Dr Jamil Jalibi dies

KARACHI: Renowned scholar Professor Dr Jamil Jalibi passed away after a protracted illness here on Thursday morning. He was 89. He was born in Aligarh on June 12, 1929, and came to Pakistan after Partition in 1947. Prof Jalibi’s literary works covered several fields, but Tareekh-e-Adab-e-Urdu, history of Urdu literature, in four volumes, is considered to be his greatest contribution to the Urdu literature.

Academicians expressed their deep grief over the demise of the respected writer and scholar. The Vice Chancellor University of Karachi, Prof Dr Muhammad Ajmal Khan, termed Dr Jamil Jalibi’s death a national loss, and said the nation has lost a man of wisdom and knowledge.

Jalibi had served as vice chancellor of the University of Karachi during 1983 to 1987. In his condolence message, Prof Khan paid tributes to the great scholar and said Prof Jalibi was a great scholar of Urdu literature, researcher, writer, critic and educationist. Jalibi, Dr Khan said, made great endeavours to strengthen the knowledge of Urdu literature, while the compilation of a Qaumi English-Urdu Dictionary was one of his historic milestones, he said, adding his book on Pakistani culture also received a wide recognition in the literary circles.

Prof Jalibi’s four volumes of Tareekh-e-Adab-e-Urdu (the history of Urdu literature) is considered one of the greatest works in Urdu literature, which made him a legendary scholar in the history of the literature, he said. By writing the landmark book “Arastoo Se Elliot Tak (From Aristotle to Elliot), comprising the best English critical essays, Prof Jalibi outshone other scholars in the field of translations too. Paying homage, Prof Khan said the late scholar had donated his distinctive personal library to the University of Karachi, which is a matter of pride for the largest university of Pakistan. The university is setting up a separate section to accommodate the personal library of the former vice chancellor, he said.

Prof Jalibi's death had caused a great loss to Urdu literature, critics, linguistics and literary research, Dr Khan said and observed that this national loss could never be filled at all. Prof Khan condoled with the bereaved family and prayed to Allah for giving strength to the bereaved family to bear this irreparable loss, and to keep the deceased in eternal peace.

Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Syed Altaf Hussain said Prof Jalibi was one of the greatest scholars who tirelessly served the Urdu language. His death was a great loss for the country as well as for the academia but his name would be always alive in history, he said. Prof Hussain also condoled with the bereaved family.

Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto University of Law founding vice chancellor Justice (retd) Qazi Khalid Ali, NED University of Engineering and Technology, Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Sarosh Hashmat Lodi, Benazir Bhutto Shaheed University, Lyari, Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Akhtar Baloch, Sindh Professors and Lecturers Association, central president Professor Ferozuddin Siddiqui and others also expressed sorrow over Prof Jalibi’s death and condoled with his family members.