Maqbool Ahmed Sabri

"Shahenshah-e-Qawwali" Maqbool Ahmed Sabri Pride of Performance
Background information
Born	12 October 1945 Kalyana, Punjab Province, British India (now in Haryana, India)
Died	21 September 2011(2011-09-21) (aged 65)[1] South Africa
Genres	Qawwali, Ghazal, Sufi music
Instruments	Vocals, harmonium
Years active	1955–2011
Spouse(s)	2 Spouses

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Maqbool Ahmed Sabri (12 October 1945 – 21 September 2011) was a Pakistani qawwali singer and a prominent member of the Sabri Brothers, a well-known qawwali group in Pakistan from the 1970s to the 1990s. The Sabri Brothers were honoured with the Pride of Performance award by the President of Pakistan in 1978.^[2]

Early life[]

Born in Kalyana in eastern Punjab, Sabri was initially educated in the Hindustani classical music tradition by his father Ustad Inayat Hussain Sabri and his beloved elder brother Ghulam Farid Sabri. Their family came from a musical background, and claimed direct descent from Mian Tansen, who had played at the court of the 16th-century Mughal emperor Akbar. Mehboob Baksh Ranji Ali Rang, his paternal grandfather, was a master musician of his time; Baqar Hussein Khan, his maternal grandfather, was a unique sitarist. His family belongs to the Sabriyya order of Sufism, hence the surname Sabri. The family made the perilous journey to Karachi during the partition of India in 1947, though Sabri was almost left behind and rejoined the family party only when a servant found him still in the house – he had to run to catch up, clutching one of his instruments. Sabri initially learnt music from his father and his elder brother Ghulam. Later, Sabri and his elder brothers Ghulam and Kamal Ahmed Sabri furthered their knowledge of music under Ustad Fatehdin Khan, Ustad Ramzan Khan, Ustad Kallan Khan, Ustad Latafat Hussein Khan Rampuri, and their spiritual master Hazrat Hairat Ali Shah Warsi.

Career[]

Ghulam Farid Sabri, Maqbool Ahmed Sabri, Kamal Ahmed Sabri, & Mehmood Ghaznavi Sabri Performing As The Sabri Brothers In India, 1977

Ghulam Farid Sabri & Maqbool Ahmed Sabri Leading The Sabri Brothers in the WOMAD Festival, 1989

Sabri Brothers performing at SAARC Festival concert Held in Bhopal, 1992

Maqbool Ahmed Sabri & Mehmood Ghaznavi Sabri Leading The Sabri Brothers in Moscow, 2001

Sabri showed musical talent from a young age, which was noticed by his school teacher who later asked Sabri's father to further instruct him and guide him in the field of music. In 1955, when Sabri was eleven years old, his brother-in-law got him a job singing at a theatre in Karachi where he gave his first public performance and received a lot of appreciation from the audience by singing old Hindi film songs. Later, Sabri decided to quit his job as some other performers of the theatre started to become jealous of his popularity. Later, with the help of his father, Sabri formed a qawwali group at the age of eleven and named it Bacha Qawwal Party. The group’s first public performance was in 1956 at an Urs ceremony held at the home of Jameel Amrohi, where he sang "Do Alam Baka Kul Giraftar Daari" in the presence of many legendary qawwals of that time. Soon afterwards, his elder brother Ghulam, who was then performing as a supporting lead in Ustad Kallan Khan's qawwali group, joined him after their father's insistence and became the leader of the party, which soon came to be known as the Sabri Brothers.

Their first recording, released in 1958 under the EMI Pakistan label, was the Urdu qawwali, "Mera Koi Nahin Hai Teray Siwa." Their blockbuster hits included "Bhar Do Jholi Meri Ya Muhammad", "Tajdar-e-Haram", "O Sharabi Chord De Peena", "Khwaja Ki Deewani", and "Sar E La Makan Se Talab Hui." They sang many qawwalis in Persian like "Nami Danam Che Manzil Boodh" and "Chashm-e-Mast-e-Ajabe" by Amir Khusro and "Man Kunto Maula" and "Rang" by Amir Khusro. They also sang a kalaam by Imam Ahmed Raza Khan which is in four languages—Arabic, Persian, Urdu, and Hindi. The kalaam is "Lam Yaati Nazeeruka Fee Nazarin."

Sabri was considered a master of improvisational wordplay, often making references in Urdu and Punjabi, as well as Persian or Arabic, to historical events or to traditional poetry. Sabri was considered to be one of the best classical singers.^[3] He also sang ghazal which included "Tere Ghungroo Toot Gaye", "Aa Jan-e-Wafa", "Kabhi Tanha Beith Ke", "Gul Badan Gul Pairhan", "Jab Kabhi Aankh Milate Hain", "Din Ek Sitam", "Mere Mizaj Ki Awargi" and "Aaina Tordh Diya."

Sabri was also a poet who wrote famous qawwalis which included "Koi Mujhse Pooche Mai Kya Chahta Hoo Madine Mei Thodi Jagah Chahta Hoo" and "Ajmer Ko Jaana Hai."

Qawwalis featured in films[]

Several of their qawwalis have featured in films. "Mera Koi Nahin Hai Teray Siwa" appeared in the 1965 film Ishq-e-Habib, "Mohabbat Karne Walo Hum Mohabbat Iss Ko Kehtain Hain" in the 1970 film Chand Suraj, "Aaye Hain Tere Dar Pe" in the 1972 film Ilzam, "Bhar Do Johli Meri Ya Muhammad" in the 1975 film Bin Badal Barsaat, "Teri Nazr-e-Karam" in the 1976 film Sachaii, "Tajdar-e-Haram" in the 1982 film Sahaaray, "Mamoor Horha Hai" in the 1977 film Dayar-e-Paighambran and "Aftab-e-Risalat" in the 1977 Indian film Sultan-e-Hind, and "Tere Dar Ko Chord Chale" in the 1988 Indian film Gangaa Jamunaa Saraswathi, a solo ghazal sung by Sabri.

Foreign concerts[]

The Sabri Brothers are the only qawwali troupe with "first class" status on the Pakistan Television Corporation.^{[citation needed]} Popular film and recording artists in Pakistan, the Sabri Brothers troupe has toured Europe, Asia and the Middle East. In 1970 the government of Pakistan sent them to Nepal as representatives for the royal wedding. They were the first exponents of qawwali to the West, when they performed at New York's Carnegie Hall in 1975. In 1975 they performed in the United States and Canada under the auspices of the Performing Arts Program of The Asia Society. In April 1978, the album Qawwali was recorded in the United States while the Sabri Brothers were on tour. The New York Times review described the album as "the aural equivalent of dancing dervishes" and the "music of feeling."^[4]

In June 1981, they performed at the Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam.^[5] They played the Womad festival in the UK in 1989 – one of a series of appearances there – and released the album Ya Habib (O Beloved) on Peter Gabriel's Real World Records label the following year. In 1996, after the death of his brother Ghulam, Sabri performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music – Next Wave Festival, as part of a double-billing with alternate-rockers Cornershop, and the Voices Of God event in 1999 held at Marrakesh.

Personal life[]

In the 1960s he took allegiance to the Warsi order of Sufisim along with his most loved companion and elder brother Ghulam, on the hands of Hazrat Ambar Ali Shah Warsi. After the death of Ghulam, Sabri was deeply saddened and could not bear it. Sabri married twice; he did not had any children with his first wife. His first wife passed away during his lifetime. In 1977 Sabri was married for the second time to an Indian girl^{[clarification needed]} named Fatima residing in South Africa. He is survived by his wife Fatima, a son, Shumail, and his daughters, Ameema Shah, Gulerukh, Kanza and Tunanza.^[3]

Death[]

Sabri was treated in a hospital in South Africa for two months because he was suffering from heart problems and diabetes. He died in South Africa on Wednesday 21 September 2011 due to cardiac arrest. He was buried near his brother Ghulam's grave.^[6][7][8]

His legacy was carried on by his younger brother Mehmood Ghaznavi Sabri, and his elder brother Ghulam's son, Amjad Sabri.

On 22 June 2016, during Ramdan, his nephew Amjad was shot dead in Liaquatabad, Karachi, Pakistan. Amjad was buried near his grave.

On 3 October 2018, his nephew, Azmat Farid Sabri, died.

On 27 May 2020, his elder brother Ghulam's wife died.^[9]

On 21 June 2021, Sabri’s younger brother Mehmood Ghaznavi Sabri died in Karachi and was buried inside their mother's grave, making it now a double-storey grave which is located nearby the graves of Ghulam Farid Sabri, Maqbool Ahmed Sabri, and Amjad Sabri.

Awards and recognition[]

• Pride of Performance (Tamgha E Husn E Kaarkardagi) Award by the President of Pakistan in 1978 to the whole Sabri Brothers group.^[10]
• Spirit of Detroit Award by the federal government of the United States to both Ghulam and Maqbool Sabri in 1981.^[10]
• Khusro Rang to both Ghulam and Maqbool Sabri by the Raag Rang Society of India in 1980.^[10]
• Bulbul E Pak O Hind by President of India and President of Pakistan at the shrine of Nizamuddin Auliya to Ghulam and Maqbool Sabri in 1977.^[10]
• Charles de Gaulle Award by Charles de Gaulle to Ghulam and Maqbool Sabri in 1983.^[10]
• A doctorate degree was awarded to the Sabri Brothers as an honor for their hit record Shikwa Jawab E Shikwa (Of Allama Iqbal) by the University of Oxford.
• Tansen Samman (India) was awarded to Maqbool Ahmed Sabri in 2005 by the government of Madhya Pradesh.

See also[]

• Sabri Brothers
• Ghulam Farid Sabri
• Amjad Sabri
• List of Pakistani musicians

References[]