Born: 15 January 1929
Died: 18 January 1993Location: Lahore,Pakistan
Works on: Sufism,Poetry
Best Books: Audio Recording,Guftugu Volumes,Qatra Qatra Qulzam,Dil Darya Samudar,Shab Chiragh, Kiran Kiran Sooraj
- Wasif Ali Wasif was born on 15 January, 1929 at District Khushab. At that time Khusab used to be a tehsil and the district was Shahpur. He belonged to a very prestigious cast Awan.
- His father Malik Muhammed Arif was a teacher. He received his religious education under the supervision of his father. He got primary education in a local school in Khushab. He passed Matriculation examination from Govt. High School Khushab in 1944. His maternal grandfather, a skilled educationist, was appointed as Headmaster at a Govt. school in Jang. Therefore, he was sent to his maternal. He did F.Sc from Govt. Inter college Jhang and graduation from Govt. Degree college Jhang.
- He was a hardworking student who passed every examination by obtaining first division. Then he moved to Lahore; here he did M.Sc in Mathematics from Government Islamia College Civil Lines, Lahore and M.A. in English from Government College, Lahore. He was a nice fellow and an excellent player of hockey for which he was awarded a colour.
- He started writing for college magazine "Ravian" when he was a student. He used to write in Urdu as well as in English.
- Wasif Ali Wasif passed PCS exam in 1954 but did not join it because of his nature and started his career as a teacher. At first he taught in some private institutions for sometime, but then he founded Lahore College for English later 'Lahore English college' in 1958. In a short span of time his fame as a very able, benign, competent and dutiful teacher spread around. It was due to ever increasing number of students he started teaching students in two shifts.
- Wasif Ali Wasif was a teacher, writer, poet and sufi intellectual from Pakistan. He was famous for his unique literary style. He used to write short pieces of prose on topics like love, life, fortune, fear, hope, expectation, promise, prayer, happiness, sorrow and so on.
- He was the regular columnist of Pakistani Urdu newspaper Daily Nawa-i-Waqt. His 1st column named "Muhabbat". In his life most of his columns were combined to form books with his own selected title.
- He did poetry in Urdu and Punjabi languages. Probably no contemporary Urdu writer is more cited in quotations than he is. Later years he used to answer questions in specially arranged gatherings at Lahore attended by the notable community.
- Some of these sessions were recorded in audio and were later published as Guftgoo (talk) series. His mehfils never had a set subject nor did he lecture on chosen topics. His way was to ask people if they had questions and then he responded to these in his highly original style. His thought was more on mysticism, spirituality and humanity. There are about 40 books to his credit including “Shab Chiragh”, “Kiran Kiran Sooraj”, and “Dil Darya Samundar”. It is self-evident that his books as well as recordings of talks are a treasure trove of wisdom.
- Wasif Ali Wasif was indeed a dervish and sufi and in the final part of his life acted as a murshid to many. He was a person in possession of great knowledge and wisdom. He considered himself as a continuation of the great Sufi tradition, imparting useful knowledge, strong faith, hope and love to the ailing hearts. Qudratullah Shahab, Ashfaq Ahmed and Hanif Ramay attended lectures of Wasif Ali Wasif. It was in the last writing of Qudratullah Shahab which appeared in the Urdu newspaper Daily Jang describing that if a person reaches a crossroads of his life, he can find a right path through Wasif Ali Wasif.
- Wasif Ali Wasif died on January 18, 1993. Being famous for Sufism and respected by many people, he is usually referred to as Hazrat Wasif Ali Wasif. His shrine is located in Lahore at 25 Bahawalpur Road, near Chowk Chauburji. His Urs (Religious Festival) is celebrated every year from 22nd to 24th of the month of Rajab.
