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Kafi (Urdu
Urdu

Urdu is a Central_Indo-Aryan_languages#Central_Zone_.28Madhya_or_Hindi.29 Indo-Aryan languages of the Indo-Iranian languages, belonging to the Indo-European languages family of languages....
: ????) is a classical form of Sufi poetry originating from the Sindh, Pakistan
Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia and borders Central Asia and the Middle East. It has a 1,046 kilometre coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south, and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and People's Republic of China in th...
. One of the more well-known poets of this style was Bulleh Shah
Bulleh Shah

Bulleh Shah , whose real name was Abdullah Shah , was a Punjabi people Muslim Sufi poet, a humanist and philosopher....
, Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai
Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai

Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai was a Sufi scholar and saint, and is considered one of the greatest poets of the Sindhi language. He settled in the town of Bhit in Sindh, Pakistan where his shrine is located....
, Sachal Sarmast
Sachal Sarmast

Sachal Sarmast was a renowned Sindhi people Sufi poet during the Kalhora era. Abdul Wahab was his real name and "Sachal" was the name he used in his own poetry....
 and Khwaja Ghulam Farid

In musical terms, kafi refers to the genre of Urdu
Urdu

Urdu is a Central_Indo-Aryan_languages#Central_Zone_.28Madhya_or_Hindi.29 Indo-Aryan languages of the Indo-Iranian languages, belonging to the Indo-European languages family of languages....
 light classical music which utilizes the verses of kafi poets such as Bulleh Shah
Bulleh Shah

Bulleh Shah , whose real name was Abdullah Shah , was a Punjabi people Muslim Sufi poet, a humanist and philosopher....
 and Shah Hussein. Due to the religious nature of the poetic genre, kafi music is normally associated with the Sufi orders of Islam
Islam

Islam is a Monotheism, Abrahamic religion originating with the teachings of the Prophets of Islam Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure....
 in South Asia.






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Kafi (Urdu
Urdu

Urdu is a Central_Indo-Aryan_languages#Central_Zone_.28Madhya_or_Hindi.29 Indo-Aryan languages of the Indo-Iranian languages, belonging to the Indo-European languages family of languages....
: ????) is a classical form of Sufi poetry originating from the Sindh, Pakistan
Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia and borders Central Asia and the Middle East. It has a 1,046 kilometre coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south, and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and People's Republic of China in th...
. One of the more well-known poets of this style was Bulleh Shah
Bulleh Shah

Bulleh Shah , whose real name was Abdullah Shah , was a Punjabi people Muslim Sufi poet, a humanist and philosopher....
, Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai
Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai

Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai was a Sufi scholar and saint, and is considered one of the greatest poets of the Sindhi language. He settled in the town of Bhit in Sindh, Pakistan where his shrine is located....
, Sachal Sarmast
Sachal Sarmast

Sachal Sarmast was a renowned Sindhi people Sufi poet during the Kalhora era. Abdul Wahab was his real name and "Sachal" was the name he used in his own poetry....
 and Khwaja Ghulam Farid

In musical terms, kafi refers to the genre of Urdu
Urdu

Urdu is a Central_Indo-Aryan_languages#Central_Zone_.28Madhya_or_Hindi.29 Indo-Aryan languages of the Indo-Iranian languages, belonging to the Indo-European languages family of languages....
 light classical music which utilizes the verses of kafi poets such as Bulleh Shah
Bulleh Shah

Bulleh Shah , whose real name was Abdullah Shah , was a Punjabi people Muslim Sufi poet, a humanist and philosopher....
 and Shah Hussein. Due to the religious nature of the poetic genre, kafi music is normally associated with the Sufi orders of Islam
Islam

Islam is a Monotheism, Abrahamic religion originating with the teachings of the Prophets of Islam Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure....
 in South Asia. It is characterized by a devotional intensity in its delivery and as such overlaps considerably with both the Qawwali
Qawwali

Qawwali is a form of Sufi devotional music popular in South Asia, particularly in areas with a historically strong Muslim presence, such as southern Pakistan, and parts of India....
 and Ghazal
Ghazal

In poetry, the ghazal is a poetic form consisting of rhyming couplets and a refrain. Each line must share the same meter. The Arabic word "ghazal" is pronounced roughly like the English word "guzzle", but with the first, g-like consonant further back in the throat....
 genres. However, unlike Qawwali, the musical arrangement may only include one harmonium
Harmonium

A harmonium is a free-standing keyboard instrument similar to a reed organ or pipe organ. Sound is produced by air, supplied by foot-operated or hand-operated bellows, being blown through sets of Free reed aerophone, resulting in a sound similar to that of an accordion....
, one tabla
Tabla

The tabla is a popular Indian percussion instrument used in the classical, popular and religious music of the Indian subcontinent and in Hindustani classical music....
, one dholak
Dholak

The Dholak is a North Indian, Pakistani and Nepalese double-headed hand-drum. It may have traditional lacing or turnbuckle tensioning: in the former case rings are used for tuning, though the dholak is mainly a folk instrument, lacking the exact tuning of the tabla or the pakhawaj....
 and a single vocalist.

Kafi has gained a higher profile in the West of late thanks to the Pakistan
Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia and borders Central Asia and the Middle East. It has a 1,046 kilometre coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south, and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and People's Republic of China in th...
i singer Abida Parveen
Abida Parveen

Begum Abida Parveen , , Pride of Performance, Sitara-e-Imtiaz, a Pakistani singer, Queen of Sufi Music, is one of the foremost exponents of Sufi music....
, who is widely heard like a qawwali maestro Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan , was a Pakistani musician, primarily a singer of Qawwali, the devotional music of the Sufis . He featured in Time magazine's 2006 list of 'Asian Heroes'....
 in terms of Sufi singers known to western audiences.