Shakeb Jalali

[1936-1966]

Shakeb Jalali's real name was Syed Hassan Rizvi, his ancestors are from a small qasba Jalali near Aligarh, India. He was said to be born on 1st October 1934 but his wife Syeda Mohiddisa Khatoon gives his year of birth as 1935 or 1936.

He was only son among 4 daughters of his parents. At the age of 10 he lost his mother in an accident and his father lost his mental balance and died little later. He passed his matriculation exam from Badayun (UP) and then moved along with his sisters to Rawalpindi.

He worked in many literary magazines and later moved to Lahore, where he did his B.A. and found employment in many local newspapers. He had 3 of his sisters married during his time in Lahore.

Shakeb joined Thal Development Authority and was posted at Joharabad and Bhakkar. There for some unexplained psychological disease he killed himself on railway tracks on 12 Nov 1966 and thus a star of Urdu poetry was dimmed at the ripe age of 32. He was married in 1956 and left behind son Hussain Aqdas Rizvi and daughter Hina Batool.

His life as a poet began in 1947; he gave a new grace to Urdu ghazals. His nazms have a unique style; he also tried his hands in rubai, qitaat, translation etc.

Links on Shakeb :

shakebjalali.com : his official site

ghazals in dev-naagri(Hindi) script

ghazals in Roman script