Watch Naseer Turabi explain why he wrote ‘Woh Humsafar Tha’

Renowned Urdu poet, intellectual and linguist Naseer Turabi passed away Sunday in Karachi aged 75.

Turabi’s most famous work includes the ghazal Woh Humsafar Tha, which he wrote after the separation of East Pakistan in 1971.

“I learnt of Dhaka’s fall at 11pm in  my office,” he said in an old video of him. “The moment I heard it I had goosebumps and tears falling because it was a very emotional crisis for Pakistan. I then wrote this ghazal.”

وہ ہمسفر تھا مگر اس سے ہمنوائی نہ تھی۔۔

Naseer Turrabi sahb’s words on Fall of Dhaka. Very emotional pic.twitter.com/qo6dLEBab0

— Nisar Akber (@NisaarAkber) September 12, 2020

Woh Humsafar Tha served as the theme song in Sarmad Khoosat’s 2011 drama serial Humsafar, with Fawad Khan and Mahira Khan in lead roles. It was sung by Qurat ul Ain Baloch and became very popular. 

Naseer Turabi was the son of famed religious scholar Allama Rasheed Turabi. He was born on January 15, 1945 in Hyderabad Deccan. The family migrated to Pakistan after independence and he obtained an MA in Journalism from Karachi University in 1962.

He was an executive member of Pakistan Writer’s Guild. He was also a member of KU syndicate and Area Study Centre for Europe. He was a recipient of the Allama Iqbal Award.