Dhaka: People from all walks of life thronged the Bangla Academy premises Saturday noon to pay their last tributes to prominent poet Al Mahmud.

His body was kept at Nazrul Mancha at the Bangla Academy at 11:45am, reports the UNB.

The namaj-e-janaza of the poet will be held at Baitul Mukarram National Mosque here after Zohr prayers today.

Poet Al Mahmud passed away at a city hospital on Friday night. He was 82.

The poet breathed his last at 11:05pm  on Friday at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Ibn Sina Hospital in the city’s Dhanmondi area.

He was hospitalized under the supervision of Dr Abdul Hye due to illness on February 9. He had been suffering from multiple old-age complications since long, said the port’s assistant.

Mir Abdus Shukur Al Mahmud, best known as Al Mahmud, is a Bangladeshi poet, novelist, and short-story writer.

He is considered one of the greatest Bengali poets to have emerged in the 20th century. His work in Bengali poetry is dominated by his frequent use of regional dialects.

In the 1950s he was among those Bengali poets who were outspoken in their writing on such subjects as the events of the Bengali Language Movement, nationalism, political and economic repression, and the struggle against the West Pakistani government.

He was born in Morail Village of Brahmanbaria District in Bangladesh in 1936. His childhood and secondary education days were spent in this village which is located adjacent to Brahmanbaria town.

Mahmud started his career as a journalist and obtained widespread recognition after Lok Lokantor was published in 1963.

Al Mahmud was honoured with Ekushey Padak, Bangla Academy Award, and Kabi Jasim Uddin Award in recognition of his contribution to Bengali literature.