Qabil Ajmeri (Urdu: قابل اجميري) was an Indian-Pakistani Urdu poet who was considered to be a senior poet at the age of only 21. He got a great fame in his very short life of 31 years.
Qabil was born on August 27, 1931, as Abdul Rahim in Churli, a town located 24 miles from Ajmer, Rajistan. His father was Abdul Kareem, and his mother was Gulab Bugem. He received his early education in Ajmer. Qabil was orphaned at age seven; his father died of tuberculosis, and his mother died shortly afterwards. His younger sister, Fatma, died within a few years.
In January 1948, Qabil migrated to Pakistan with his brother, Sharif, without any provisions, after joining a caravan headed across the border. They then settled in Hyderabad, Sindh. After a while, Qabil’s brother contracted tuberculosis and died.
Qabil Ajmeri began writing poetry at an early age, and become famous in his locality for his poetry by age 14. His major breakthrough came in a poetry session featuring the well known poet Molana Mani Ajmeri, who had been reciting poems for some time and intended to go on hiatus.
After migrating to Hyderabad Sindh, Pakistan in December 1947, he became popular at mushairas, and was recognised as a "senior" poet of Urdu at the age of 21, along with other veterans of Hyderabad, including Akhter Ansari Akberabadi, Mohsin Bhopali, and Himayat Ali Shaer.
After migrating to Pakistan, he began writing a "qataa", or quatrain, every day in the daily Javed, Hyderabad. Later on, his quatrains were published in the weekly Aftab, Hyderabad.
Qabil wrote both ghazals and nazms. He published compilations of Urdu poetry and a volume on philosophy, named the "Deeda e Baydar". He is known as one of Urdu's last romantic poets.
Qabil was admitted to several hospitals, and in 1960, he was sent to a Quetta sanatorium, where he met Nargis Susan, a nurse who was impressed with his poetry and who later converted to Islam. Afterwards, they married, and had an only son, Zafar Qabil Ajmeri.
Qabil Ajmeri died of tuberculosis in Hyderabad on October 3, 1962, at the age of 31.
