The 16th death anniversary of renowned Urdu poet and lyricist Qateel Shifai was observed on Tuesday.
His real name was Muhammad Aurangzeb but he adopted Qateel Shifai as his pen name.
Qateel Shifai was born in Haripur in 1919 and passed away on July 11 2001. Besides ghazals and geets, Qateel Shifai had also written a large number of songs for Pakistani films.
The heart touching and evergreen tunes were composed on his poetic verses and legendary singers of his era sung them in their melodious voices.
Many of his poem collections were published; among them was ‘Mutriba’ which was given the highest literature award in Pakistan.
Over 20 collections of verse and over 2,500 songs for Pakistani and Indian films were published.
His poetry has been translated into numerous languages including Hindi, Gujarati, English, Russian and Chinese. Qateel Shifai received the Pride of Performance Award in 1994 for his contribution to literature, as well as the Adamjee Award, Naqoosh Award and Abasin Arts Council Award.
