Ma'ruf Jalil

Ma’ruf Jalil was born on 10 October 1936 in the settlement of Payshanba in the Kattakurgan district of the Samarkand region. The village lies between the Oqdaryo and Qoradaryo, the two arms of the Zarafshan; the landscape of his home place, including the plane trees of Payshanba, appears in his poems, for example “Chinorlar” (“Plane Trees”).

He began writing at school: his first poem, “Orzu” (“Dream”), was printed when he was in the eighth grade. In 1958 he came to Tashkent and started working as an apprentice at a printing house; later he worked in publishing houses and editorial offices and at the Writers’ Union of Uzbekistan. In 1961 he entered the correspondence department of the philology faculty of Tashkent State University and graduated in 1966.

His books reached a wide readership in the 1970s. The collections “Men sizni sevardim” (“I Loved You”) and “Rahmat, odamlar” (“Thank You, People”) came out almost together; according to memoirists, students passed them from hand to hand. They were followed by “Seni o‘ylab” (“Thinking of You”, 1973), “Notanish yo‘llar” (“Unfamiliar Roads”, 1976), “Qo‘shiq ishtiyoqi” (“Longing for Song”, 1979) and “Men suv ichgan daryolar” (“The Rivers I Drank From”, 1981).

Jalil also wrote essays and journalism: the collections “Bunyodkor qalb” (“A Creative Heart”, 1984) and “Orol madad so‘raydi” (“The Aral Asks for Help”, 1987). His later poetry books include “Parizodim” (1984), “Daryoni izlar shamol” (“The Wind Seeks the River”, 1987) and “Baxtimga sen borsan” (“You Are My Fortune”, 1989). Contemporaries and memoirists noted the simplicity and sincerity of his verse.

The poet received the annual Hamid Olimjon Prize of the Writers’ Union of Uzbekistan and, for his journalistic articles on the problems of the Aral Sea, a prize of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Ma’ruf Jalil died in Tashkent on 14 December 2004; his body was taken to his native village.