Abu Al-Asar Hafeez Jalandhari ( ur, ) (born 14 January 1900 – 21 December 1982) was a Pakistani

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

National Anthem of Pakistan The "" ( ur, , ; "National Anthem"), also known as "" ( ur, , ; "Thy Sacred Land"), is the national anthem of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and formerly the Dominion of Pakistan. It was written by Hafeez Jalandhari in 1952 and the music ...

Profile of Hafeez Jalandhari on poemhunter.com website, Retrieved 21 November 2018 and Watan Hamara Azad Kashmir, National Anthem of Azad Kashmir.

Early life

Chaudhary Abu Alasr Hafeez Jalandhari was born in

Jalandhar Jalandhar is the third most-populous city in the Indian state of Punjab and the largest city in Doaba region. Jalandhar lies alongside the Grand Trunk Road and is a well-connected rail and road junction. Jalandhar is northwest of the state ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

on 14 January 1900 in Chohan Family. His father, Shams-ud-Din, was a Hafiz-e-

Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing. ...

. Jalandhari initially studied in a mosque school and later joined a local school. He only received formal education until the seventh grade. He had a natural liking for poetry. He became the disciple of Maulana Qadir Gharami. After the independence of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

in 1947, Jalandhari migrated to

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

in the new state of Pakistan.118th birthday of Hafeez Jalandhari observed (Profile of Hafeez Jalandhri) on Daily Times (newspaper)
Published 15 January 2018, Retrieved 20 November 2018

Literary career

From 1922 to 1929, Jalandhari remained the editor of a few monthly magazines namely, ''Nonehal'', ''Hazar Dastaan'', ''Teehzeeb-e-Niswan'', and ''Makhzin''. His first collection of poems Nagma-e-Zar was published in 1935. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he worked as the director of the Song Publicity Department. During this same time he wrote several songs. Jalandhari participated in the Pakistan Movement and used his writings to inspire people for the cause of Pakistan. In early 1948, he joined the forces for the freedom of

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

and got wounded. Jalandhari wrote the Kashmiri Anthem, "Watan Hamara Azad Kashmir". He wrote many patriotic songs during the

Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 or the Second Kashmir War was a culmination of skirmishes that took place between April 1965 and September 1965 between Pakistan and India. The conflict began following Pakistan's Operation Gibraltar, which was d ...

. Jalandhari served as Director General of morals in

Pakistan Armed Forces The Pakistan Armed Forces (; ) are the military forces of Pakistan. It is the world's sixth-largest military measured by active military personnel and consist of three formally uniformed services—the Army, Navy, and the Air Force, which are ...

, and then in a very prominent position as an adviser to the President,

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...

Mohammad Ayub Khan Muhammad Ayub Khan (Urdu: ; 14 May 1907 – 19 April 1974), was the second President of Pakistan. He was an army general who seized the presidency from Iskander Mirza in a coup in 1958, the first successful coup d'état in the country's h ...

and also a Director of Writers Guild of Pakistan. Jalandhari's work of poetry, ''Shahnam-e-Islam'', gave him incredible fame which, in the manner of

Firdowsi , image = Statue of Ferdowsi in Tus, Iran 3 (cropped).jpg , image_size = , caption = Statue of Ferdowsi in Tus by Abolhassan Sadighi , birth_date = 940 , birth_place = Tus, Samanid Empire , death_date = 1019 or 1025 (87 years old) , dea ...

Shahnameh The ''Shahnameh'' or ''Shahnama'' ( fa, شاهنامه, Šāhnāme, lit=The Book of Kings, ) is a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c. 977 and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50,00 ...

, is a record of the glorious history of Islam in verse. In 1946, Jalandhari visited the Sylhet region of

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

where he watched a mushaira performance by the Anjuman-i Taraqqi-i Urdu. On 23 February 1949,

Government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=hakúmat-e pákistán) abbreviated as GoP, is a federal government established by the Constitution of Pakistan as a constituted governing authority of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provin ...

formed a committee to prepare Pakistan's national anthem. 723 people competed to write the national anthem. Out of which, Hafeez Jalandhari's lyrics were selected as the national anthem of Pakistan. Then this national anthem of Pakistan was composed by

Ahmed Ghulamali Chagla Ahmed Ghulam Ali Chagla ( ur, احمد غلام علی چھاگلہ; 31 May 1902 – 5 February 1953) was a Pakistani musical composer who famously wrote the music for the national anthem of Pakistan in 1949. A scholar and writer, he was also an ...

also known as Ahmed G Chagla. Hafeez Jalandhari was unique in Urdu poetry for the enchanting melody of his voice and lilting rhythms of his songs and lyrics. His poetry generally dealt with romantic, religious, patriotic and natural themes. His language was a fine blend of

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

and

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Malika Pukhraj in the 1950s with music by the Pakistani music director Master Inayat Hussain which is still popular among the public in 2018. Though considered a devout Muslim, he also wrote ''Krishn Kanhaiya'', a poem in praise of the Hindu god

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...

Marriage

Jalandhari married his cousin, Zeenat Begum, in 1917, at the age of 17. They had seven children, all girls. In 1939, he took a young English woman of Lithuanian descent, Anela, as his second wife. They had a daughter; the marriage ended in divorce. His first wife, Zeenat Begum, died in 1954. In 1955, Jalandhari married Khurshid Begum, with whom he had a daughter.

Books

* Naghma Zar (1925) * Shahnama-i-Islam (1928 - 1947) in four volumes * Soz-o-Saaz (1932) * Talkhaba-i-Shireen (1947) * Chiragh-i-Sehar (1974)

Death

Jalandhari died in

, on 21 December 1982 at the age of 82. Buried in

Model Town, Lahore Model Town Society ( Punjabi, ur, ) is a gated neighbourhood in Gulberg, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. History Model Town, established in 1921, is a fruition of Dewan Khem Chand's lifelong dream to see the establishment of what he called “ ...

, his remains were later shifted to a tomb built by the

near the Minar-e-Pakistan in

, the site of the

Pakistan Resolution The Lahore Resolution ( ur, , ''Qarardad-e-Lahore''; Bengali: লাহোর প্রস্তাব, ''Lahor Prostab''), also called Pakistan resolution, was written and prepared by Muhammad Zafarullah Khan and was presented by A. K. Fazlul ...

Awards and recognition

*For his literary and patriotic services to Pakistan, Jalandhari was awarded the Hilal-i-Imtiaz Award by the

President of Pakistan The president of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=s̤adr-i Pākiṣṭān), officially the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is the ceremonial head of state of Pakistan and the commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces.Pride of Performance Award in 1958 by the

Commemorative postage stamp

In 2001, Pakistan Post Office issued a commemorative postage stamp in his honor in its 'Poets of Pakistan' series.Hafeez Jalandhari commemorative postage stamp issued in 2001 by the Pakistan Post Office
Retrieved 21 November 2018

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jalandhari, Abu Al-Asar Hafeez 1900 births 1982 deaths People from Jalandhar Punjabi people Pakistani poets Urdu-language poets from Pakistan National anthem writers Recipients of the Pride of Performance Recipients of Hilal-i-Imtiaz Pakistani hymnwriters People of British India Writers from Lahore Poets from Lahore 20th-century poets Pakistan Movement activists