Renowned poet Himayat Ali Shair passes away in Canada

KARACHI: Famous Urdu poet and lyricist Himayat Ali Shair passed away in Toronto, Canada, after suffering a fatal heart attack on Tuesday morning.

93-year-old Himayat Ali Shair was an Urdu poet, writer, lyricist, actor and radio drama artist, who left four sons and four daughters behind, his son Auje Kamal told The News. His collections of poetry include ‘Mitti Ka Qarz’, ‘Tashnagi KaSafar’, ‘Haroon Ki Awaz’, and ‘Harf Harf Roshni’, which received Allama Iqbal Award.

Himayat Ali Shair was born on July 14, 1926, in the-then British Indian ‘Aurangabad’ Deccan and moved to Karachi after Partition in 1951. Earlier, he worked for the All India Radio and after Partition, began his remarkable career with Radio Pakistan, Karachi.

His first poetry book was published in 1956 namely ‘Aag Main Phool’ that received the Presidential Award in 1958. Several of his lyrics were sung by Ustad Mehdi Hassan Khan and Madam Noor Jehan, including ‘Na Chura Sakogay Daaman’ and ‘Jaag Utha Hai Sara Watan’ that have now become classics.

Renowned drama writer Asghar Nadeem Sayed paid great homage to the late wordsmith, saying that “Himayat Ali Shair was a very dear friend of mine and a great poet. He was a man with a strong grasp on Urdu language”.

Sayed continued, “He was an intellectual; a genuine poet, who frequently attended public gatherings and shows. In fact, he did a programme for PTV that revolved around poetry and Urdu language as a whole. I have learnt a lot from Himayat in the time that I spent with him.”

Himayat Ali Shair was the last among the poets of his age of Urdu poetic glory. Auje Kamal said least two scholars have done their PhD degrees on his poetry, and one from the Indian Maharashtra University and the other was from the University of Karachi.

APP adds: Renowned poet Himayat Ali Shayer, who died on Tuesday after protracted illness in Toronto, lived a spirited literary life and would always be remembered for his popular national songs and film songs he created.

The celebrated man of letters from old days had the credit of introducing a genre in poetry which he titled as “Salasi” that comprised of three lines on the pattern of Japanese Haiku, instead of traditional practice of two lines.

Noted poet Dr. Aslam Ansari termed Himayat Ali Shair’s demise a great loss for the literary community and the whole nation. He represented an era of a lively poetry creation.Multan poets loved him a lot, says poet Raziuddin Razi. He added that some poets had created their poetry in “Salasi” and later Dr. Muhammad Amin, a noted poet from Multan, introduced Japanese Haiku, also a three-liner, in Urdu poetry.

The songs created by Himayat Ali Shair gained popularity across the country particularly the national song: “Sathio Mujahido, Jaag Utha Hey Sara Watan.” Renowned vocalists sang his songs including Mehdi Hassan, Noor Jahan, Ahmad Rushdi, Mala, Saleem Raza and Naseem Begum.