1857 was an armed uprising in British India against the British colonial rule and

was also popularly remembered as the 'First War of Independence'. This was a
turning point in his life because he was an eye-witness to the catastrophe. Hali
drifted from job to job for several years, arriving eventually in Lahore, where he
came to be a personal servant of Chayanne Mehdi in the mid-1870s, where he began to
compose his epic poem, the Musaddas e-Madd o-Jazr e-Islam ("An elegiac poem on the
Ebb and Tide of Islam"), at the request of Syed Ahmed Khan, under the new pseudonym
of Hali ("The Contemporary").[2][not in citation given] Hali also wrote one of the
earliest works of literary criticism in Urdu, Muqaddamah-i Shay'r-o-Sha'iri. "Above
all, its critical Preface 'the Muqaddima-i-Sher-o-Shairi' gave a new and purposeful
trend to Urdu poetry and led the way to literary criticism in Urdu literature."[4]
Some scholars of Pakistani nationalism also consider the Mussadas an important text
for the articulation of a future Muslim nation, Pakistan, which eventually was
created in 1947.[5]
Works[edit]
A biography of Ghalib, Yaadgar-e-Ghalib - life and works of Mirza Asadullah Khan
Ghalib (1797-1869), a legendary Urdu language poet of the 19th-century
A biography of Saadi Shirazi, Hayat-e-Saadi - life and works of celebrated Persian
language scholar and poet 'Saadi Shirazi' (1210-1292) of the 13th-century
A biography of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Hayat-e-Javed - life and works of a renowned
educationist, scholar and social reformer 'Sir Syed Ahmed Khan' (1817-1898) of the
19th-century[6][3]
Hali also wrote a poem "Barkha Rut"
"Woh Nabiyon Mein Rahmat Laqab Paanaywala", a naat written by Altaf Hussain Hali[7]

Hayat-i-Javed, a biography of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan

Death and legacy[edit]
Altaf Hussain Hali died in 1914. Pakistan Post issued a commemorative postage stamp
in his honor on 23 March 1979 in its 'Pioneers of Freedom' series. "His great
'Musaddas' is one of the most inspiring poems in Urdu literature and had a lasting
influence on the minds and attitudes of the Muslims in the sub-continent and
continues to inspire them to this day."[4]
References[edit]
^ Jump up to: a b c Profile of Altaf Hussain Hali on aligarhmovement.com website.
Retrieved 13 February 2017.
^ Jump up to: a b Musaddas-e-Hali by Altaf Hussain Hali. Retrieved 13 February
2017.
^ Jump up to: a b Hayat-e-Javed by Altaf Hussain Hali, digitized on Academy of the
Punjab in North America (APNA) website. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
^ Jump up to: a b "Pioneers of Freedom March 23, 1979". Profile and image of
commemorative postage stamp issued on 23 March 1979 by Pakistan Post in honor of
Altaf Hussain Hali. Archived from the original on 15 February 2017. Retrieved 13
February 2017.
Jump up ^ Raja, Masood Ashraf (2010). Constructing Pakistan: Foundational Texts and
the Rise of Muslim National Identity, 18571947. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
ISBN 9780195478112
Jump up ^ Hayat-e-Javed by Altaf Hussain Hali, first published in the year 1900,
digitized on rekhta.org website. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
Jump up ^ "Woh Nabiyon Mein Rahmat Laqab Paanaywala", a Naat written by Altaf
Hussain Hali, recited by Junaid Jamshed on YouTube. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
External links[edit]
Maulana Altaf Hussain Hali Karwaan-e-Aligarh
Altaf Hussain Hali in Hindi / Urdu
Hali Trust site
Hali at Urdupoet.net
Musaddas-e-Hali
Hayat-e-Saadi by Hali
Yadgar-e-Ghalib by Hali
Hayat-e-Javed (1) by Hali
Hayat-e-Javed (2) by Hali
Authority control
WorldCat Identities VIAF: 12480239 LCCN: n80087751 SUDOC: