LAHORE, Feb 22: Noted poet, critic and professor of English Jilani Kamran died of brain haemorrhage here on Saturday morning. He was 77.

Prof Emeritus in English at Government College, Lahore, since 1999, Jilani Kamran was considered an authority on English and Urdu literature.

He was awarded Tamgha-i-Imtiaz and Pride of Performance in 1986 and 2002, respectively.

Prof Kamran was also a recipient of Quaid-i-Azam and Adamjee awards. He often participated in literary programmes on PTV and wrote articles in different newspapers.

He was life-member of the Academy of Letters and member of the executive committee of the Writers Welfare Board.

Prof Kamran had authored 35 books and translated the works of Khwaja Ghulam Farid into English.

Prof Jilani Kamran was born in Poonch, Kashmir, on Aug 24, 1926. He had a Master’s in English from Punjab University and MA (Honours) from Edinburgh University.

He started his teaching career with Government College, Lahore in 1958 and remained there until 1973. He was principal of Government Asghar Mall College, Rawalpindi (1973-75) and Government Shalimar College, Baghbanpura (1975-79).

He finally joined F.C. College as head of the English department in 1979 and retired in

1986.

Talking to Dawn the professor’s son Shahid said that his father was taken to hospital for high blood pressure on Saturday early in the morning where he died at 10.30am.

Prof Jilani Kamran is survived by his wife, three sons, and a daughter.

His funeral prayers will be held at 310-Nishtar Block, Allama Iqbal Town on Sunday (today) at 11am, after which the body will be taken for burial to Nishtar block graveyard.