Alfaaz by Hamza Malik and Zain Zohaib hits No. 3 in UK Asian chart, still No. 1 in Pakistan

Alfaaz, the Punjabi love song by Hamza Malik and Zain Zohaib, climbed to No. 3 on the UK’s Official Asian Music Chart dated October 22, its best position so far. Back home it has done something rarer: it has been the most-streamed song in Pakistan on Spotify every week since early September.

Not bad for a track that arrived quietly on July 25 with a visualiser rather than a big-budget video.

How big is Alfaaz right now?

The numbers tell the story of a slow burn:

• Spotify Pakistan: No. 1 on the weekly chart for six straight weeks, from the week of September 10 to the week of October 15, according to Spotify chart data tracked by Kworb. It was still top of the daily chart this week.
• Beyond Pakistan: the song has reached No. 154 on Spotify’s global weekly chart and No. 2 on the weekly chart in India, per the same data.
• UK: the Official Charts Company lists four weeks on its Asian Music Chart: No. 5, then No. 4 twice, then No. 3 on October 22.
• YouTube: the official visualiser on Hamza Malik’s channel had about 24.7 million views when we checked on October 23.

In early October, 24 News reported that actor Yasir Hussain shared a chart update on his Instagram story, tagged both singers and called the track “beautiful”.

Who made Alfaaz?

Hamza Malik and Zain Zohaib sing it. Lyrics are credited to Hamza Malik with Zahid Bashir, and the music to Atif Khan. The Official Charts Company lists the label as Giraffe Music. Credits for the visualiser name Zayn UG behind the camera.

What do the lyrics of Alfaaz mean?

The title means “words”, and the whole song is about not having enough of them. A man who had kept his guard up against love finds he has changed without noticing. In the chorus he admits no words can measure what the other person is worth, and that everything he has is theirs.

The imagery is old-fashioned in the best way. He picks roses from the gardens for her, he says she is lovelier than the stars (“tu te tareyan to vi sohna ae” is the line fans keep quoting in video titles), and he would kiss the paths she has walked. By the end there are only two choices left: her, or no one.

Why did it catch on?

No label campaign explains a run like this. The song grew from the bottom of the Pakistan chart in mid-August (No. 197 in its first charting week) to No. 1 within a month, which is how word of mouth looks in data. Its lines are short and easy to sing back, the kind short-video platforms reward, and dozens of fan lyric uploads on YouTube, several tagged as TikTok viral, have each pulled in hundreds of thousands to millions of views.

It has also become a live favourite for other artists: Aamir and Osman Mir performed it at a Baithak event in Dubai on October 3, in a clip shared on YouTube.

The next number to watch is Spotify’s weekly Pakistan chart on October 22. If Alfaaz holds the top spot again, it will be seven weeks in a row.