'Woh Hamsafar Tha' poet and lyricist Naseer Turabi passes away at 75

Renowned Urdu poet, lyricist and intellectual Naseer Turabi passed away in Karachi on Sunday. He was 75. His funeral prayers will be held on Monday after Zohrain at Imambargah Shuhada-e-Karbala in Ancholi, after which he will be interred at the Wadi-e-Hussain graveyard, Zee News reported.

Turabi was born on June 15, 1945, in Hyderabad, which was then, Deccan. His father, Allama Rasheed Turabi was a renowned religious scholar. The family moved to Pakistan post-partition.

He did his MA in mass communication from Karachi University in 1968, but began to write poetry in 1962. His first collection of poetry, Aks-E-Fariyadi was published in 2000.

Turabi had been a communication officer in the Eastern Federal Union Insurance Company. 

His popular ghazal 'Woh Humsafar Tha', originally written on the separation of Bangladesh (East Pakistan) in 1971, later became a household name after being used in Fawad Khan and Mahira Khan starrer Pakistani soap "Hamsafar".

Apart from 'Woh Humsafar Tha', Turabi also composed lyrics to several popular Pakistani TV shows and films. His book,  Sheiryaat (Poetics) published in 2012, elevated him as an erudite poet and scholar. He is also one of the few who wrote in Persian.

He also wrote lyrics for the theme song Dil Ka Jo Mol Chukatay Honge of Mol and Zindagi Gulzar Hai drama series. He has also written the lyrics of Dil Aitebaar for Khwab Saraye and for Yaqeen Ka Safar OST.