Ghulam Mustafa Tabassum (, ), (4 August 1899 – 7 February 1978) was a 20th-century poet. His pen name was Tabassum (). He is best known for his many poems written for children, as the creator of the ''Tot Batot'' character, and as the translator of many poetic works from mostly Persian into Punjabi and Urdu languages.

Early life and career

Sufi Tabassum was born on 4 August 1899 in

Amritsar Amritsar, also known as Ambarsar, is the second-List of cities in Punjab, India by population, largest city in the India, Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab, after Ludhiana. Located in the Majha region, it is a major cultural, transportatio ...

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

, to parents of

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

i ancestry. He earned a master's degree in

Persian language Persian ( ), also known by its endonym and exonym, endonym Farsi (, Fārsī ), is a Western Iranian languages, Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian languages, Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, Indo-Iranian subdivision ...

from Forman Christian College (FCC) in

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

, Pakistan. He worked for and remained with Government College Lahore for his entire career, rising to head the Department of Persian Studies in 1943. Tabassum retired from Government College in 1954. Sufi Tabassum was also closely associated with the members of an informal literary circle called Niazmandan-e-Lahore. This circle's members included Pakistan's noted literary personalities including Patras Bokhari, Abdul Majeed Salik, Imtiaz Ali Taj, M. D. Taseer, Chiragh Hasan Hasrat, Hafeez Jalandhari, Abdur Rahman Chughtai and Majeed Malik. Sufi Tabassum also edited the magazine Lail-o-Nahar for a while in addition to working for Radio Pakistan, Pakistan Arts Council and Iqbal Academy. In Pakistan, he is considered a pioneer in children's poetry. ''Totbatot'' and ''Jhoolnay'' are his popular poems for children.

Poems

For fifty years, he was actively participating in Radio Pakistan and Pakistan Television poetry events. His poems were used as the lyrics of several songs sung by Noor Jehan, Naseem Begum, Farida Khanum and Ghulam Ali.

Awards and recognition

* In 1962, he received the

Pride of Performance The Pride of Performance (), officially known as the Presidential Pride of Performance, is an award bestowed by the Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Pakistan to recognize people with "notable achievements in the field of art, science, literature, sp ...

Award from the

President of Pakistan The president of Pakistan () is the head of state of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The president is the nominal head of the executive and the supreme commander of the Pakistan Armed Forces.

* In 1966, he received the ''Tamgha-e-Nishan-e-Sipaas'' award of the Government of Iran. * He was also awarded the Sitara-i-Imtiaz, Award (Star of Excellence) by the

. * In 2023, he was awarded the Nishan-i-Imtiaz (Order of Excellence) Award by the President of Pakistan.

Works (partial list)

* ''Tot Batot Collection''. Published by Ferozsons (no date), * ''Ab Sab Hain Tot Batot Mian'', Published by Gulzar Ahmed, 2000 * ''Jhoolnay'' (collection of poems for children), Published by Ferozsons (no date) * ''Doguna''. Published by Ferozsons (a translation of the works of Hazarat Amir Khusrow) * ''Sawan Raina Da Sufna'', a translation into Punjabi of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', unknown publisher * ''Talmatol'' (collection of poems for children) * ''Daman-i-Dil'' * ''Kulliyaat-i-Sufi Tabassum'' (Poetry in Urdu language) * ''Nazraan Kardiyaan Gallaan'' (Poetry in Punjabi language) * ''Naqsh-i-Iqbal'' (Punjabi translation of Allama Iqbal's poetry)

Death

Sufi Ghulam Mustafa Tabassum died in Lahore, Pakistan on 7 February 1978.

References

External links

Ghulam Mustafa Tabassum film song on IMDb website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tabassum, Ghulam Mustafa Pakistani dramatists and playwrights Urdu-language poets from Pakistan Forman Christian College alumni Persian-language poets Writers from Amritsar Punjabi-language poets Punjabi-language writers 1899 births 1978 deaths Academic staff of the Government College University, Lahore Recipients of the Pride of Performance Recipients of Sitara-i-Imtiaz Poets from British India Poets from Lahore 20th-century British poets Pakistani male songwriters Pakistani songwriters Pakistani radio personalities Pakistani children's writers Pakistani people of Kashmiri descent People from Punjab Province (British India) Recipients of Nishan-e-Imtiaz Pakistani television personalities