Ahmed Ali (; 1 July 1910 – 14 January 1994) was a Pakistani novelist,

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

, critic,

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

and

scholar A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a termina ...

. A pioneer of the modern Urdu short story, his works include the short story collections: (Embers), 1932; ''Hamari Gali'' (Our Lane), 1940; ''Qaid Khana'' (The Prison), 1942; and ''Maut Se Pehle'' (Before Death), 1945. His other writings include '' Twilight in Delhi'' (1940), his first novel in the English language.Profile of Ahmed Ali (writer) on Encyclopædia Britannica
Retrieved 31 August 2019 Muneeza Shamshie has called him "the forefather to all Pakistani English fiction." Shamsie, Muneeza.
TRIBUTE: A towering figure
" ''

Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the diffuse sky radiation, appearance of indirect sunlight being Rayleigh scattering, scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc ha ...

'', 27 June 2010
Archived
26 May 2025.

Early life and education

Ahmed Ali was born in Delhi,

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

, on 1 July 1910. He was descended from families of

Islamic scholars In Islam, the ''ulama'' ( ; also spelled ''ulema''; ; singular ; feminine singular , plural ) are scholars of Islamic doctrine and law. They are considered the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious knowledge in Islam. "Ulama ...

on both his paternal and maternal sides, with his paternal lineage tracing directly to

Abdul Qadir Gilani Abdul Qadir Gilani (; ; c. 1077/78 – 1166) was a Hanbali scholar, preacher, and Sufi leader who was the eponym of the Qadiriyya, one of the oldest Sufi orders. He was born c. 1077/78 in the town of Na'if, Rezvanshahr in Gilan, Persia, ...

, the prominent 12th-century Islamic scholar and

Sufi saint The term ''wali'' is most commonly used by Muslims to refer to a saint, or literally a "friend of God in Islam, God".John Renard, ''Friends of God: Islamic Images of Piety, Commitment, and Servanthood'' (Berkeley: University of California Press ...

.ALI, AHMED, and JSAL. �
INTERVIEW : AHMED ALI: 3 AUGUST 1975 ROCHESTER, MICHIGAN
” ''Journal of South Asian Literature'', vol. 33/34, no. 1/2, 1998, pp. 117–94. ''JSTOR''. 26 May 2025. His father Syed Shuja-ud Din was a civil servant in the British administration, being associated with the Punjab Civil Service, and was fond of

Persian literature Persian literature comprises oral compositions and written texts in the Persian language and is one of the world's oldest literatures. It spans over two-and-a-half millennia. Its sources have been within Greater Iran including present-day ...

. Ali began his formal education at the age of 5 by learning Qur'anic recitation.Coppola, Carlo. �
AHMED ALI (1910-1994) : BRIDGES & LINKS EAST & WEST
” ''Journal of South Asian Literature'', vol. 33/34, no. 1/2, 1998, pp. 112–16. ''JSTOR.'' Accessed 26 May 2025. For his higher studies, he graduated in

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

from

Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Muslim University is a Collegiate university, collegiate, Central university (India), central, and Research university, research university located in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Kh ...

and

Lucknow University University of Lucknow (informally known as Lucknow University, and LU) is one of the oldest public state university based in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. LU's main campus is located at Badshah Bagh, University Road area of the city with a second ...

; in the latter "having achieved the highest marks in English in the history of the university."

Personal life

In 1950, Ali married Bilqees Jehan Begum, the daughter of Barrister Rauf Ali; he was also from a prominent Delhi family and a friend of the noted lawyer and independence activist

Asaf Ali Asaf Ali (11 May 1888 – 2 April 1953) was an Indian independence activist and noted lawyer. He was the first Indian Ambassador to the United States. He also served as the Governor of Odisha. Asaf Ali was born on 11 May 1888 AD in Seohara ...

. Bilqees was a painter and writer who in 1963 had translated Ali's novel ''Twilight in Delhi'' into Urdu as ''Dilli ki Ek Sham''. Ali died on 14 January 1994 in

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

Professional career

British India

From 1932 to 1946, he taught at the leading Indian universities including

Allahabad University The University of Allahabad is a Central University located in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. It was established on 23 September 1887 by an act of Parliament and is recognised as an Institute of National Importance (INI). It is the 4th oldest mode ...

and his alma mater in

Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...

. He also joined the Bengal Senior Educational Service as professor and head of the English Department at

Presidency College, Calcutta Presidency University, formerly Presidency College, is a public state university located in College Street, Kolkata. Established in 1817 as the ''Hindoo College'', it was later renamed ''Presidency College'' in 1855 and functioned as a leadi ...

(1944–47) and was the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's Representative and Director in India during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, from 1942 to 1945. Following that, he was the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

Visiting Professor to

Nanjing University Nanjing University (NJU) is a public university in Nanjing, Jiangsu, China. It is affiliated and sponsored by the Ministry of Education. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Construction. The univers ...

, as appointed by the

British government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

of India. In 1948, when he tried to return home after the Partition, K. P. S. Menon (then India's ambassador to China) would not allow it because Ali had not indicated his preferences as a government employee; that is, whether to remain in India or transfer to Pakistan. As a result, he was forced to go to Pakistan.

Pakistan

In 1948, he moved to

. Later, he was appointed Director of Foreign Publicity for the Pakistan Government. At the behest of Prime Minister

Liaquat Ali Khan Liaquat Ali Khan (1 October 189516 October 1951) was a Pakistani lawyer, politician and statesman who served as the first prime minister of Pakistan The prime minister of Pakistan (, Roman Urdu, romanized: Wazīr ē Aʿẓam , ) is the he ...

, he joined the Pakistan Foreign Service in 1950. According to custom, tiles were drawn to determine the country of assignment. Ali's tile was blank, so he chose China and became Pakistan's first envoy to the new People's Republic. By that time he had learnt the

Chinese language Chinese ( or ) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and List of ethnic groups in China, many minority ethnic groups in China, as well as by various communities of the Chinese diaspora. Approximately 1.39& ...

and wrote a study titled ''Muslim China'' in 1949. He established formal diplomatic relations that same year. He also helped to establish an embassy in Morocco.

Literary career

Ali started his literary career at a young age, having published his first English poem in the ''Aligarh Magazine'' in 1926 and his first English short-story in 1929, "When the Funeral Was Crossing the Bridge" in the ''Lucknow University Journal''. He then became a co-founder of the All-India Progressive Writers' Movement along with the writer

Sajjad Zaheer Syed Sajjad Zaheer () (5 November 1905 – 13 September 1973) was a Pakistani-Indian Urdu political writer. He was a Marxist ideologue and a radical revolutionary who worked in both India and Pakistan. In the pre-independence era, he was a me ...

who had become well known by the publication of '' Angaaray'' (Embers) in 1932. It was a collection of short stories in the Urdu language and was a bitter critique of middle-class Muslim values in British India. In addition to Ali, it included stories by three of his friends; Mahmud al-Zafar,

and Rashid Jahan. This book was later banned by the British Government of India in March 1933.Introduction by the author, Ahmed Ali, ''Twilight in Delhi'', Rupa Publishing Co., Delhi, 1993 Shortly afterward, Ali and Zafar announced the formation of a "League of Progressive Authors", which was later to expand and become the All-India

Progressive Writers' Association The Progressive Writers' Association or the Progressive Writers' Movement of India or ''Anjuman Tarraqi Pasand Mussanafin-e-Hind'' () or ''Akhil Bhartiya Pragatishil Lekhak Sangh'' (Hindi: अखिल भारतीय प्रगतिश� ...

. Ali presented his paper "Art Ka Taraqqi-Pasand Nazariya" (A Progressive View of Art) in its inaugural conference in 1936. Later, Ali would distance himself from the movement, which he considered too narrowly focused on

Marxism Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, ...

. Ali achieved international fame with his first novel written in English '' Twilight in Delhi'', which was published by the

Hogarth Press The Hogarth Press is a book publishing Imprint (trade name), imprint of Penguin Random House that was founded as an independent company in 1917 by British authors Leonard Woolf and Virginia Woolf. It was named after their house in London Boro ...

in London in 1940. This novel, as its title implies, describes the decline of the Muslim aristocracy with the advance of British colonialism in the early 20th century. ''Al-Quran, A Contemporary Translation'' (

Princeton University Press Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large. The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financial ...

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

& Akrash Publishing) is his most notable contribution in the field of translation. According to the book's description it is "approved by eminent Islamic scholars", and "it has come to be recognized as one of the best existing translations of the holy Quran." Other languages he translated from, apart from Arabic and

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

, included Indonesian and Chinese.

Alamgir Hashmi Alamgir Aurangzeb Hashmi (born 15 November 1951) is an English language poet and writer of Pakistani origin. Considered avant-garde, his early and later works were published to considerable critical acclaim. He is widely published in the Unite ...

, "Ahmed Ali and the Transition to a Postcolonial Mode in the Pakistani Novel in English" in ''Journal of South Asian Literature'', Vol. 33/34, No. 1/2 (1998/1999), p. 256

Awards and recognition

* Elected a Founding Fellow of the

Pakistan Academy of Letters The Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL) () is a national academy with its main focus on Pakistani literature and related fields. It is the largest and the most prestigious learned society of its kind in Pakistan, with activities throughout the nat ...

in 1979. *

Sitara-i-Imtiaz The Sitara-e-Imtiaz () also spelled as Sitara-i-Imtiaz, is the third-highest (in the order of "Imtiaz") honour and Civil decorations of Pakistan, civilian award in the State of Pakistan. It recognizes individuals who have made an "especially me ...

(Star of Excellence) Award in 1980 by the

President of Pakistan The president of Pakistan () is the head of state of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The president is the nominal head of the executive and the supreme commander of the Pakistan Armed Forces.

* Conferred an honorary doctorate degree in 1993 by the

University of Karachi The University of Karachi (; informally Karachi University, KU, or UoK) is a public research university located in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. Established in June 1951 by an act of Parliament and as a successor to the University of Sindh (which is ...

. * On 14 January 2005,

Pakistan Post Pakistan Post () is a state enterprise which functions as Pakistan's primary and largest postal operator. 49,502 employees through a vehicle fleet of 5,000 operate traditional "to the door" service from more than 13,419 post offices across the ...

issued a commemorative postage stamp in his honour in its 'Men of Letters' series.

Works

Novels

*'' Twilight in Delhi'' (1940) *''Ocean of Night'' (1964) *''Rats and Diplomats'' (1986)

Plays

*''The Land of Twilight'' (1931) *''Break the Chains'' (1932)

Short stories

*"When the Funeral Was Crossing the Bridge," in ''Lucknow University Journal'', 1929. *"Mahavaton Ki Ek Rât," in ''Humayûn'' (Lahore), January 1931. * (1932). With Rashid Jahan, Mahmuduzzafar and

. *''Sholey'' (1934) *"Our Lane," in ''New Writing'' (London), 1936. *''Hamari Gali'' (1940) *"Morning in Delhi," in ''New Writing'' (London), 1940. *''Qaid-khana'' (1942) *''Maut se Pahle'' (1945) *"Before Death," in ''New Directions'' 15 (New York), 1956. *''Prima della Morte'' (1966). Bilingual Italian-Urdu version of ''Maut se Pahle''. *''The Prison-House'' (1985)

Poetry

*''Purple Gold Mountain'' ( Keepsake Press, 1960) *''First Voices'' (1965) *''Selected Poems'' (1988)

Literary criticism

*"Poetry: A Problem,” in ''Allahabad University Studies'', vol. XI, no. II, 1934. *''Art ka Taraqqî-Pasand Nazariya'' (1936) *“

Maxim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (; ), was a Russian and Soviet writer and proponent of socialism. He was nominated five times for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Before his success as an aut ...

as a Short-Story Writer," in ''Lucknow University Journal'', 1938. *''Mr.

Eliot Elliot (also spelled Eliot, Elliotte, Elliott, Eliott and Elyot) is a personal name which can serve as either a surname or a given name. Although the given name has historically been given to males, females have increasingly been given the name ...

's Penny-World of Dreams'' (1941) *''Failure of an Intellect'' (1968) *"Illusion and Reality, the Art and Philosophy of Raja Rao," in ''Journal of Commonwealth Literature'', July 1968. *''The Problem of Style and Technique in Ghalib'' (1969) *''Ghalib: Two Essays'' (1969). With Alessandro Bausani. *''The Golden Tradition: An Anthology of Urdu Poetry'' (1973)

Translation

*''The Flaming Earth'' (1949). An anthology of selected

Indonesian poems Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

. *''The Falcon and the Hunted Bird'' (1950) *''The Bulbul and the Rose: An Anthology of Urdu Poetry'' (1960) *''Ghalib: Selected Poems'' (1969) *''al-Qur’ân: A Contemporary Translation'' (1984) *''The Call of the Trumpet'' (unpublished). An anthology of

modern Chinese poetry Modern Chinese poetry, including New poetry (), refers to post Qing dynasty (1644 to 1912) Chinese poetry, including the modern vernacular (''baihua'') style of poetry increasingly common with the New Culture and 4 May 1919 movements, with the de ...

References

External links

Online Quran
includes the

Qur'an The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...

translation by Ahmed Ali.
Twilight in Delhi – a novel by Ahmed Ali on GoogleBooks website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ali, Ahmed 1910 births 1994 deaths Pakistani novelists Pakistani scholars Pakistani educators English-language writers from Pakistan Academic staff of the University of Allahabad Translators of the Quran into English Writers from Delhi University of Lucknow alumni Aligarh Muslim University alumni Academic staff of the University of Calcutta Islamic fiction writers Ambassadors of Pakistan to China Muhajir people Writers from Karachi Recipients of Sitara-i-Imtiaz 20th-century Indian translators Progressive Writers' Movement Civil servants from Karachi Indian emigrants to Pakistan