Ghulam Mustafa Tabassum, (4 August 1899 – 7 February 1978) was a 20th-century poet. His pen name was Tabassum. He is best known for his many poems written for children, as the creator of the Tot Batot character, and as the translator of many poetic works from mostly Persian into Punjabi and Urdu languages.

Early life and career

Sufi Tabassum was born on 4 August 1899 in Amritsar, Punjab, to parents of Kashmiri ancestry. He earned a master's degree in Persian language from Forman Christian College (FCC) in Lahore, Pakistan. He worked for and remained with Government College Lahore for his entire career, rising to head the Department of Persian Studies in 1943. Tabassum retired from Government College in 1954. Sufi Tabassum was also closely associated with the members of an informal literary circle called Niazmandan-e-Lahore. This circle's members included Pakistan's noted literary personalities including Patras Bokhari, Abdul Majeed Salik, Imtiaz Ali Taj, M. D. Taseer, Chiragh Hasan Hasrat, Hafeez Jalandhari, Abdur Rahman Chughtai and Majeed Malik. Sufi Tabassum also edited the magazine Lail-o-Nahar for a while in addition to working for Radio Pakistan, Pakistan Arts Council and Iqbal Academy. In Pakistan, he is considered a pioneer in children's poetry. Totbatot and Jhoolnay are his popular poems for children.

Poems

For fifty years, he was actively participating in Radio Pakistan and Pakistan Television poetry events. His poems were used as the lyrics of several songs sung by Noor Jehan, Naseem Begum, Farida Khanum and Ghulam Ali.

Awards and recognition

Works (partial list)

Death

Sufi Ghulam Mustafa Tabassum died in Lahore, Pakistan on 7 February 1978.