Abu Al-asar Hafeez Jalandhari

Abu Al-asar Hafeez Jalandhari Biography

Abu Al-Asar Hafeez Jalandhari was an Urdu poet who lived in Indian subcontinent in the 20^th century. He lived during the period, 14 January 1900 – 21 December 1982. Born in Jalandhar, Punjab, he later migrated to Pakistan after the declaration of independence, and also penned National Anthem of Pakistan - Shahnama-e-Islam. He is shortly addressed as Hafeez Jalandhari. Pride of Performance in 1958 and Hilal-e-Imtiaz are the major honours received by him.

Abu Al-Asar Hafeez Jalandhari was born in Jalandhar, Indian Punjab in the year 1900. His father, Shams-ud-Din, was a Hafiz-e-Qur'an. He initially studied at a mosque school, later took formal education till class 7 in a local school of his village. In the early 1920s he got fully active in writings and also served as a journalist and editor of a few Indian magazines in the British Raj. He worked with publications such as Nonehal, Hazar Dastaan, Teehzeeb-e-Niswan, and Makhzin. His first collection of poems Nagma-e-Zar was published in 1935.

After World War II, his songs got more popular with the public. He worked as the director of the Song Publicity Department also. By that time he got actively involved with demanding separate state for Muslims, and after partition he moved to newly formed Pakistan. In fact he wrote poems to inspire people for the cause of Pakistan. After migrating to Pakistan he wrote many patriotic songs during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.

Jalandhari served as Director General of morals in Pakistan Armed Forces, and many other administrative positions. His collection of poems, Shahnam-e-Islam earned him instant fame. He married thrice. He first married his cousin, Zeenat Begum at the age of 17, and had seven daughters. She died in 1954. His second marriage with a young English woman ended in a divorce, and soon after the death of his first wife, he married Khurshid Begum in 1955. He had one daughter each in both these marriages.

Published: November 29, 2018

Updated: November 29, 2018