Saieen Zahoor
Saieen Zahoor khan | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Born | 1936 (1936) Sulemanki, Depalpur Tehsil, Okara district, Pakistan |
Occupation(s) | Folk Musician, Folk Singer |
Known for | His unique style with Ektara, Tumbi |
Awards | Pride of Performance Award by the President of Pakistan in 2020 "Best Voice of the Year" Award in 2006 by BBC Music |
Saieen Zahoor Ahmed or Ali Saain Shafiu (Punjabi: سائیں ظہور, born 1936)[1] is a leading Punjabi Sufi musician from Pakistan. He has spent most of his life singing in Sufi shrines, and didn't produce a record until 2006, when he was nominated for the BBC World Music awards based on word of mouth.[2][3]
He emerged as the "best BBC voice of the year 2006",[4] Saieen is not his first name but a Punjabi and Sindhi honorific title and is also spelled as Sain, In the muslim society of Punjab it is often associated with people who have given up the worldly pleasures for a more spiritual lifestyle.
Early life and career
Born in Sulaimanki, a village near Haveli Lakha of Okara district in the province of Punjab, Zahoor Ahmad was the youngest child in a rural peasant family.[4][3] He is said to have started singing at the age of five,[4] and from that early age, he had dreamt of a hand beckoning him towards a shrine. He started roaming the Sufi shrines of Sindh, Punjab, making a living through singing. Zahoor claims that as he was walking past a small shrine in south Punjab town of Uch Sharif (known for its Sufi traditions), when "someone waved at me with his hand, inviting me in, and I suddenly realized that it was this hand which I saw in my dream.[4]
For some time, he studied music under Raunka Ali of Patiala Gharana, whom he met at Bulleh Shah's dargah (shrine), and who became his first teacher for Sufi verses. He also studied music with other Uch Sharif-based musicians.[4]
Although not literate, Zahoor is known for his memory of song lyrics; mostly he sings compositions of the major Sufi poets, Bulleh Shah, Shah Badakhshi, Muhammad Qadiri, Sultan Bahu and others.[5]
Sain is famous for his performances at Coke Studio (Pakistan).[3] His upcoming Projects are in Australia and New Zealand in October & November 2014. In 2009, he performed at the folk music festival arranged by the Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop in Lahore and was reportedly a crowd puller.[6]
Musical style
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/42/4075w_sain-zahoor.jpg/200px-4075w_sain-zahoor.jpg)
For most of his life Zahoor performed mainly in dargahs (Sufi tombs/shrines) and festivals, and in the streets. He adopted the folk instrument Ektara (ek= one, tar = string), in its three-stringed version called Tumbi, as his main instrument. Like some traditions of Sufi music, he has a passionate, high-energy style of singing, often dancing in a frenzied style with the tassels on his instrument whirling around him. His typical outfit includes embroidered (kurta), beads, tightly bound turban, as well as ghungroos (anklet-bells worn by dancers). His voice has an earthy tone, almost cracking at the edges, but capable of a wide vocal and emotional range. "His piercing chiseled features are a regular sight on Pakistani TV and he has been the subject of at least one documentary."[4][5]
In 1989, he performed on a concert stage for the first time at the All Pakistan Music Conference,[4] which brought him into musical prominence. Subsequently he has emerged as a leading performer in Pakistan, frequently appearing on TV and in concerts. Zahoor has also given concerts in UK, Japan,[5] Ireland,[1] Canada and Norway.
Sufi singing is focused on poetry with themes of devotional love, which shares much with Persian mystic poets like Rumi and with other South Asian traditions such as the Bhakti cult. Some argue that Sufi traditions highlight a softer, multi-cultural aspect of Islam, which counters "the extremism of the mullahs who use the mosques to spread ill-will" against other cultural groups, according to some organizers of Saieen Zahoor's concerts.[2]
In 2006, Zahoor released an album titled Awazay ("Sounds") through Matteela Records. In 2007, he helped produce the soundtrack to the Pakistani film Khuda Ke Liye (2007).
He sang an ost in 2011 for West Is West a British comedy-drama film, which is a sequel to the 1999 comedy East Is East. Saieen Zahoor has performed in Norway, Belgium, Dubai, Malaysia, China and India.[5]
Songs
- Toomba (Coke Studio Season 2)
- Allah Hoo
- Nachna Painda Hai
- Tere Ishq Nachaya
- Ek Alif (Coke Studio Season 2)
- Allah Hoo (Coke Studio Season 6)
- Rabba Ho (Coke Studio Season 6)
- Alif Allah Nu (duckU Records)
- Duniya Chalo Chali Da Mela (duckU Records)
- Maaye Ni Main Kinu Akhan (duckU Records)
- Lagi Bina/ Chal Mele Noon Challiye (Coke Studio Season 9)
- Mirzya Title song - 2016
- Dill Da Kabah
Films
His music has been used in the following films
- West is West (2010) – Toomba and Ek Alif
- Mirzya – Teen Gawah[7]
Awards and recognition
- Pride of Performance Award by the President of Pakistan in 2020.[8]
- "Best Voice of the Year" Award in 2006 by BBC Music.[3][4]
References
- ^ a b "Festival of World Cultures, Dublin 2009". Archived from the original on 13 January 2010. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
- ^ a b Robin Denselow (2 December 2005). "Sufi's choice". The Guardian (UK newspaper). Retrieved 30 September 2022.
- ^ a b c d Profile of Saieen Zahoor on cokestudio.com.pk website Retrieved 30 September 2022
- ^ a b c d e f g h Ivan Chrysler (2006). "Winner BBC Music Awards 2006: Sain Zahoor (Pakistan)". BBC Music website. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
- ^ a b c d "Folk Music Performance: Pakistan Pavilion [PDF]" (PDF). Aichi Expo 2005 website. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
- ^ Saieen Zahoor's performance at the 2009 Lahore Folk Music Festival Dawn (newspaper), Published 17 May 2009, Retrieved 30 September 2022
- ^ Baloch folk singer Akhtar Chanal Zahri to make his Bollywood debut in Mirzaya (along with Saieen Zahoor) Pakistan Today (newspaper), Published 9 September 2016,Retrieved 30 September 2022
- ^ Conferment of Pakistan Civil Awards The News International (newspaper), Published 14 August 2019, Retrieved 30 September 2022
External links
- Saieen Zahoor and Sanam Marvi's performance at Coke Studio (Pakistan) on YouTube
- v
- t
- e
- Abdur Rehman Chughtai (1958)
- Zainul Abedin (1958)
- Hafeez Jalandhari (1958)
- Professor Abdus Salam (1958)
- Roshan Ara Begum (1960)
- Fateh Ali Khan (Qawwali singer) (1960)
- Tassaduq Hussain (1960)
- Sadequain (1962)
- Mehdi Ali Mirza (1962)
- Ghulam Mustafa Tabassum (1962)
- Ahmed Mohiuddin (1962)
- Allah Bakhsh (1963)
- Shahid Ahmad Dehlvi (1963)
- Noor Jehan (1965)
- A.S.M. Qamarul Hasan (1965)
- Zubaida Agha (1965)
- Ferdausi Begum (1965)
- Sharif Khan Poonchwaley (1965)
- Imtiaz Ali Taj (1965)
- Salimuzzaman Siddiqui (1966)
- Shakir Ali (1966)
- Khwaja Moinuddin (1966)
- Ayat Ali Khan (1966)
- Ustad Haji Mohammad Sharif (1967)
- Munshi Raziuddin (1967)
- Rafi Peer (1967)
- Ali Imam (1968)
- Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi (1968)
- Amanat Ali Khan (1969)
- Bade Fateh Ali Khan (1969)
- Leila Arjumand Banu (1969)
- Umeed Ali Khan (1969)
- Mohammad Kibria (1969)
- Anna Molka Ahmed (1969)
- Ismail Gulgee (1970)
- Farida Khanum (1970)
- Naheed Niazi (1970)
- Muslehuddin (1970)
- Ustad Gul Mohammad Khan (1971)
- S. M. Ikram (1971)
- Iqbal Bano (1974)
- Salamat Ali Khan (1977)
- Munir Sarhadi (1978)
- Ahmed Parvez (1978)
- Ustad Manzoor Ali Khan (1978)
- Sabri Brothers (1978)
- Ibn-e-Insha (1978)
- Faiz Mohammad Baloch (1979)
- Khamiso Khan (1979)
- Kishwar Sultan (1979)
- Ustad Fateh Ali Khan (Sitar Nawaz) (1979)
- Ghulam Ali (1979)
- Alam Lohar (1979)
- Mureed Buledi (1979)
- Misri Khan Jamali (1979)
- Pathanay Khan (1979)
- Mohammad Azam Chishti (1979)
- Ashfaq Ahmed (1979)
- Nabi Bakhsh Baloch (1979)
- Mohammad Qavi Khan (1980)
- Ustad Khyal Muhammad (1980)
- Allan Fakir (1980)
- Sohail Rana (1980)
- Khalid Iqbal (1980)
- Aazar Zubi (1980)
- Malika Pukhraj (1980)
- Muhammad Juman (1980)
- Qari Shakir Qasmi (1981)
- Nasir Jahan (1981)
- Mansoor Tabish (1981)
- Qari Syed Ali Sharfuddin Yemni (1981)
- Nanhe Ali Khan (music performer))(1981)
- Roohi Bano (1981)
- Alexander Robert (1981)
- Mai Bhagi (1981)
- Mirza Adeeb (1981)
- Uzma Gillani (1982)
- Qari Ubaidur Rehman (1982)
- Talat Hussain (1982)
- Tufail Niazi (1982)
- Reshma (1982)
- Arsh Muneer (1983)
- Ustad Nazar Hussain (1983)
- Atta Shad (1983)
- Qari Waheed Zafar Qasmi (1984)
- Begum Khurshid Mirza (1984)
- Abida Parveen (1984)
- Muhammad Ali (1984)
- Sayed Nafees al-Hussaini, Nafees Raqam (1985)
- Ustad Chhote Ghulam Ali Khan (1985)
- Bundu Khan (1985)
- Mehdi Hasan (1985)
- Shaukat Hussain (1985)
- Qari Ghulam Rasool (1985)
- Siddiq Ismail (1985)
- Abid Ali (1985)
- Syed Mehmood Ali (1985)
- Sabiha Khanum (1986)
- Shahzad Khalil (1986)
- Suraiya Multanikar (1986)
- Firdous Jamal (1986)
- Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan(1986)
- Azhar Lodhi (1986)
- Riaz Batalvi (1986)
- Intizar Hussain (1986)
- Amjad Islam Amjad (1987)
- Ustad Abdul Majeed Dehlvi (1987)
- Haseena Moin (1987)
- Aadil Salahuddin (1987)
- Sain Akhtar Hussain (1987)
- Qari Izhar Ahmed Thanvi (1987)
- Shaista Zaid (1988)
- Ghulam Hassan Shaggan (1988)
- Mustafa Qureshi (1988)
- Muzaffar Warsi (1988)
- Qazi Wajid (1988)
- Ustad Kabir Khan (1989)
- Ghulam Ahmed Chishti (1989)
- Musarrat Nazir (1989)
- Shafi Mohammad Shah (1989)
- Kamal Ahmed Rizvi (1989)
- Jameel Bismil (1989)
- Bushra Ansari (1989)
- Ameer Khan (1989)
- Amjad Hussain (1989)
- Ustad Salamat Ali Khan (1989)
- Aziz Mian (1989)
- Talish (1989)
- Maharaj Ghulam Hussain Kathak (1989)
- Jamil Naqsh (1989)
- Enver Sajjad (1989)
- Salim Nasir (1990)
- Daud Kamal (1990)
- Khalid Hameed Baig (1990)
- Shaukat Ali (1990)
- Ustad Sadiq Ali Khan Mando (1990)
- Ustad Hamid Ali Khan (1990)
- Ustad Fateh Ali Khan (Gwalior gharana) (1990)
- Ahmed Saeed Nagi (1990)
- Qari Mohammad Fida (1990)
- Parveen Shakir (1990)
- Iftikhar Arif (1990)
- Ibrahim Jalees (1990)
- Jamiluddin Aali (1991)
- Khursheed Alam known as Gohar Qalam (1991)
- Khayyam Sarhadi (1991)
- Attaullah Khan Esakhelvi (1991)
- Ata ul Haq Qasmi (1991)
- Nayyar Ali Dada (1992)
- Shakeel (Yousuf Kamal) (1992)
- Noor Mohammad Lashari (1992)
- Tariq Aziz (1992)
- Mustansar Hussain Tarar (1992)
- Pervez Malik (1992)
- Jawed Iqbal (1992)
- Mian Ijazul Hasan (1992)
- Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman (1992)
- Munir Niazi (1992)
- Naseem Hijazi (1992)
- Mian Sheheryar (1992)
- Mushtaq Gazdar (1992)
- Waheed Qureshi (1993)
- Ismail Shahid (1993)
- Saeed Akhtar (1993)
- Ali Ejaz (1993)
- S.H. Hashmi (1993)
- Syed Manzoorul Kaunain (1993)
- Qari Syed Buzurg Shah Al-Azhari (1993)
- Agha Nasir (1993)
- Farooq Qaiser (1993)
- Bashir Mirza (1994)
- Ahmad Bashir (1994)
- Shahid Jalal (1994)
- Qari Mohammad Younus (1994)
- Qari Syed Ali Abid Naqvi (1994)
- Mehr Abdul Haq (1994)
- Nisar Bazmi (1994)
- Hamid Ali Bela (1994)
- Zareena Baloch (1994)
- Anwar Maqsood (1994)
- Shujaat Hashmi (1994)
- Qateel Shifai (1994)
- Zamir Niazi (1994))
- Tufail Hoshiarpuri (1994)
- Nahid Siddiqui (1994))
- Laeeq Ahmed (1994)
- Abdus Salam (newscaster) (1994)
- Allah Rakha (sarangi) (1995)
- Ustad Talib Hussain Khan (1995)
- Colin David (1995)
- Shoaib Hashmi (1995)
- Rauf Khalid (1995)
- Laila Shahzada (1995)
- Hajra Masroor (1995)
- Khursheed Ahmad (1996)
- Mashooq Sultan (1996)
- Safeerullah Lehri (1996)
- Afzal Ahsan Randhawa (1996)
- Qari Noor Mohammad (1996)
- Rubina Khalid (1996)
- Fatima Surayya Bajia (1996)
- Sehba Akhtar (1996)
- Mohammad Ali Shah (surgeon) (1996)
- Ahmad Rahi (1997)
- Ahmed Ghulam Ali Chagla (1997)
- Nadeem Baig (1997)
- Abdul Hameed (1997)
- Masroor Anwar (1997)
- Ahmad Ali Khan (1997)
- Akhtar Chanal Zahri (1998)
- Mumtaz Mirza (1998)
- Suhrab Faqir (1999)
- Dilawar Figar (1999)
- Salima Hashmi (1999)
- Anwar Masood (1999)
- Anita Ghulam Ali (1999)
- Zafar Iqbal (poet) (1999)
- Khalid Abbas Dar (1999)
- Khatir Ghaznavi (1999)
- Mujahid Kamran (1999)
- Raza Mir (1999)
- Amjad Parvez (2000)
- Sharif Kunjahi (2000)
- Kamaluddin Ahmed (2001)
- Athar Shah Khan Jaidi (2001)
- Jameel Fakhri (2002)
- Nazia Hassan (2002)
- Deena M. Mistri (2002)
- Askari Mian Irani (2002)
- Himayat Ali Shair (2002)
- Shoaib Mansoor (2002)
- Jilani Kamran (2002)
- Iftikhar Ahmad (2003)
- Ada Jafri (2003)
- Syed Afzal Hussain (2003)
- Syed Munawwar Saeed (2003)
- Abdul Aziz Baloch (2003)
- Ghulam Mustafa (2003)
- Majeed Khan (sarangi player) (2003)
- Muneeza Hashmi (2003)
- Muhammad Ali Siddiqui (2003)
- Imdad Hussaini (2003)
- Muhammad Usman Diplai (2004)
- Yousuf Khan (actor) (2004)
- Mahtab Akbar Rashdi (2004)
- Chishty Bin Subh-o-Mujahid (2004)
- Navid Shahzad (2004)
- Salahuddin Toofani (2004)
- S. M. Naqi (2004)
- Haji Atta Muhammad (2004)
- Moin Niazi (2004)
- Shahida Parveen (2004)
- Tina Sani (2004)
- Niaz Ahmed (2004)
- Samiur Rahman (2004)
- Tariq Rahman (2004)
- Rais Khan (2005)
- Arif Lohar (2005)
- Rangeela (2005)
- Muhammad Mansha Yaad (2005)
- Shabnam Shakeel (2005)
- Abdul Rauf Rufi (2005)
- Khawaja Najmul Hassan (2005)
- Amir Adnan (2006)
- Asghar Nadeem Syed (2006)
- Arshad Mehmood (2006)
- Arfa Karim (2006)
- Fareed Ayaz (2006)
- Nayyar Kamal (2006)
- Tassawar Khanum (2006)
- Ustad Badar uz Zaman (2006)
- Ustad Qamar uz Zaman (2006)
- Shafqat Tanvir Mirza (2006)
- Zehra Nigah (2006)
- Khalida Hussain (2006)
- Ghazi Sial (2006)
- Nayyara Noor (2006)
- Masood Akhtar (2006)
- Aftab Iqbal Shamim (2006)
- Naheed Akhtar (2007)
- Shaan (2007)
- Asad Amanat Ali Khan (2007)
- Hamid Ali Khan (2007)
- Faakhir Mehmood (2007)
- Munnu Bhai (2007)
- Munni Begum (2008)
- Akhtar Munir (2008)
- Gopal Das (2008)
- Haji Mehr Ali (2008)
- Haji Sher Ali (2008)
- Nahid Raza (2008)
- Gul Bahar Bano (2008)
- Mujahid Hussain (2008)
- Rasheed Malik (2008)
- Sultana Siddiqui (2008)
- Abdul Karim Balouch (2008)
- Abdul Qadir Junejo (2008)
- M. Hanif Raza (2008)
- Nasreen Askari (2008)
- Shafqat Amanat Ali (2008)
- Mansoor Rahi (2008)
- Tari Khan (2008)
- Noorul Huda Shah (2008)
- Rasheed Naz (2009)
- Ustad Shafqat Ali Khan (2009)
- Muhammad Younus Khan (2009)
- Emanuel Philip (2009)
- Rehana Siddiqui (2009)
- Shabbir Hussain (2009)
- Manzoor Hussain (2009)
- Parveen Nazzar (2009)
- Javaid Tufail Niazi (2009)
- Babar Ali Niazi (2009)
- Hajra Mansoor (2009)
- Behroze Sabzwari (2009)
- Obaidullah Baig (2009)
- Khalifa Muhammad Irshad Beg (2009)
- Naseem Sultan (2009)
- Ghous Bux Brohi (2009)
- Sahib Dino Mallah (2009)
- Satish Chandra Anand (2009)
- Rubeena Malik (2009)
- Badar Munir (2009)
- Muhammad Gul (2009)
- Mehnaz Hyat (2009)
- Abdul Qadir (2009)
- Ghayyur Akhtar (2009)
- Aslam Farrukhi (2009)
- Ali Moeen Nawazish (2009)
- Afzal Tauseef (2010)
- Musarrat Misbah (2010)
- Rabia Zuberi (2010)
- Zulfiqar Ali (2010)
- Mahmood Shaam (2010)
- Hameed Akhtar (2010)
- Fahmida Riaz (2010)
- Shahid Nadeem (2010)
- Muhammad Ibrahim Joyo (2010)
- Masood Mufti (2010)
- Masood Ashar (2010)
- Habib-ur-Rehman (2011)
- Khalida Inayat Noor (2011)
- Khan Tehsil (2011)
- Abdul Rahim Nagori (2011)
- S. Amjad Bukhari (2011)
- S. B. John (2011)
- S.H. Qasim Jalali (2011)
- Samina Ahmad (2011)
- Sohail Ahmed (2011)
- Ustad Hussain Bukhsh Gullu (2011)
- Khalid Ahmad (2011)
- Ustad Muhammad Alam (2011)
- Ustad Sharafat Ali Khan (2011)
- Wazir Afzal (2011)
- Zafar Kazmi (2011)
- Moin Akhter (2011)
- Sahira Kazmi (2012)
- Mohsin Gillani (2012)
- Nauman Ijaz (2012)
- Saba Hameed (2012)
- Jawed Sheikh (2012)
- Meera (2012)
- Rahat Naveed Masud (2012)
- Lutfullah Khan (2012)
- Kazim Pasha (2012)
- Tahira Syed (2013)
- Muhammad Ajmal Khan (2013)
- Alamgir (2013)
- Shahida Mini (2013)
- Naghma (2013)
- Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema (2013)
- Cecil Chaudhry (2013)
- Shahid Abdullah (2014)
- Ustad Shafiquz Zaman Khan (2014)
- Aurangzeb Leghari (2014)
- Nazir Leghari (2014)
- Ayub Khawar (2014)
- Mir Mohammad Ali (TV comedian) (2015)
- Ayesha Haroon (2015)
- Saleem Kausar (2015)
- Saba Qamar (2016)
- Waseem Abbas (2016)
- Wajahat Masood (journalist) (2016)
- Gulab Chandio (2016)
- Nathoo Khan (2016)
- Khalid Butt (2016)
- Sarmad Khoosat (2017)
- Humaira Channa (2017)
- Ghazi Salahuddin (2017)
- Rashid Mehmood (2017)
- Shakir Shuja Abadi (2017)
- Zulfiqar Bhutta (2017)
- Aslam Pervaiz (2018)
- Ghulam Haider (musician) (2018)
- Amin Hafeez (2018)
- A. Nayyar (singer) (2018)
- Bilqees Khanum (2018)
- Rauf Parekh (journalist) (2018)
- Amanullah (comedian) (2018)
- Nighat Chaudhry (classical dancer) (2018)
- Nighat Butt (2018)
- Zareen Panna (2018)
- Ishrat Fatima (newsreader) (2019)
- Reema Khan (2019)
- Arshad Sharif (journalist) (2019)
- Nasir Adeeb (2019)
- Shabbir Jan (2019)
- Iftikhar Thakur (2019)
- Deeba (2020)
- Ghulam Mohiuddin (2020)
- Sahir Ali Bagga (2020)
- Waris Baig (2020)
- Ghulam Abbas 2020
- Saieen Zahoor (2020)
- Fareed Ayaz (for qawwali group member Abu Muhammad) (2020)
- Sarmad Sehbai (2021)
- Resham (2021)
- Khalid Masud Gondal (2021)
- Hafeez Tahir (2023)
- Sangeeta (2023)
- Sher Miandad Khan (2023)
- Ustad Tafu (2023)
- Anjuman (2023)
- Naghma (2023)