Taufiq Rafat

Taufiq Rafat (25 October 1927 – 2 August 1998) was a Pakistani poet and writer. He was educated in Dehradun, Aligarh and Lahore.

Rafat is regarded as pioneer of English language poetry and writing in Pakistan. He wrote about the culture of Pakistan. He liked Ezra Pound, T. S. Eliot and W. H. Auden. Rafat is the only poet whose work has been in all three of Pakistan's major anthologies: First Voices (1965), Pieces of Eight (1971) and Wordfall (1975). Rafat wrote a play named The Foothold. It was performed by the Government College Dramatic Club in Lahore. He taught many younger poets. His poems were put into a book named Arrival of the Monsoon. Rafat translated the epic Puran Bhagat (1983) of Punjabi poet Bulleh Shah and Qadar Yar into lyrical English.