Altaf Hussain Hali

Altaf Hussain Hali (1837-1914) was Ghalib’s pupil and the first real critic of Urdu poetry: his Muqaddama-e-Sher-o-Shairi argued that the tradition had grown ornamental and should turn toward plain speech and social purpose. He wrote the long reformist poem Musaddas and a biography of Ghalib that remains a primary source. His own couplets carry the critic in them — restless, aware of their own machinery.