Ghulam Farid Sabri

Early life

He was born in Kalyana, a village in the district of Rohtak in 1930. His family's musical lineage stretches back several centuries, to the age of the Mughal emperors. His family claims direct descent from Mian Tansen, the legendary musician of the court of Akbar the Great, the Mughal emperor. 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. Haji Ghulam Farid Sabri was raised in Gwalior. In his youth, he wanted to turn away from the world and live in the wilderness. However, his mother's stern rebuke turned him back to his responsibilities. At the age of six, Ghulam Farid commenced his formal instruction in music under his father, Inayat Hussain Sabri. Ghulam Farid Sabri was instructed in North Indian classical music and Qawwali. He was also instructed in the playing of the harmonium.

Migration to Pakistan

Following the independence of Pakistan in 1947, his family was uprooted from their native town and was transported to a refugee camp in Karachi, Pakistan. Conditions in the camp were woeful, food was scarce and expensive, and the rewards for hard work were barely enough to sustain life. Malnutrition was rife and brought with it scourges of tuberculosis and dysentery. Ghulam Farid found a job by carrying bundles of bricks for the government house building or by breaking rocks to build roads. At night, almost single-handedly, he built his own house, brick by brick, to shelter his family. Eventually, he became ill. Worn out, he was told by a physician that due to the condition of his lungs, he would never again have the strength to sing. In despair, he went to his father for advice and the advice he was given was uncompromisingly tough. Every night for the next two years, he would have to sit in the middle of the camp for four to five hours making zikr. All those days he bore the scars of beatings with wood sticks and stones thrown by his tired, sleepless neighbours and brawls he was in, when they were determined to stop him; but he would not be deterred and, as time went by, his lungs grew stronger and his magnificent voice was formed. Soon, Ghulam Farid started to mix with a small group of people who appreciated Qawwali.

Career

His first public performance was at the annual Urs festival of the Sufi saint Mubarak Shah in Kalyana in 1946. Before his family migrated to Pakistan in 1947, he had joined Ustad Kallan Khan's Qawwali party in India. In Pakistan, a wealthy businessman approached him and offered him a partnership in a nightclub, yet Ghulam Farid's reply was that he only wanted to sing Qawwali, and he rejected the offer. Later in 1956, Ghulam Farid joined his younger brother Maqbool Ahmed Sabri's Qawwali ensemble, and they came to be known as The Sabri Brothers. They became widely acclaimed for their singing. Their first recording, released in 1958 under the EMI Pakistan label, was a popular hit called Mera Koi Nahin Hai Teray Siwa. Their Qawwalis are very popular among the Pakistani public even till today. The most listened to Qawwalis are Bhardo Jholi Meri Ya Muhammad, Sarela Makan Se Talab Hui, Taajdar-e-Haram, Saqiya Aur Pila among others. They have sung many Qawwalis in Persian like Nami Danam Che Manzil Boodh, Chashm-e-Mast-e-Ajabe, etc. of Hazrat Amir Khusro and also Man Kunto Maula and Rang of Hazrat Amir Khusro. They have also sung a Kalaam of Imam Ahmed Raza Khan which is in four languages—Arabic, Persian, Urdu, and Hindi.

For the most part, Ghulam Farid Sabri led the chorus in his qawwali group, echoing and elaborating on the lead lines fed to him, as the dramatic performance proceeded. His younger brother Maqbool Ahmed Sabri was also the group's lead singer. Ghulam Farid was a big man with the commanding look of a Sumo wrestler and a voice like a barrel organ which would on occasion startle an audience with the chant of Allah above the melodic line and voices of the other Qawwals.

The group became the first exponents of Qawwali to the West in 1975, when it performed at New York City's Carnegie Hall. They were the first Pakistani's to perform there. The Sabri Brothers is the only qawwali troupe which has a "first class" status in the Pakistan Television Corporation. 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 a 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."

In June 1981, they performed at the Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam 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 in the following year. To devote an album entirely to the Persian poetry of Jami, a luminary of the Sufi Tradition, was an ambition Ghulam Farid had always cherished. Ghulam Farid Sabri did the recordings of Kalam By Maulana Abdul Rehman Jami in July 1991 at the SFB studios in Berlin, but the CD sadly was not released while he was still alive. It was released in 1995. Thus, ''Jami'' becomes a memorial not only to the Persian poet, but also to the Pakistani "Qawwal."

Qawwalis featured in Pakistani films

Several of their qawwalis were featured in the 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 Tau Kucch Le Kay Jaaen Gay 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, and Aftab-e-Risalat in the 1977 Indian film Sultan-e-Hind.

Personal life

Their career was marked by brotherly squabbles which led to periods of solo work by each, but they always reconciled and reunited. Ghulam Farid Sabri was survived by his wife, five sons, Sarwat Farid Sabri, Azmat Farid Sabri, Amjad Farid Sabri, Asmat Farid Sabri and Talha Farid Sabri, and six daughters. His son, Amjad Farid Sabri, was known as one of the foremost Qawwals of Pakistan. Ghulam Farid Sabri possessed a deep and powerful voice and presented the wajad energy during his performances. He was acknowledged as a deeply religious man, yet a warm, simple man with a great sense of humour, who was devoted to his family and friends. Shortly before his death, he began growing a beard. Ghulam Farid Sabri had been initiated into the Warsiyya order of Sufism by Amber Shah Warsi. The name bestowed upon him was Alam Shah Warsi.

Ghulam Farid Sabri lived in the heavily congested and overpopulated Pakistani suburb of Liaquatabad, Karachi. At night, Ghulam Farid Sabri used to lay on his bed listening to the sounds of surrounding lanes and alleyways. His sleep was minimal and his night was filled with constant zikr, made using his 1000 bead tasbih. He wore this tasbih around his neck during recordings and live performances.

Ghulam Farid Sabri initiated his sons into classical music at a young age. One of his younger sons, Amjad Farid Sabri, once recalled: "The hardest part was being awakened at 4:00 AM. Most riyaz is done in Raag Bhairon and this is an early morning raag. My mother would urge our father to let us sleep but he would still wake us up. Even if we had slept after midnight, he would get us out of bed, instruct us to make wuzu, perform tahajjud prayers, and then take out the baja. And he was correct in doing so because if a raag is rendered at the correct time, the performer himself enjoys it to the fullest".

Death

The night before he died, Ghulam Farid Sabri was discussing a tour of Germany later that year. His appearances in Britain and the United States set a pattern and began to build an audience for what has now come to be known as 'World Music'. Ghulam Farid Sabri died on April 5, 1994 in Liaquatabad, Karachi following a massive heart attack. He died en route to a hospital and beside him was his beloved younger brother, Maqbool Ahmed Sabri. His funeral was attended by approximately 40,000 mourners. He was buried at Paposh Qabristan, in nearby Nazimabad. His modest white grave is situated near his father's grave.

On 21 September 2011, his brother Maqbool Ahmed Sabri died in South Africa and was also buried next to their graves.

On 22 June 2016 (In Ramdan), his son Amjad Farid Sabri was shot dead in Liaquatabad, Karachi, Pakistan. Amjad Farid Sabri Was Buried Near His Grave