Rifat Abbas is a popular poet among Siraiki speakers due to his innovative ideas and his creative use of poetic form. The Kafi was first introduced by the great Siraiki Sufi poet, Khwaja Ghulam Farid (1841-1901) and is a beautiful poetic form that embodies romance along with spirituality.
In 2005 Abbas was given the Khawaja Ghulam Farid Award for Siraiki poetry for his collection Ishq Allah Saeen Jagiya.
The Siraiki language is spoken by over 14 million people in Pakistan who are mainly located in the southern half of the Punjab and northern Sind provinces.
