Muzaffar Warsi (23 December 1933 – 28 January 2011; ur, مظفر وارثی) was a Pakistani poet, essayist, lyricist, and a scholar of

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' na`ats, as well as several anthologies of

ghazal The ''ghazal'' ( ar, غَزَل, bn, গজল, Hindi-Urdu: /, fa, غزل, az, qəzəl, tr, gazel, tm, gazal, uz, gʻazal, gu, ગઝલ) is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry. A ghazal may be understood as a ...

s and

nazm ''Nazm'' () is a major part of Urdu and Sindhi poetry that is normally written in rhymed verse and also in modern prose-style poems. is a significant genre of Urdu and Sindhi poetry; the other one is known as ''ghazal'' (). is significantly ...

s, and his autobiography ''Gaye Dinon Ka Suraagh''. He also wrote

quatrain A quatrain is a type of stanza, or a complete poem, consisting of four lines. Existing in a variety of forms, the quatrain appears in poems from the poetic traditions of various ancient civilizations including Persia, Ancient India, Ancient Gree ...

s for Pakistan's daily newspaper '' Nawa-i-Waqt''.

Early life and career

Muzaffar Warsi was born as Muhammad Muzaffar ud Din Siddiqui into the family of Alhaaj Muhammad Sharf ud Din Ahmad known as Sufi Warsi ( ur, صوفی وارثی). It was a family of landlords of

Meerut Meerut (, IAST: ''Meraṭh'') is a city in Meerut district of the western part of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city lies northeast of the national capital New Delhi, within the National Capital Region and west of the state capital ...

(now in Uttar Pradesh, India). Sufi Warsi was a scholar of

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

, a doctor and poet. He received two titles: 'Faseeh ul Hind' and 'Sharaf u Shu'ara'. Sufi Warsi was the friend of

Sir Muhammad Iqbal Sir Muhammad Iqbal ( ur, ; 9 November 187721 April 1938), was a South Asian Muslim writer, philosopher, Quote: "In Persian, ... he published six volumes of mainly long poems between 1915 and 1936, ... more or less complete works on philos ...

(Allama Iqbal (علامہ اقبال), Akbar Warsi, Azeem Warsi,

Hasrat Mohani Syed Fazl-ul-Hasan (1 January 1875 – 13 May 1951), known by his pen-name Hasrat Mohani, was an Indian activist, freedom fighter in the Indian independence movement and a noted poet of the Urdu language. He coined the notable slogan ''Inqui ...

Josh Malihabadi Josh Malihabadi (born Shabbir Hasan Khan; 5 December 1898 – 22 February 1982) popularly known as Shayar-e-Inqalab (poet of revolution) was a Pakistani poet and is regarded as one of the finest Urdu poets of the era of British India. Kno ...

Ahsan Danish Ehsan Danish (, 2 February 1914 – 22 March 1982), born Ehsan-ul-Haq ), was an Urdu poet, prose writer, linguist, lexicographer and scholar from Pakistan. Ehsan Danish had penned down over 100 scholastic books on poetry, prose, linguistics, lex ...

Abul Kalam Azad Abul Kalam Ghulam Muhiyuddin Ahmed bin Khairuddin Al-Hussaini Azad (; 11 November 1888 – 22 February 1958) was an Indian independence activist, Islamic theologian, writer and a senior leader of the Indian National Congress. Following In ...

and Mahindar Singh Bedi. His family raised him with deep religious grounding. He has one brother and two sisters. Muzaffar Warsi has three daughters and one son. One of his nephews is Usman Warsi, a singer, music composer and poet. His grandson Amsal Qureshi is also a singer, guitarist, composer, songwriter and a poet. Muzaffar Warsi had worked at

State Bank of Pakistan The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) ( ur, ) is the Central Bank of Pakistan. Its Constitution, as originally laid down in the State Bank of Pakistan Order 1948, remained basically unchanged until 1 January 1974, when the bank was Nationalized and ...

(the Central Bank of Pakistan) as deputy treasurer. He started writing his poetry by writing lyrics for songs for Pakistani movies but gradually changed direction and his style of poetry became more oriented towards praising

Allah Allah (; ar, الله, translit=Allāh, ) is the common Arabic word for God. In the English language, the word generally refers to God in Islam. The word is thought to be derived by contraction from '' al- ilāh'', which means "the god", a ...

and

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mon ...

. He later started writing

Hamd Hamd ( ar, حمد, ḥamd, praise) is a word that exclusively praises God - whether written or spoken. Thus, The word "Hamd" is always followed by the name of God (Allah) - a phrase known as the Tahmid - "al-ḥamdu li-llāh" (Arabic: ) (English ...

and Na`ats. He also wrote, regularly, a stanza or two on current affairs in the newspaper ''Nawa-i-Waqt'' until just before he died. His most popular Na`at remains "Mera Payambar azeem tar hai" (My Prophet is the highest).

Death

Warsi died on 28 January 2011 in

Lahore, Pakistan Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

. and was buried at Johar Town Graveyard

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th List of largest cities, most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is th ...

Literary work

*''Alhamd''. (Hamdiya Kalaam) *''Lashareek''. (Hamdiya Kalaam) *'' Wohi Khuda Hai''. (Hamdiya Kalaam) *'' Tajdar-e-Haram''. (Naatia Kalaam) *''Kaaba-e-ishq''. (Naatia Kalaam) *''Noor-e-azal''. (Naatia Kalaam) *''Baab-e-Haram''. (Naatia Kalaam) *''Meray Achay Rasool''. (Naatia Kalaam) *''Dil Sey Dar-e-Nabí Tak''. (Naatia Kalaam) *''Sahib-ut-Taaj''. (Naatia Kalaam) *''Ummi Laqabi''. (Naatia Kalaam) *''Gaye Dinon Ka Suraagh''. (Khud-nawisht)- an autobiography *''Barf Kí Nao''. (Ghazliyaat) *''Khulay Dareechay Band Hawa''. (Ghazliyaat) *''Lehja''. (Ghazliyaat) *''Raakh Kay Dhair Main Phool''. (Ghazliyaat) *''Tanha tanha guzri hai''. (Ghazliyaat) *''Dekha jo teer kha kay''. (Ghazliyaat) *''Hisaar''. (Ghazliyaat) *''Zulm na sehna''. *''Lahu ki haryali''. *''Sitaroon ki aabju''.

Awards

Pride of Performance The Pride of Performance ( ur, ), officially known as Presidential Pride of Performance, is an award bestowed by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to recognize people with "notable achievements in the field of art, science, literature, sports, an ...

Award in 1988 by the

President of Pakistan The president of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=s̤adr-i Pākiṣṭān), officially the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is the ceremonial head of state of Pakistan and the commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces.Ghazal sung by Lata Mangeshkar & Jagjit SinghChitra Singh frequently used the Ghazals of Muzaffar Warsi
Pakistani film ''Hamrahi (1966)'' was a milestone film in renowned Pakistani playback singer

Masood Rana Masood Rana ( ur, , 6 August 1941 – 4 October 1995) was a Pakistani film playback singer. He began his singing career in 1962 with the film ''Inqalab'', became one of the top male singers in both Urdu and Punjabi films for more than thr ...

's singing career. All songs of 'Hamrahi' are relegated as the 'Best of Masood Rana'. Film Hamrahi's seven songs are listed here below: *"Kiya kahoon aye duniya walo, kiya hoon mein" (film: ''Hamrahi'': 1966, lyrics: Muzaffar Warsi, music: Tasadduq Hussain) *"Karam ki ik nazar hum per...ya Rasool Allah" *"Ho gaye zindigi mujhay pyari". *"Naqsha teri judaye ka ab tak nazar mein hai". *"Mujhay chore kar akela, kaheen dooor janay walay". *"Qadam, qadam pay naye dukh". *"yaad karta hai zamana unhi insano ko", sung by Masood Rana was a tribute song to

Muhammad Ali Jinnah Muhammad Ali Jinnah (, ; born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 1876 – 11 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the ...

* One of his super-hit poems was his Hamd "Koi to hay jo nizam e hasti chala raha hay", this Hamd first became popular recited in his own voice, which was later sung by

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan ( pa, ; born Pervez Fateh Ali Khan; 13 October 1948 – 16 August 1997) was a Pakistani singer, songwriter, and music director. He was primarily a singer of qawwali — a form of Sufi devotional music. Sometimes ...

*"Pukara hai madad ko, bay kason nay, haath khali hai...bachaa lo doobnay say ....ya Rasool Allah" was another popular Na'at written by him * "Aey Khuda, Aey Khuda, jis nay ki justuju, mil gaya uss ko tuu" Sung by

Adnan Sami Khan Adnan Sami Khan (born 15 August 1971) is an Indian singer, musician, music composer and pianist. He performs Indian and Western music, including for Hindi, Kannada, Telugu and Tamil movies. He has been awarded with Padma Shri (India's fourth hi ...

, written by Muzaffar Warsi, film '' Sargam'' *"

Tu Kuja Man Kuja "Tu Kuja Man Kuja" ( ) is a qawwali performed by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. It was composed by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan himself and written by Muzaffar Warsi. 2016 version In 2016, the song was covered by Rafaqat Ali Khan and Shiraz Uppal, wi ...

" was also written by him, originally composed and sung by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. The modern adaptation of the song was also performed in

Coke Studio Pakistan (season 9) The ninth season of the Pakistani music television series '' Coke Studio'' commenced airing in Pakistan on 13 August 2016, concluded on 24 September 2016 and contained seven episodes. Season nine aired Fridays (digitally) and Saturdays (televi ...

Rafaqat Ali Khan Ustad Rafaqat Ali Khan is a Pakistani singer-songwriter and musician. Trained as a classical singer, he is the son of the classical music singer Nazakat Ali Khan and nephew of Salamat Ali Khan of Sham Chaurasia gharana. He is the cousin of cla ...

and Shiraz Uppal.

Books on Muzaffar Warsi

*''Gaye dinon ka suraagh- Aapbeeti k tawana lehjey'' (Urdu), Qudratullah Shehzad, 2005.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Warsi, Muzaffar 1933 births 2011 deaths Muhajir people Pakistani poets Urdu-language poets from Pakistan 20th-century poets Pakistani performers of Islamic music Islamic music Pakistani songwriters Pakistani lyricists Recipients of the Pride of Performance