Shakeb Jalali: aa ke patthar to mere sehn mein..

Owais Mughal

Shakeb Jalali is a famous Urdu poet. His real name was Syed Hassan Rizvi. He was born in a small town called Jalali near Aligarh, India on October 1, 1934. He passed his matriculation exam from Badayun (UP) and then moved along with his sisters to Rawalpindi. His life as a poet began in 1947. It is said that he gave a new grace to Urdu ghazals. Following is a collection of some of his work.



Shakeb was the only son of his parents. When he was ten years old, his mother died in an accident. This unexpected incident and suspension from his job due to political conflict in India totally disturbed his father who also died in early 1960s.

Shakeb worked in many literary magazines and later moved to Lahore, where he got his Bachelor of Arts degree, and found employment in many local newspapers.

He had 3 of his sisters married during his time in Lahore. Shakeb later joined the Thal Development Authority and was posted at Jauharabad and Bhakkar.

Shakeb didn’t live a long life. At a young age of 32, for some unexplained psychological disease he killed himself on railway tracks on 12 Nov 1966. This tragedy happened in Sargodha where he was doing a transit course. A ripe chapter of Urdu Poetry thus came to end with him. His poetry work was published after his death. Raushni Ae Raushni in 1972 by maktaba-e-funoon and several additions by Mavara Publications and Kuliyat e Shakeb Jalali in 2004 by Sang-e-Meel Publications, Lahore.

References: Urdustan and Wikipedia