Mard-e-Zauq/Man of Taste: Ijaz Hussain Hazravi (Fresh Link)

by Faiza Butt

I’ve been entranced by the singing of a man named Ijaz Hussain Hazravi of late. I have been unable to uncover anything of significance about him other than the ultra brief biographical sketch available on the CD that is the subject of tonight’s post.

A contemporary of Barkat Ali Khan, he began to sing for Radio Pakistan, Lahore, having received training under the maestro Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan. His forte was the thumri-accented ghazal interspersed with enchanting taans and sargam snatches. He was born in the Punjabi village of Hazro (near Rawalpindi) in 1928 and died in 1989. (Liner Notes)

Enchanting is the perfect word for this man’s singing.   It has a hypnotic quality not unlike the effect of a breeze  gently but persistently nudging the bushy canopy of a shisham tree.  Movement is tentative at first; it doesn’t seem worth much.  But it keeps blowing, steadily building an intense emotion that doesn’t insist upon overpowering you but  rather darts in and out of view until you are mesmerized.  Hazravi’s voice resonates with a deep melancholy and his delivery is gradual. At times it seems pained; as if the truth of the poetry is so sharp it is able to stop his breath. The result is haunting, just like the sudden rustle of a tree on a dark night.

Certainly he was a mard-e-zauq (man of taste). The songs selected for this recording cover all the greatest historical and modern achievers of the Urdu ghazal: Ghalib, Daagh, Hali, Zauq, Saifuddin Saif and Faraz. My favorite among so many wonderful renditions being Faraz’s Khamosh ho Kyon.

Khamosh ho kyon daad-e-wafaa kyon nahi dete

(Why do you keep quiet? Why don’t you acknowledge my fidelity?)

Bismil ho to qaatil ko duaa kyon nahin dete

(If you are Compassion, why don’t you offer a prayer for the murderer?)

Munsif ho agar tum to kab insaaf karoge

(If you are the Judge, when will you deliver justice?)


Mujarim hai agar ham to sazaa kyon nahin dete

(If I’m the criminal, why do you not punish me?)

Kya bit gai ab ke 'Faraz' ahal-e-chaman par

(What has befallen the friends of the garden, Faraz?)

Yaaraan-e-qafas mujh ko sadaa kyon nahin dete

(Why do those encaged friends not call out to me?)

            Track Listing:

            01 Roshan Jamal-E-Yaar [Hasrat Mohani]

02 Tanna Zun Hai Kis Liye [Saifuddin Saif]

03 Khamosh Ho Kyun [Ahmad Faraz]

04 Na Kisi Ki Aankh Ka [Bahadur Shah Zafar]

05 Tere Khyal Say [Nasir Kazmi]

06 Be Kalli Ko Qarar [Biqi Siddiqui]

07 Shauq Har Rang [Ghalib]

08 Ab Tak Mujhe Na [Jamiluddin Aali]

09 Jo Barq Gayee [Mohsin Lakhnavi]

10 Dil Jigar Sab [Daagh]

11 Jahan Tera Naqsh [Ghalib]

12 Safar Mein [Nasir Zaidi]

13 Hay Justajo Ke [Hali]

14 Jab Teri Furqat Mein [Zauq]

15 Na Shareek-E-Ghum [Ahmad Faraz]

Listen here.