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 Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

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 Forman Christian College is a private nonprofit Liberal arts college, liberal arts Universities in Pakistan, university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. It was founded in 1864 and is administered by the Presbyterian Church (USA), Presbyterian Church ...

(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 The Government College University (colloquially known as GCU; Punjabi, Urdu: ) is a public research university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Founded as Government College, Lahore, in 1864 under British administration, it became a university ...

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 Syed Ahmed Shah Bokhari (Urdu: ), commonly known as Patras Bokhari (October 25, 1898 – December 5, 1958), was a Pakistani humorist, writer, broadcaster and diplomat who served as a Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations. B ...

, Abdul Majeed Salik,

Imtiaz Ali Taj Syed Imtiaz Ali Taj (; ; 1900–1970) was a Pakistani dramatist who wrote in the Urdu language. He is best known for his 1922 play ''Anarkali'', based on the life of Anarkali, that was staged hundreds of times and was adapted for feature film ...

, M. D. Taseer,

Chiragh Hasan Hasrat Chiragh Hasan Hasrat (190426 June 1955) () was a poet and a journalist from Poonch, Kashmir. Early life and career Chirag Hasan was born near Baramulla, Kashmir, British India, in 1904. He began composing poetry when he was still a student ...

, Hafeez Jalandhari,

Abdur Rahman Chughtai Abdur Rahman Chughtai (21 September 1894 – 17 January 1975) was a painter, artist, and intellectual from Pakistan, who created his own unique, distinctive painting style influenced by Mughal art, miniature painting, Art Nouveau and Islami ...

and Majeed Malik. Sufi Tabassum also edited the magazine Lail-o-Nahar for a while in addition to working for

Radio Pakistan The Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (); also known as ''Radio Pakistan'', serves as the national public broadcaster for radio in Pakistan. Although some local stations predate its founding, it is the oldest existing broadcasting network in P ...

, Pakistan Arts Council and

Iqbal Academy Iqbal Academy Pakistan (Urdu:) is an institute whose purpose is to study, promote, and disseminate the teachings of Islamic philosopher and poet Muhammad Iqbal. It was established by the Government of Pakistan, through the Iqbal Academy Ordinanc ...

. 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

and

Pakistan Television Pakistan Television Corporation (; reporting name: PTV); also known as ''Pakistan Television'', is the Pakistani state-owned broadcasting, broadcaster founded by the Government of Pakistan, operating under the Ministry of Information & Broadc ...

poetry events. His poems were used as the lyrics of several songs sung by

Noor Jehan Noor Jehan (21 September 192623 December 2000) was a Pakistani playback singer and actress who worked in both British India and later in Pakistan's cinema of Pakistan, cinema. Her career lasted over six decades, during which she recorded 10,00 ...

Naseem Begum Naseem Begum (), (24 February 1936 – 29 September 1971) was a famous Pakistani film playback singer. She was known as ''The Tradegy Queen'' for singing sorrowful and downhearted songs in films. She rose to prominence in the late 1950s, a ...

Farida Khanum Farida Khanum (Urdu: ) is a Pakistani classical singer. She is also known by her honorific title ''Malika-e-Ghazal'' (The Queen of Ghazal) in both Pakistan and India and is widely regarded as one of the greatest exponents of the ghazal genre ...

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 The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran (), known simply as ''Nezam'' (), is the ruling State (polity), state and current political system in Iran, in power since the Iranian Revolution and fall of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. Its Const ...

. * He was also awarded the

Sitara-i-Imtiaz The Sitara-e-Imtiaz () also spelled as Sitara-i-Imtiaz, is the third-highest (in the order of "Imtiaz") honour and Civil decorations of Pakistan, civilian award in the State of Pakistan. It recognizes individuals who have made an "especially me ...

, Award (Star of Excellence) by the

. * In 2023, he was awarded the

Nishan-i-Imtiaz The Nishan-e-Imtiaz (; ) is one of the state organized Civil decorations of Pakistan, civil decorations of Pakistan. It is awarded for achievements towards world recognition for Pakistan or outstanding service for the country. However, the awa ...

(Order of Excellence) Award by the President of Pakistan.

Works (partial list)

* ''Tot Batot Collection''. Published by

Ferozsons Ferozsons (Pvt) Limited (also Ferozsons Publishers) () is a Pakistani publishing company in Lahore, Pakistan. Established in 1894, it is Pakistan’s oldest publishing house. In 1954, the Ferozsons Business Group expanded when one of the famil ...

(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 Abu'l Hasan Yamīn ud-Dīn Khusrau (1253 – 1325 AD), better known as Amīr Khusrau, sometimes spelled as, Amir Khusrow or Amir Khusro, was an Indo-Persian Sufi singer, musician, poet and scholar, who lived during the period of the Delhi Sult ...

) * ''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 Muhammad Iqbal (9 November 187721 April 1938) was a South Asian Islamic philosopher, poet and politician. Quote: "In Persian, ... he published six volumes of mainly long poems between 1915 and 1936, ... more or less complete works on philoso ...

'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