Chhaap Tilak Sab Chheeni is a 14th century song, both written and composed by the renowned Sufi mystic Amir Khusrau. Written in Braj Bhasha, it is one of the most popular compositions by Khusrau, heard frequently across the subcontinent in both Qawwali concerts and Sufi gatherings.

This poem has been sung in Qawwali format by notable Pakistani and Indian Qawwals and other singers, including Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Naheed Akhtar, Mehnaz Begum, Abida Parveen, the Sabri Brothers,^[1] Iqbal Hussain Khan Bandanawazi, Farid Ayaz & Abu Muhammad Qawwal, Ustad Jafar Hussain Khan, Ustad Vilayat Khan,^[2] Ustad Shujaat Khan, Zila Khan, Nizami Bandhu, Hadiqa Kiani, Smita Bellur, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Kailash Kher, Kavita Seth and Maithili Thakur.

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Popular culture

The 1978 Bollywood film Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki featured a version by Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle. Another popular version, by Abida Parveen and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, appeared on the Pakistani musical variety show Coke Studio.^[3] Other Indian films which include the ghazal include Saat Uchakkey (2016) where it is sung by Keerthi Sagathia (composed by Bapi–Tutul),^[4] Unpaused (2020) - composed by Shishir A Samant and sung by Samant and Sunil Kamath.^[5] The song has maintained its popularity over the years, being regularly heard on television talent shows in India and Pakistan, and on social media as well.

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