Famed Pak poet's kin mourn his death in city

JAIPUR: Nawabzada Mirza Jamiluddin Ahmad Khan, the Pakistan's nationalist poet, who passed away in Karachi on Monday, at the age of 90, had close links with the state. He belonged to the royal family of Loharu and had close relations with the former state medical and health minister A A Khan Duru Miyan. Better known in the literary circle of Pakistan as Jamiluddin Aali, he would often visit Jaipur and Delhi to meet his relatives."He was very close to our heart and was the grandson of Sir Amiruddin Ahmed Khan, the nawab of Loharu. He would come from Pakistan to meet our family. He was lovingly called Aaliji and was very successful as a poet and a writer. We in the Loharu family deeply mourn his death. He was a poet who adapted the doha style of Hindi in Urdu poetry, and was much appreciated for his experimentation. He was known for his patriotism and wrote many verses on this subject," remembered Duru Miyan.Poetry was Aali's first love since the vocation had long run in the family that shared ties of kinship with Mirza Ghalib. He started composing poetry at an early age. He referred his early compositions to Nawab Sirajuddin Khan Sail Dehlavi to learn the techniques of the art. Beginning as a ghazal poet he turned to doha after he fell in love with Tayyaba Bano, whom he married in 1944. By the time he graduated from Delhi's Anglo Arabic College in 1944, Aali had already earned himself a space as a poet.Born on January 20, 1925, in Delhi, Aaliji did not have pleasant memories of his childhood days. His mother, a direct descendant of Khwaja Mir Dard, was the fourth wife of Sir Amiruddin Khan, the nawab of Loharu. Aali was hardly 11 or 12 years old when his father died and the family was obliged to manage life on a meager stipend allowed by the British-India government.He along with his family migrated to Pakistan in 1947 and started his career as an assistant in the Ministry of Commerce. In 1951, he cleared the Central Superior Service examination to join the Pakistan Taxation Service. He was an officer on special duty at the President House from 1959 to 1963. After serving as the registrar copyright at ministry of education and secretary at National Press Trust, he joined the National Bank of Pakistan and remained there till his retirement.He also served Pakistan President General Ayub Khan as his secretary."Though adhering to the traditional form of the craft, his was a fresh voice. He soon developed his own diction with evocative imagery and a lyricism that was unique. But he shows his real potential and creativity in dohas. He soon developed his own diction with evocative imagery and a lyricism that was unique. But he shows his real potential and creativity in dohas.Gifted with a melodious voice and an understanding of classical music, Aali would take the listeners to a state of ecstasy and leave them in trance. His poetic sensibility is better captured and expressed in his dohas than his ghazals.. He broke new grounds while experimenting with its form and technique which he would later referred to as Aali Chaal (Aali's style or innovation). Aali deviated from the centuries-old strict rules of Hindi doha and took the genre to new heights by redefining its thematic boundaries and altering its form. A considerable part of his ghazals and dohas is autobiographical . His most original and greatest contribution to the world of literature is his long poem Insan. Though still incomplete, it took Aali more than five decades to write more than 10,000 lines" said Duru Miyan.He was a very popular poet who was known for inspiring the youth with the spirit of nationalism. His poem 'Aye watan ke sajeley jawano' was sung by Pakistan's melody queen Noor Jahan during the India-Pakistan war in 1965. Another patriotic song 'Jeevay jeevay Pakistan' was sung by famous singer Shahnaz Begum and 'Mera paigham Pakistan' by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. One of his famous poems is 'Yeh kavita Pakistani hai'.When more than 80,000 Pakistani soldiers were made prisoners of war (POW) after the Indo-Pak war in 1971, moved by the plight of the POWs, he composed 'Aey desh ki hawaon, sarhad ke paar jao' in 1972. He had five children - three sons and two daughters. One of his sons Raju Jamil is a TV actor and his second son Murad Jamil is a famous Pakistani architect.