Before there were songs like ‘Jhol’, ‘Kahani Suno’ or even ‘Pasoori’; the qawaali that kept the nation on its feet was the iconic ‘Damadam Mast Qalandar’. Originally it is said to allegedly be written by Bulleh Shah about the Sufi saint Shahbaz Lal Qalandar, ‘Damadam Mast Qalandar’ is one of the few qawalli’s that have been covered several times by different artists and bands over the years.
Now Twitter users have started an interesting discussion about which cover of this qawaali stands out among the rest. X user dezgostang began the trend when they posted a tweet asking ‘whats ur fav version of Lal meri pat? mine is junoon one’, and soon users flooded the comment section with their favourite covers of the iconic qawalli.
whats ur fav version of Lal meri pat? mine is junoon one
— World’s Spiciest Ramen🇵🇸 (@dezgostang) May 27, 2025
Many users felt that the crown still belongs to Shazia Khushk for her 2002 version of ‘Damadam Mast Qalandar’ and we also agree it’s still such a bop!
SHAZIA KHUSK THE OG https://t.co/VT49ejhSmR
— Kamran (@kamranhayderr) May 27, 2025
Shazia Khushk wins every time https://t.co/7CUhQCbMza
— salo (@DeTrop_) May 27, 2025
Other people added in that they could never think of any other artist other than Abida Parveen, who gave this qawalli the justice it deserved. And we completely agree, there is no one out there like THE Abida Parveen.
abida parveen and shazia khushk https://t.co/uGcP7q6jk7
— ِ (@batoolalala) May 27, 2025
Some have also said that it is Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan who did the version that still outshines all of it’s successors even today. A user shared a clip from a concert Nusrat had held in New York in 1993, 14 August and how the crowd sang along to the qawaali.
14 August 1993
Pakistan’s Independence Day concert, Central Park, New York
Nusrat sings, tabla man spits fire, crowd claps & dances.
At one point, one of hamnawas gets riled up & screams “Nara-e-Haideri” into the mic, the crowd replies.The crowd was such a vibe.
few snippets: https://t.co/MThetopTUQ pic.twitter.com/lx1DO8WkeP
— K. (@RotiKholDeyo) May 27, 2025
Since everyone is adding in their favourite versions, we’ll also leave our favourite version of the qaawali which was done by Quratulain Baloch, Akbar Ali and Arieb Azhar.
