Renowned lyricist Khwaja Pervez dies in Lahore

81-year-old Pervez was being treated in Lahore's Mayo Hospital for diabetes. He is survived by six sons and five daughters. World renowned qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, "melody queen" Noor Jehan, Mehdi Hasan and Saira Naseem are among the singers who had sung Pervez's lyrics.

In India, his compositions were performed by Hans Raj Hans and Gurdas Mann. Pervez also wrote lyrics for the Indian Punjabi film "Pind Di Kuri". Born in 1930 in Amritsar, Pervez's real name was Khwaja Ghulam Muhayyudin. He wrote thousands of songs for Pakistani Urdu and Punjabi films.

His family migrated from Amritsar to Lahore during the partition of the Indian subcontinent. After graduating from Dayal Singh College in Lahore, Pervez joined the film industry as an assistant director in 1955.

He directed three Punjabi films – "Guda Guddi", "Lukan Miti" and "Sohni Kamharan" – before the closure of the production house he was working for. Pervez's first film as lyricist was "Rewaj", directed by Dilgit Mirza.

Mala sang his song "Kehta hai zamana tumay dil na lagana". His early films as a lyricist include "Mundri", "Yar Baili" and "Shera". Though Pervez directed and wrote films, he earned fame as a lyricist.

The late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's famous song "Sanu ik pal chain na awey sajna terey bina" was written by Pervez. Similarly, singer Mussarat Nazir became popular after singing his composition "Mera long ghawacha", which was a played from every rooftop of Lahore during the Basant festival in the early 1990s.

Pervez's popular song "Mein tay mera dilber jani", originally sung by Noor Jehan, is an almost permanent feature at every musical evening in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad. All theatres in Lahore will remain closed on Monday as a mark of respect.