“Balagh-al-’Ula Bi-Kamaalihi” is a popular qawwali most famously performed by the late Sabri Brothers, Ghulam Farid Sabri (1930-1994) and Maqbool Ahmed Sabri (1945-2011), from Pakistan. It is a multilingual na’at (a praise of the prophet Muhammad) that amalgamates poetry from across time periods and geographies, with at least four authors.
Category: Qawwali
Mere Rashk-e Qamar: O My Envy of the Moon
“Mere Rashk-e Qamar” is an Urdu ghazal that was penned by the Pakistani poet Fana Buland Shehri (?-1986) and performed as a qawwali in the 1980s by Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (1948-1997).
Zihaal-e Miskeen: A Bilingual Masterpiece
Attributed to the legendary Ameer Khusrau, “Zi-haal-e Miskeen” is a romantic ghazal that alternates between Farsi (Persian) and Braj Bhasha, a dialect of Hindi. Although its true authorship is unclear due to a lack of historical records, it is one of Khusrau’s most well-known poems, particularly because of its unique bilingual structure.