ISLAMABAD: Mortality is part of the package that brings us into this world and all of us have to taste it sooner or later. But there are some of us who make such distinguished legacies of their lives and leave behind indelible footprints that it becomes difficult to accept their death.

The Great Melody Queen was one such person. To me she was an image, an epitome and embodiment of many a spirit put together; from an enchantress of ghazals and geets, to highly skilled classical recitalist; from patriotic Milli Naghmas soloist, who could put spirit back into a dying soldier, to a nightingale whose trills in the joyous notes of her songs made the young and the old sway alike.

Today her clock has stopped ticking; the sun has shone its last over her; her world has come to an end, but she leaves behind a saga unmatched, written on the hearts and souls of the people universally.

May God give her a place in the highest realms of heaven for she was adorable to those who knew her; fragrance to those who passed by her; and a teardrop to those who heard her poignant melodies when sad!

I wish to conclude my sentiments for her with one of the scores of her songs I have adored all my life:

Meri zindagi hae naghma, meri zindagi tarana

Mae sada-e-zindagi hoon, mujhay dhoond lay zamana