ife because he was an eye-witness to the catastrophe. Hali drifted from job to j ob for several years, arriving eventually in Lahore, where he came to be a perso nal servant of Chayanne Mehdi in the mid-1870s, where he began to compose his ep ic poem, the Musaddas e-Madd o-Jazr e-Islam ("An elegiac poem on the Ebb and Tid e 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 earl iest 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 purpose ful trend to Urdu poetry and led the way to literary criticism in Urdu literatur e."[4] Some scholars of Pakistani nationalism also consider the Mussadas an important t ext for the articulation of a future Muslim nation, Pakistan, which eventually w as 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 Persi an 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 st amp in his honor on 23 March 1979 in its 'Pioneers of Freedom' series. "His grea t 'Musaddas' is one of the most inspiring poems in Urdu literature and had a las ting influence on the minds and attitudes of the Muslims in the sub-continent an d 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 2 017. ^ Jump up to: a b Hayat-e-Javed by Altaf Hussain Hali, digitized on Academy of t he 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 com memorative postage stamp issued on 23 March 1979 by Pakistan Post in honor of Al taf Hussain Hali. Archived from the original on 15 February 2017. Retrieved 13 F ebruary 2017. Jump up ^ Raja, Masood Ashraf (2010). Constructing Pakistan: Foundational Texts and the Rise of Muslim National Identity, 1857 1947. Oxford: Oxford University Pre ss. 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 Hu ssain 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: