Friends, colleagues and family members celebrated on Monday 80th birthday of Pakistan’s renowned poet, critic, writer and teacher of Urdu literature, Prof Jalil Aali calling him a trend-setting poet and an icon of literature.
The birthday ceremony was organized by Bazm-e-Adab Islamabad in collaboration with the Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL) at the Writers Hall of the academy.
They called Jalil Aali an evergreen poet who has been composing poems and writing critical articles on various literary issues for more than four decades.
“Age has failed to affect his creativity as he has recently written poems and composed appealing poetry to express his love for Pakistan during the military conflict with India,” they viewed.
The birthday event turned out to be a well-attended gathering and one could see the conference hall of the academy literally turning into a ‘bouquet shop’ as the octogenarian poet was loaded with flowers by a large number of former students (now his contemporaries) friends and colleagues.
Iftikhar Arif former Chairman of the PAL and acclaimed poet presided over the ceremony while noted writers Muhammad Hameed Shahid and Dr Waheed Ahmed, poet Manzar Naqvi, Prof Dr Ashraf Kamal, Engr Rehman Hafiz, Prof Idrees Azad, Dr Mehnaz Anjum and Dr Gulnaz Azam Bhatti were the guests of honour who spoke about different aspects of Prof Jalil Aali’s personality, poetry, his literary vision and commitment to promoting dialogue among writers.
In his presidential address, Iftikhar Arif praised Jalil Aali’s enduring spirit and his lasting commitment to his poetic philosophy.
I have been listening to him for last many years and never once saw his voice wearing out or his creativity slowing down, said Iftikhar Arif.
We may differ with Jalil Aali but we cannot deny his commitment his poetic genius and critical viewpoint, he said.
He also paid tributes to Mrs Jalil Aali, Prof Hasina Jalil for keeping Jalil Aali in good physical and mental health.
She is an ultimate hostess and I am highly impressed like my colleagues here by her hospitality.
Prof Jalil Aali’s two sons are also making their mark in their respective fields.
The elder son, Engr Soban Jalil is doing job in an international company in Houston, the US.
Besides, he has been engaged in providing support to around 2,000 schools here in Pakistan through The Citizen Foundation (TCF).
Jalil Aali’s younger son Col Meezan Jalil is an army surgeon and has equally made his parents proud.
Fiction writer Hameed Shahid in a light, personal essay highlighted Jalil Aali’s versatility and diversity.
“All these years, we have seen an ‘Islamist’ Aali who hates ‘Mullah’ a poet Aali who is rational,” he said.
However, Hameed Shahid called his Aali’s literary work of great value and his contribution to Urdu literature worth-remembering.
Manzar Naqvi also paid tributes to Jalil Aali particularly for his extensive work on Allama Iqbal and his articles covering the life and works of his contemporaries.
Dr Waheed Ahmed called Jalil Aali a role model for his junior poets whom he has taught and trained for ‘playing a long innings.’
Prof Dr Ashraf Kamal, Prof Idrees Azad, Engr Rehman Hafiz and Saeed Raja also read out papers about Jalil Aali’s wonderful life featured by new literary pursuits and creative experiments.
Dr Gulnaz Azam Bhatti who is doing PhD on Jalil Aali and Prof Dr Mehnaz Anjum also highlighted various aspects of Jalil Aali’s poetry.
They commended Bazm-e-Adab’s Sher Ali for making their day by bringing Jalil Aali among them.
Those who presented flowers and gifts and greeted Jalil Aali on his birthday included former ambassador Syed Abrar Hussain, Arsh Hashmi, Neelofar Iqbal, Nauman Ali Khan, Rabia Khan, Farkhanda Shami, Dr Inamul Haq Javed and others.
