LAHORE (Dunya News) - Thirteen years have passed since the demise of prominent Na'at Khwan, Urdu poet, critic, essayist, lyricist and scholar Muzaffar Warsi.
Fans are observing his 13th death anniversary on Sunday (today). He died on January 28, 2011 in Lahore.
Born on December 23, 1933 in Meerut, his name was Mohammad Muzaffar ud din Siddiqui and he used his pen name ‘Warsi’ making Muzaffar Warsi.
He started his poetry by writing lyrics for songs for Pakistani movies but gradually changed direction and his style of poetry became more oriented towards writing Hamd and Naats.
Warsi was one of the few distinguished voices and one of the most prominent poets of Pakistan.
Warsi experimented with every genre of poetry including ghazal, nazam, naat and hamd.
The unique style and diversity of themes made him prominent among the poets of his era.
Muzaffar Warsi enlightened ‘Natia Poetry’ with a new style and naats like “Ya Rahmatulil Alameen” and would always be remembered among people having a literary taste. He received the pride of performance award from the government of Pakistan in 1988.
Among his publications were collection of various poetry genres and autobiography entitled “Gaye dinon ka suraagh” which was considered a classic. He also used to write for Urdu newspapers.
He was given the titles of ‘Faseeh ul Hind’ and ‘Sharaf u Shu’ara’ by the people of the literary circles. He had three daughters and one son.
He won wide acclaim for lending his melodious voice to Na’ats many of which have become popular mobile ringtones.
One of the famous recitals over the years has been “Koi to hai jo nizam-e-hasti chala raha hai.”
It was as a Na’at Khwan he won celebrity and the government honoured him with Pride of Performance in 1988.