Altaf Hussain Hali Biography and latest books by Altaf Hussain Hali

Altaf Hussain Hali was born in Panipat in 1837. He was a gifted urdu poet, writer, critic, teacher, reformer and an unqiue prose-writer. His knowledge and command of Urdu, Persian and Arabic, and some English was largely self-taught. He successfully explored poetic forms such as the nazm, the rubai, and the Marsia. One of his acclaimed long poem is Musaddas-e-Hali examines the conditions of social and moral degradation prevalent in the then contemporary Muslim society. His prose treatise Muqaddama-e-Shair-o-Shairi is a pioneering work of literary criticism depicting the rise and fall of the Islamic empire in the sub-continent. He has also written memorable biographies of Ghalib, Saadi Shirazi, and Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, entitled respectively, Yaadgar-e-Ghalib, Hayat-e-Saadi, and Hayat-e-Javad. His poem "Barkha Rut," is an illustration of nature in the rainy season; while "Hub-e-Watan," underscores the virtues of patriotism; and "Bewa ki Manajaat" focuses on the plight of widows in the Indian society.