Urdu poet Hasan Akbar Kamal passes away

Kamal started poetry at a tender age, wrote many famous songs

KARACHI: Hasan Akbar Kamal, noted Urdu poet and writer, passed away on Friday at the age of 71.  He was suffering from multiple diseases and died at a private hospital.

According to his family, the funeral will be held at Imam bargah Ancholi and he will be laid to rest in Wadi-e-Husain off Super Highway today (Saturday).



Kamal had been awarded the Adamjee Literary Award in 1980. After Partition his family migrated to Pakistan and he spent his childhood in Sukkur. He obtained a Master’s in English literature from Sindh University, Hyderabad.

Since his parents moved to Karachi, he became a lecturer at the English department at Delhi College, where he served till his retirement.



“He was a genuine poet,” said Professor Sahar Ansari, adding that Hasan Akbar Kamal had an in-depth study in English, but he wrote poetry only in Urdu.

Kamal started poetry at a tender age and very few people would have missed the songs he composed such as Koi khushbu jaisi baat karo, Kabhi tum idhar say guzar kay tu dekho, Hai tera karam and Maula sung by popular singers Nayyara Noor, Alamgir, Gulbahar Bano and Tina Sani.



The books he has written include Sukhan (poetry collection), Khizan mera mausam (poetry collection), Kamal kay mazameen (criticism), Jahan-I-Ishq (poetry), Chacha Khairu (children’s novel), Mallah Ka Bhoot (children’s novel), Rustam Khan (children’s novel) and Adamkhoron ka jazeera (children’s novel).

Fatima Hasan, a poetess from Karachi, said that Kamal was famous because of his ghazals.

“He is as famous as Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi, Mohsin Bhopali and Raees Amrohvi,” she said. He survived by two sons and a wife.