeared in 1971 and is his best-known work of humour. The title is a joke and a claim at once: a book that pretends to be the last word on Urdu while laughing at the very idea. The humorist Anwar Maqsood called Insha his hero and said writers learned writing by reading his books — this is the book he had in mind.
Khat Insha Jee Kay and the later humour collections
His humour did not stop with one book. Khat Insha Jee Kay is a collection of his letters, and Khumar-e-Gandum is another book of humour; no publication years are established for either. Three further collections appeared after his death, compiled from his papers: Aap Se Kya Parda in June 2004, Batain Insha Ji Ki in June 2005 and Dakhl Dar Ma’qulaat in June 2019. These are posthumous compilations, not books he published himself.
The translations shelf
He was also a translator. In 1960 he translated a collection of Chinese poems into Urdu, published as Chini Nazmein. His other translations include Seher Honay Tak, from a work by Chekhov; Karnamay Nawab Tees Maar Khan Kay, German short stories, published in June 1971; Lakhon Ka Shaher, short stories by O. Henry; and Andha Kunvaan, short stories by Edgar Allan Poe. He also translated a long humorous poem by the German poet Wilhelm Busch as Qissa Aik Kunvaaray Ka — Wikipedia’s bibliography spells the poet’s name “Bosch”; see the notes below.
Style and themes
His poetry has a distinctive diction, laced with language reminiscent of Amir Khusro, using words and constructions usually heard in the more earthy dialects of the Hindi-Urdu world, and his forms and poetic style have influenced generations of young poets. That matches the books: ghazals that sound classical and spoken at the same time, nazms that wander, and humour that never quite leaves the poetry alone. A few poem titles are worth knowing by name: “Kal Chaudhwin Ki Raat Thi, Shab Bhar Raha Charcha Tera”, sung by Jagjit Singh and popular in the 1980s; “Yeh Baatein Jhuutii Baatein Hain”, sung by Ghulam Ali; and “Sab Maya Hai”, sung by Attaullah Khan Esakhelvi at Coke Studio in September 2017. They are named here by title only; no verse is quoted in this guide.
Where to start reading
Start with Chand Nagar (1955), then Dil-e-Wehshi and Is Basti Ke Ik Kooche Mein (1976) in order — the three poetry collections are the core of his work. Then take the travelogues: Awara Gard Ki Diary, Dunya Gol Hai, Ibn Battuta Ke Taqub Mein (1974), Chaltay Ho To Cheen Ko Chaliye and Nagri Nagri Phira Musafir. After that, read Urdu Ki Aakhri Kitab (1971) for the humour and Chini Nazmein (1960) for the translations.
Readers who enjoyed this guide may also like the other books guides on this site: the Jaun Elia books guide, on a poet of the next generation whose ghazals share Insha’s sceptical edge; the Ahmed Faraz books guide, on a poet whose ghazals pair love with resistance; and the Mushtaq Ahmad Yusufi books guide, on the humorist whose prose is the natural companion to Insha’s.
Awards and recognition
His honours were few. In 1978 the President of Pakistan conferred the Pride of Performance award on him for his literary services — the award came in the year of his death, and the sources consulted do not say whether it was announced before or after he died on 11 January 1978. Is Basti Ke Ik Kooche Mein alone reached twenty-two further editions by 2003.
Dates and details that differ across sources
A reader who looks him up in more than one place will find details that do not agree. His birth date is given as 15 June 1927 by Wikipedia and Rekhta and by most other sources; an older mirror of the Wikipedia article gives 27 June 1927, and this guide uses 15 June. Chaltay Ho To Cheen Ko Chaliye is dated 1960 by Wikipedia, while Rekhta’s e-book listings give 1979 and 1981, which appear to be later editions. The first-publication years of Dil-e-Wehshi, Dunya Gol Hai, Nagri Nagri Phira Musafir, Khumar-e-Gandum and Khat Insha Jee Kay are not established, and no years are given for them here; the Rekhta listing years of 2009, 1982 and 1971 are edition years. Wikipedia’s bibliography spells the German poet of Qissa Aik Kunvaaray Ka as “Wilhelm Bosch”; the German humorous poet of that name is Wilhelm Busch. His books appear in many spellings, and this guide uses the spellings given above.
Frequently asked questions
Was Ibn-e-Insha a novelist?
No. He was a poet, humorist, travelogue writer and newspaper columnist. His books are poetry collections, travelogues, humour, letters and translations. This guide is a books guide rather than a novels guide for exactly that reason.
What was Ibn-e-Insha’s first book?
His first poetry collection was Chand Nagar, published in 1955. His first travelogue, Awara Gard Ki Diary, is listed in an edition dated 1971.
Which Ibn-e-Insha book should I read first?
Start with Chand Nagar (1955), then Dil-e-Wehshi and Is Basti Ke Ik Kooche Mein (1976). After the poetry, read Awara Gard Ki Diary.
What is Ibn-e-Insha’s most famous ghazal?
“Insha Ji Uttho Ab Kooch Karo”, popularised by the classical singer Amanat Ali Khan in 1974. It is named here by title only; no verse is quoted in this guide.
What is Urdu Ki Aakhri Kitab?
His best-known book of humour, published in 1971 — a comic survey of Urdu that pretends to be the last word on the language.
Closing
Ibn-e-Insha’s shelf is wider than most poets’ — three collections of poetry, five travelogues, a book of humour, letters and translations — and the width is the point. He was a poet who travelled, a traveller who joked, and a humorist who translated. He died at fifty. A new reader who starts with Chand Nagar and follows the books in order will have met the essential Ibn-e-Insha: the wanderer of Chand Nagar, town after town, always moving, always laughing.
Research date: November 9, 2026.
Additional Details
- Name: Ibn-e-Insha Books: A Reader’s Guide
- Description: Ibn-e-Insha books guide: his poetry, travelogues and humour — Chand Nagar, Awara Gard Ki Diary, Urdu Ki Aakhri Kitab — life, style and where to start.
- Published: 2026-11-09T20:14:00+05:00