Forum Pakistan

Hali, Altaf Husain (1837-1914)
Poet/Critic. Poet-enlightener, reformer, and founder of scholarly criticism in *Urdu literature, Hali descended from an impoverished aristocratic clan. He received a traditional Muslim education, with literary instruction from Sheafta and Mirza *Ghalib. At the beginning of his literary career, Hali mainly wrote traditional *ghazals. By the mid 1870s, he became close to the Aligarh movement and was also introduced to European literature and Western thinking, which led him to conclude that traditional literature was in need of modernization. His poems written for the Lahore mushaira of 1874 marked the beginning of new poetry (Nai Shairi) in his creative work. His poems touched on issues of that time, homeland and patriotism:
Barkharut ('Rainy Season'), Hubb-i- Watan ('The Patriot'); East-West relations, democracy, and despotism:

Munazira-i-Rahm-o-Insaf ('Dialogue of Compassion and Justice'). These were the first attempts at civicspirited verse. Hali's magnum opus is the poem Maddo-Jazr-i-Islam ('The Ebb and Flow of Islam'), 1879, otherwise known as Musaddas Hali. The poem sums up Hali's reflections on the fate of the Muslims and the reasons behind the crisis experienced by the Mu lim community in India. He sets himself to the task of awakening the people. He was the first to write biographies in *Urdu: Hayat-i-Saadi ('The Life of Saadi'), 1876; and Yadgar-i-Ghalib ('The Memoirs of Ghalib'), 1897. In his Muqaddama-i-Sher-i-Shairi

('Introduction to Poetry'), 1893, Hali formulated the aims, principles, and methods of poetic reforms and expounded his ideas about the two-way influence between literature and society. He introduced the concept of 'historicism in literature'. While paying tribute to the best samples of classical poetry, he submitted court poetry to harsh criticism seeing it as the main obstacle in the way of literary progress. Hali's poetic reforms opened new vistas for the development of Urdu poetry in modern times.

WORKS: 'Majmua-i-Nazm-u-Hali', 1880; 'Diwan-i-Hali', 1893; 'Hayat-i-Jawed, a biography', 1901; 'Chup ki Dad' (A Tribute to Silence), 1906.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: L. Vassilyeva, 'Altaf Husain Hali', in:
Collection of Indian Literatures, Moscow, 1988 (in Russian); L. Yassilyeva, 'Hali-Muhammad Iqbal's Predecessor', in: The Work of Muhammad Iqbal, Moscow, 1982 (in Russian); N. Glebov, A. Sukhochev, 'Urdu Literature', Moscow, 1967 (in Russian); Muin Ehsan Jazbi, 'Hali ka Siyasi Shaur' (Hali's Political Views), Lucknow, 1959; Saliha Abid Husain, 'Yadgar-i-Hali' (The Memoirs of Hali), Allahabad, 1959; Khurshid ul-Islam, 'Hali', Aligarh, 1958; Shujat Sandelwi, 'Hali ba Heisiyat-i-Shair' (Hali as a Poet), Lucknow, 1960; 'Hali key Sheri Nazariat, Karachi, 1988.