"Roshanai (The Light)" is considered to be the most authentic record of the Progressive Movement that transformed Urdu literature and had an impact on the literatures of many other languages of the subcontinent.

Sajjad Zaheer (1905-1973) was one of the main architects of the Progressive Movement in Literature in pre-Partition India. He began his political activities while he was a student in Oxford. Later, as a barrister practising in the Allahabad High Court he became fully involved in socialist, and then communist politics. He was imprisoned three times by the British government for making speeches in favour of ending their rule and gaining independence for India. His literary activities were interwoven with his politics, but at the same time they helped evolve the modern phase in subcontinental literature. After the partition of India, Zaheer moved to Pakistan as General Secretary of the Communist Party, and worked to organise students, labourers, and members of trade unions. He wrote the book (Roshnai, from which this volume has been translated) during his incarceration by the Pakistan government for his alleged involvement in the 'Rawalpindi Conspiracy. After his release Zaheer migrated to India, where he became the Head of the Communist party, as well as the General Secretary of the Progressive Writers'Association. Sajjad Zaheer is the author and translator of several literary works. Prominent among these is London ki eik Raat, a novel, Pighla Neelum, a collection of his poetry, Zikr-e-Hafiz, a treatise on the poetry of Hafiz, and Roshnai (The Light). He was also a participatory writer in Angaarey, the anthology that launched Progressive writing in the Indian subcontinent.