‘A. Hameed’s death - an immense loss to Urdu fiction’

Published in Pakistan Observer (30 Ar. 2011)

Sana Jamal

A. Hameed

Islamabad - A. Hameed, a prolific Urdu fiction writer, who rendered great services to national language has passed away, closing a golden era of Urdu literature. A. Hameed died at the age of 83 in Lahore on Friday. He was a patient of cardiac disease and diabetes.

Condolence messages

Prime Minister Gilani expressing his deep sorrow, said that the “death of A. Hameed is not only a great loss to his family but also for the entire literary circles of the country.”

National Language Authority (NLA) chairman Iftikhar Arif noted that “with the demise of A. Hameed, a golden romantic period of Urdu literature has come to an end.”

In his condolence message, Fakhar Zaman, Chairman of Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL), lauding Hameed’s services to the literature, recalled that “Urdu Nasar Ki Dastan and ‘Urdu Sher Ki Dastan’ are considered trendsetting publications in Urdu literature.” His other famous books are Mirza Ghalib, Dastango Ashfaq Ahmad and Mirza Ghalib Lahore Main.

A brief look at A. Hameed's memorable life

Abdul Hameed, whose nom de plume has always been A. Hameed, was one of the most popular Urdu fiction writers from Lahore. He Hameed was born in 1928 in Amritsar.

His first collection of short stories Manzil Manzil got a great acclaim from the readers and made him a well recognized romantic short story writer. He has written over 200 novels and 100 books for children, among which the most popular play for children, ‘Ainak Wala Jinn’, is still remembered for its vivid imagination, colourful characters and thrilling story.

Apart from writing short stories and novels, he wrote columns for national newspapers and also wrote Radio and TV programmes. A. Hameed’s son, Masood Hameed said his father left Voice of America because he never felt comfortable there and quoted his father as having said: “I can’t live anywhere in the world except Lahore. I am in love with the city”.

A. Hameed's Lahore

A. Hameed is known for his excellent essays on Lahore, seen from a unique and original perspective of a common city dweller. In his column, A Hamid’s Lahore Khalid Hasan recalled that “His (A. Hameed's) two collections of reminiscences of Lahore in the early years of independence are to be treasured because there is little of that kind of writing in our literature. The two books, Lahore ki yaadain and Chand chehrey, are like periscopes through which we can relive earlier times and catch a glimpse of the men who made the city what it was. That Lahore is no longer around!”