Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan quotes

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was a legendary Pakistani musician renowned for his mastery of Qawwali, a form of Sufi devotional music. His powerful voice and innovative style brought Qawwali to global audiences and influenced musicians worldwide. He is celebrated as one of the greatest vocalists of all time and a cultural icon in South Asia. Here are 17 of his quotes:

A man learns all his life, and dies the day he thinks that he has learnt everything.

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

He didn't want me to become a musician, he wanted me to be a doctor, because he said singing was too hard.

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

I am not a Sufi, but I follow the Sufi.

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

Yes, I tried to change the classical style in a way that people who don't understand it can enjoy.

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

I also like Western classical music and jazz.

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

I was just studying with my father, a very difficult task for me since he was a great, great Qawwali singer.

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

Nusrat is one of the greatest singers of our time. When his singing takes off, his voice embodies soulfulness and sprituality like no other.

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

When I sing for God, I feel myself in accord with Allah, and the house of God, Mecca, is right in front of me. And I worship. When I sing for Muhammad, peace be upon him, our prophet, I feel like I am sitting right next to his tomb, Madina, and paying him respect and admitting to myself that I accept his message.

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

To be a qawwal is more than being a performer, more than being an artist,One must be willing to release one's mind and soul from one's body to achieve ecstasy through music. Qawwali is enlightenment itself.

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

He's my elvis. I idolize Nusrat, he's a god, too.

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

There are great singers, and then there are those few voices that transcend time. The late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan could not only transcend time, but also language and religion. There was magic when he opened his mouth, a sense of holy ecstasy that was exciting and emotional. It wasn't uncommon even for Western listeners, who didn't understand a word he was singing or follow his Sufi traditions, to be moved to tears upon hearing him.

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

His voice was a conduit to heaven.

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

Working with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was the closest I got to god.

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

Myself, I am nothing, If I am anything it is because of my companions. An axe cannot chop wood without its handle. I also cannot do anything without my companions and friends who work with me. They are as important as a thumb is in hand.[citation needed].

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

My father Ustaad Fateh Ali Khan, Ustad Mubarak Ali Khan and Ustad Salamat Ali Khan, his brothers are my spritual gurus. I am their son, their acolyte. It is my duty to preserve and protect the knowledge the music that they gave me. I do a lot of experiments but the base is classical music. I ambound with ragas. I may road around the world and may acquaint myself with the western instuments I never wander from the central point. from the stage of WOMAD and from the studios of Peter Gabriel, I always emerge depths of my own music.[citation needed].

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan