There will never be another Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Don’t believe us? Google it.
The internet giant — which has made a praiseworthy tradition of highlighting the oft-forgotten great minds of the world — marked the musical maestro’s 67th birthday with a doodle.
And while Google honours Khan today, it’s safe to say that the honour is truly all ours to have been blessed with his heavenly voice. The ‘Shahanshah-e-Qawwali’ (King of Kings of Qawwali) was born on October 13, 1948 in Faisalabad, belonging to a family of qawwals whose lineage went back six centuries.
Here is Khan narrating the dream that changed his life: ”My father [the Qawwali singer Ustad Fateh Ali Khan] died in 1964, and ten days later, I dreamed that he came to me and asked me to sing. I said I could not, but he told me to try. He touched my throat, I started to sing, and then I woke up singing. I had dreamed that my first live performance would be at my father’s chilla [funeral ceremony], where we would all sit together again and read prayers from the Holy Quran and so on. On the fortieth day after his death, we held the ceremony, and I performed for the very first time.” And the rest, as they say, is history.
So without further ado, let us pay tribute to the man whose voice transcended all man-made barriers.
“I am a peddler, wandering and roaming from one village to another, in the lanes of cities, in the countries of the world, offering the message of peace, wishing to continue to do so all my life. And after a lifelong wandering when I reach my destination, may the slavery of Allah (SWT), His Prophet (PBUH) and Ali (RA) be the tiara of my head, shining like a star.” – Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
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