Ghulam Farid Sabri

Ghulam Farid Sabri was born in Kalyana, a village in the district of Rohtak in Punjab, British India 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 musician of the court of Akbar the Great, the Mughal emperor.

Mehboob Baksh Ranji Ali Rang, his paternal grandfather, was a musician; Baqar Hussein Khan, his maternal grandfather, was a sitarist.

His family belongs to the Sabriyya order of Sufism, hence the surname Sabri was adopted by them.

Ghulam Farid Sabri was raised in Gwalior, India.

In his youth, he wanted to turn away from the world and live in the wilderness; his mother's stern rebuke turned him back to his responsibilities.

At the age of six, Ghulam Farid Sabri commenced his formal instruction in music under his father, Inayat Hussain Sabri.

He was instructed in North Indian classical music and qawwali.

He was also instructed in the playing of the harmonium and tabla.

Before starting to learn music, Ghulam Farid Sabri along with his father visited the shrine of Sufi saint Khwja Ghaus Muhammad Gwaliori in Gwalior to seek blessings.

Ghulam Farid Sabri initially learnt music from his father and many other musical teachers (Ustad) in Gwalior.

Later, he and his younger brothers Maqbool Ahmed Sabri and Kamaal 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.

Ghulam Farid Sabri's first public performance was at the annual Urs festival of the Sufi saint Mubarak Shah Sahab in Kalyana in 1946.

Following the independence of Pakistan in 1947, his family was uprooted from their native town and 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 f tuberculosis and dysentery.

Sabri found employment carrying bundles of bricks for the government house building or breaking rocks to build roads.

At night, almost single-handedly, he built his own brick house 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, Sabri started to mix with a small group of people who appreciated qawwali.

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 Sabri's reply was that he only wanted to sing qawwali, and he rejected the offer.

Later in 1956, Sabri joined his younger brother Maqbool's qawwali ensemble which was earlier known as Bacha Qawwal Party.

After Sabri joined and became the leader of the group, they were initially known as Ghulam Farid Sabri Qawwal & Party as Maqbool withdrew his name due to love and respect for his brother.

Later, after insistence from his well-wishers, Maqbool gave his name as a co-lead singer of the ensemble and they started to become known as Ghulam Farid Sabri - Maqbool Ahmed Sabri Qawwal & Party.

Later the group became 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 Nahi Hai Tere Siwa."

Their qawwalis are still very popular worldwide.

Their greatest hit qawwalis include "Bhar Do Jholi Meri Ya Muhammad", "Tajdar-e-Haram", "O Sharabi Chore De Peena", "Khwaja Ki Deewani", and "Sar-e-La Makan Se Talab Hui."

They have sung many qawwalis in Persian like "Nami Danam Che Manzil Boodh", "Chashm-e-Mast-e-Ajabe", etc. by Amir Khusro and also "Man Kunto Maula" and "Rang" by Amir Khusro.

They have also sung a kalaam by Imam Ahmed Raza Khan which is in four languages—Arabic, Persian, Urdu, and Hindi.

The Sabri Brothers received the Pride of Performance award by the President of Pakistan in 1978.

Sabri was also a Sufi mystic connected to the Chishti Order.

Ghulam Farid Sabri (1930 – 5 April 1994) was a qawwali singer and member of the Sabri Brothers, a qawwali group in Pakistan in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.