Qaumī Tarāna

قومی ترانہ

National Anthem
National anthem of  Pakistan
Lyrics	Hafeez Jullundhri, 1952
Music	Ahmad G. Chagla, 1950
Adopted	1954
Relinquished	Present
Music sample
Qaumi Tarana (Instrumental)

Hafeez Jullundhri wrote the lyrics of the National Anthem of Pakistan in 1952

Ahmad G. Chagla composed the National Anthem of Pakistan in 1950

The Qaumī Tarāna (Urdu: قومی ترانہ) is the national anthem of Pakistan. The words "Qaumi Tarana" in Urdu literally translate to "National Anthem". The Pakistani national anthem is unique in that its music, composed by Ahmad G. Chagla, preceded its lyrics, which are in Persianized Urdu and were written by Hafeez Jullundhri. Another feature of the anthem is that no verse in the three stanza lyrics is repeated.

Composition

In early 1948, A. R. Ghani from Transvaal, South Africa, offered two prizes of five thousand rupees each for the poet and composer of a new national anthem for the newly independent state of Pakistan. The prizes were announced through a government press advertisement published in June 1948. In December 1948, the Government of Pakistan establishhed the National Anthem Committee (NAC), which was initially chaired by the Information Secretary, Sheikh Muhammad Ikram. The Committee members included several politicians, poets and musicians such as Abdur Rab Nishtar, Ahmad G. Chagla and Hafeez Jullundhri. The committee had some difficulty at first in finding suitable music and lyrics.

In 1950, the impending state visit of the Shah of Iran resulted in the Pakistani Government asking the NAC to submit an anthem without delay. The committee chairman, the Federal Minister for Education, Fazlur Rahman, asked several poets and composers to write lyrics but none of the submitted works were deemed suitable. The NAC also examined several different tunes and eventually selected the one presented by Chagla and submitted it for formal approval. Chagla produced the musical composition in collaboration with another committee member and assisted by the Pakistan Navy band.^[1]

The music of the anthem was composed by Chagla with lyrics written by Jullundhri. The music for the anthem had been composed in 1950 and had been used on several state occasions before being officially adopted in 1954. The three stanza composition is unique in a way that no part of the anthem repeats itself. The lyrics allude to a "Sacred Land" referring to Pakistan and a "Flag of the Crescent and Star" referring to the national flag. Unofficially, the anthem is sometimes referred to by its first line "Pāk sarzamīn shād bād" (Urdu: "Blessed be the sacred land"). The national anthem is played during any event involving the hoisting of the flag, for example Pakistan Day (March 23) and Independence Day (August 14).

The anthem without lyrics was performed for Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan and later for the National Anthem Committee on August 10, 1950.^[2] Although it was approved for playing during the visit of the Shah, official recognition was not given until August 1954.^[2] The anthem was also played during the Prime Minister's visit to the United States. The NAC distributed records of the composed tune amongst prominent poets, who responded by writing and submitting several hundred songs for evaluation by the NAC. Eventually, the lyrics written by Jullundhri were approved and the new national anthem was first played properly on Radio Pakistan on August 13, 1954.^[3] Official approval was announced by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on August 16, 1954. The composer Chagla had however died in 1953, before the new national anthem was officially adopted. In 1955 there was a performance of the national anthem involving eleven major singers of Pakistan including Ahmad Rushdi.^[4]

Lyrics

The music composed by Chagla reflects his background in both eastern and western music. The lyrics are written in a Persianized form of Urdu. Every word in the entire anthem is a loanword from Persian or Arabic except the word "ka" ( کا, "of" ). The anthem lasts for 1 minute and 20 seconds,^[5] and uses twenty one musical instruments and thirty eight different tones.^[3]

قومى ترانہ (Urdu)	Transliteration	Translation
پاک سرزمین شاد باد كشور حسين شاد باد تو نشان عزم علیشان ! ارض پاکستان مرکز یقین شاد باد	pāk sarzamīn shād bād kishwar-i hasīn shād bād tū nishān-i `azm-i `alīshān arz-i pākistān! markaz-i yaqīn shād bād	Blessed be the sacred land Happy be the bounteous realm Thou symbol of high resolve O Land of Pakistan! Blessed be thou centre of faith
پاک سرزمین کا نظام قوت اخوت عوام قوم ، ملک ، سلطنت ! پائندہ تابندہ باد شاد باد منزل مراد	pāk sarzamīn kā nizām qūwat-i ukhūwat-i `awām qaum, mulk, sultanat pā'inda tābinda bād! shād bād manzil-i murād	The order of this sacred land Is the might of the brotherhood of the people May the nation, the country, and the state Shine in glory everlasting! Blessed be the goal of our ambition
پرچم ستارہ و هلال رہبر ترقی و کمال ترجمان ماضی شان حال ! جان استقبال سایۂ خدائے ذوالجلال	parcham-i sitāra-o hilāl rahbar-i taraqqī-o kamāl tarjumān-i māzī, shān-i hāl jān-i istiqbāl! sāya-i khudā-i zu'l-jalāl	The flag of the crescent and star Leads the way to progress and perfection Interpreter of our past, glory of our present Inspiration of our future! Shelter of God, the Glorious and Mighty

Timeline

* 1947 - The new state of Pakistan comes into being on 14 August
* 1950 - Musical composition for the Qaumi Tarana is composed by the Pakistani musical composer, Ahmad G. Chagla (running time, 1 minute 20 seconds)
* 1952 - Verses written by the Pakistani poet, Hafeez Jullundhri, are selected from amongst 723 entries
* 1954 - Broadcast for the first time on Radio Pakistan on 13 August
* 1955 - Sung by 11 famous Pakistani singers including Ahmad Rushdi, Shamim Bano, Kokab Jehan, Rasheeda Begum, Najam Ara, Naseema Shaheen, Zwar Hussain, Akhtar Abbas, Ghulam Dastgir, Anwar Zaheer and Akhtar Wassi
* 1996 - Rendered in electric guitar for the first time by Pakistani rock band Junoon in their album Inquilaab
* 2011 - 5,857 people gathered in a stadium in Karachi at 12:05 a.m. on 14 August to sing the Qaumi Tarana and set a new world record for most people gathered to sing a national anthem^[6]

Previous national anthem claim

See also: Pakistan Zindabad (song)

For the first time in 2010, it was claimed by a blogger, Adil Najam, that the first anthem of Pakistan was written by Jagannath Azad, a Hindu poet from Lahore who wrote on the personal request of Muhammad Ali Jinnah.^[7] Jinnah asked him to write the anthem on August 11, 1947 and it was later approved by Jinnah and used to be the official national anthem for the next year and a half.^[8] However, many historians like Dr. Safdar Mahmood, a renowned scholar, reject this claim and believe that Jagannath Azad never wrote Pakistan's first national anthem. This issue is still controversial. The fact that no such claim was made prior to 2010 also makes this claim doubtful. According to Jagannath Azad, "The National anthem was written by me in five days time. It was too short time for me but I tried to do full justice to it keeping in mind the road map charted by Jinnah sahib for modern Pakistan. The national anthem was sent to Jinnah sahib who approved it in a few hours. It was sung for the first time on Pakistan radio, Karachi (which was the capital of Pakistan then). Meanwhile the situation in both east and west Punjab was becoming worse with every passing day and the same set of friends told me in September 1947 that even they would not be able to provide protection to me and that it would be better for me to migrate to India. I decided to migrate to this side. The song written by me continued to be the national anthem for one and a half years." But this claim could never be proved as the Radio Pakistan recordings and international broadcasting services of that time like BBC has no such records that this version of anthem was ever played on Radio Pakistan. The claim also could not be justified as Radio Pakistan, Karachi was established in 1948 and was not present in 1947. At independence Pakistan only possessed three radio stations at Dhaka (established in 1939), Lahore (1937) and Peshawar (1936).^[9] Another argument given against Azad stance that this statement was used from personal talks with no proven record until an Indian then recent graduate claimed in one of his article without any references to the published interviews, moreover, this could not also be proved that Jinnah ever met Azad.^[10] The claim could not established because none of Azad's published book included this poem which as a poet must be in his writings.^[11] It has still been acknowledged that Azad might have written this song as he loved Punjab and Pakistan, and was a scholar on Pakistan's national poet Allama Iqbal and wanted it to be recognized as one of the Pakistan's national songs. The website about Azad also claimed that he was given Presidential Iqbal Award from Pakistan in 1979 but the records from Pakistan government doesnt authenticate this claim.^[10][12]

Urdu	Transliteration	Translation
:اے سرزمین پاک ذرے ترے ہیں آج ستاروں سے تابناک روشن ہے کہکشاں سے کہیں آج تیری خاک تندی حاسداں پہ ہے غالب تیرا سواک دامن وہ سل گیا ہے جو تھا مدتوں سے چاک اے سرزمین پاک	Aye sar zameen-i-Pak! Zare tere hain aaj sitaron se tabnak Roshan hai kehkashan se kahin aaj teri khak Tundi-e-hasdan pe ghalib hai tera swaak Daman wo sil gaya hai jo tha mudaton se chaak Aye sar zameen-i-Pak!	O, Land of the Pure The grains of your soil are glowing today Brighter than the stars and the galaxies Awe-struck is the enemy by your will-power Open wounds are sewn, we’ve found a cure O, Land of the Pure…
:اب اپنے عزم کو ہے نیا راستہ پسند اپنا وطن ہے آج زمانے میں سر بلند پہنچا سکے گا اس کو نہ کوئی بھی اب گزند اپنا علم ہے چاند ستاروں سے بھی بلند اب ہم کو دیکھتے ہیں عطارد ہوں یا سماک اے سرزمین پاک	Ab apne azm ko hai naya rasta pasand Apna watan hai aaj zamane main sar buland Pohncha sake ga is ko na koi bhi ab gazand Apna alm a hai chand sitaron se bhi buland Ab ham ko dekhtey hain atarad hon ya samaak Aye sar zameen-i-Pak!	New paths of progress, we resolve to tread Proudly, our nation stands with a high head Our flag is aflutter above the moon and the stars As planets look up to us be it Mercury or Mars No harm will now come from anywhere, for sure O, Land of the Pure…
:اترا ہے امتحان میں وطن آج کامیاب اب حریت کی زلف نہیں محو پیچ و تاب دولت ہے اپنے ملک کی بے حد و بے حساب ہوں گے ہم آپ ملک کی دولت سے فیض یاب مغرب سے ہم کو خوف نہ مشرق سے ہم کو باک اے سرزمین پاک	Utra hai imtehan main watan aaj kamyab Ab huriat ki zulf nahin mahiv-e-paich-o-taab Daulat hai apne mulk ki be had-o-be hisaab Hon ge ham aap mulk ki daulat se faiz yab Maghrib se hum ko khauf na mashriq se hum ko baak Aye sar zameen-i-Pak!	The nation has tasted success at last Now freedom struggle is a thing of the past The wealth of our country knows no bounds For us are its benefits and bounty all around Of East and West, we have no fear O, Land of the Pure…
:اپنے وطن کا آج بدلنے لگا نظام اپنے وطن میں آج نہیں ہے کوئی غلام اپنا وطن ہے راہ ترقی پہ تیز گام آزاد، بامراد، جوان بخت شاد کام اب عطر بیز ہیں جو ہوائیں تھیں زہر ناک اے سرزمین پاک	Apne watan ka aaj badalne laga nizam apne watan main aaj nahin hai koi ghulam apna watan hai rah-e-taraqi pe tez gam azad, bamurad jawan bakht shad kaam ab itr bez hain jo hawain thin zehr naak Aye sar zameen-i-Pak!	Change has become the order of the day No-one is a slave in the nation today On the road to progress, we’re swiftly going along Independent and fortunate, happy as a song Gloomy winds are gone, sweet freedom’s in the air O, Land of the Pure…
:ذرے تیرے ہیں آج ستاروں سے تابناک روشن ہے کہکشاں سے کہیں آج تیری خاک اے سرزمین پاک	Zare tere hain aaj sitaron se tabnak Roshan hai kehkashan se kahin aaj teri khak Aye sar zameen-i-Pak!	The grains of your soil are glowing today Brighter than the stars and the galaxies O, Land of the Pure...

See also

Pakistan portal

• Flag of Pakistan
• State emblem of Pakistan
• Radio Pakistan

References

1. ^ Michael Jamieson Bristow, National-Anthems.org. "Forty National Anthems". http://www.national-anthems.org/history.htm#pakistan. Retrieved 2006-04-12. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "National Anthem". Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of Pakistan. http://www.infopak.gov.pk/Anthem.aspx. Retrieved 2007-11-29. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Mazhar Iqbal, Mazhar.dk. "National Anthem of Pakistan". http://mazhar.dk/pakistan/facts.htm#anthem. Retrieved 2006-04-12. 
4. ^ Mazhar Iqbal, Mazhar.dk. "Ahmad Rushdi". http://mazhar.dk/film/singers/ahmadrushdi/. Retrieved 2006-04-12. 
5. ^ Information Ministry, Government of Pakistan. "Basic Facts". http://www.infopak.gov.pk/public/govt/basic_facts.html. Retrieved 2006-04-12. 
6. ^ http://tribune.com.pk/story/231080/karachi-creates-new-anthem-record
7. ^ http://pakistaniat.com/2010/04/19/anthem-jagan-nath-azad/
8. ^ http://pakistaniat.com/2009/06/05/jagannath-azad/
9. ^ http://www.radio.gov.pk/cms/index.asp?PageId=18
10. ^ ^{a b} http://2paisa.wordpress.com/2010/07/18/jinnah-national-anthem/
11. ^ http://jagannathazad.info/books.htm
12. ^ http://jagannathazad.info/honours.htm

External links

• Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of Pakistan. "National Anthem". http://www.infopak.gov.pk/Anthem.aspx. Retrieved 2007-12-09. 
• National Anthem of Pakistan
• Pakistan National Songs