ISLAMABAD - Pioneer of contemporary Urdu literature Maulana Altaf Hussain Hali was remembered here Saturday on 108th death anniversary in the literary circles. He was simultaneously a poet, prose writer, critic, biographer and reformer of the nation, who felt the changing demands of life at the literary and social level. Altaf Hussain Hali was born in Panipat, where he also received his early education. On coming to Delhi, he learnt Arabic and Persian and received support from two major poets, Ghalib and Shefta. Hali paid serious attention to Mohammad Hussain Azad’s call for the reforming Urdu poem and Sir Syed Ahmad Khan’s call for rationalism in social, political and educational matters of the Muslims in particular.
His notable works include Muqaddama-i-Sher-o-shairi, Madd-o-jazar-e Islam, Tiryaaq-e Masmoom, Majaalisu-n-Nisa, Tabaqaat-ul Arz and biographies of Persian poet Sadi, Sir Syed and Ghalib. Altaf Hussain Hali died in 1914. Pakistan Post issued a commemorative postage stamp in his honour on 23 March 1979 in its ‘Pioneers of Freedom’ series.