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Friday, July 23, 2010

Qudrat Ullah Shahab; The famous Urdu Writer

Qudrat Ullah Shahab (or Qudratullah Shahab; 1917– July 24 1986) (Urdu: قدرت اللہ شہاب) was an eminent Urdu writer and civil servant from Pakistan.
Qudrat Ullah Shahab was a well known bureaucrat of Pakistan. He was from Jammu Kashmir and initially got into civil service by passing the Indian civil service exam some years prior to the independence of Pakistan. He served on several high offices including being Ambassador of Pakistan to Netherlands. He got well known to people after his book Shahab Nama got published, which portrays his life experiences.

His early childhood was full of adventures, some of which are mentioned in his book Shahab Nama. The book has become a cult favourite in Pakistan.

His personality reflected mysticism, something which he describes as a gift from an out-of-world personality which he named as ‘Ninety’ in his book SHAHAB NAMA, this mysticism belongs to Owaisiah chain of Spiritualism.

Mumtaz Mufti and Ashfaq Ahmed, both well known writers of Pakistan, were close friends of Q.U.Shahab and were deeply inspired by him.

After his death in 1986, Q.U.Shahab is resting in a grave in Islamabad Graveyard.
He was born in Gilgit in an Arain family, where his father Abdullah Sahib was Governor during Dogra rule. Most of his schooling was in Kashmir, and there he excelled both in Urdu and English languages. Without telling anyone he wrote an essay and won the world competition by Reader's Digest, a rare achievement for any Indian Muslim in those days. Then he came to Government College Lahore for his college education.

He was selected for Indian Civil Service and later volunteered to serve in Bengal during the famine of 1943 where he served as magistrate at Nandigram. He came under heavy fire from the authorities when he distributed part of the strategic rice reserves to starving local community.

After coming to Pakistan he was first posted in the ministry of commerce a as a Deputy Secretary then to Azad Kashmir at Muzaffarabad as chief secretary of the new state. From there he came to Jhang, Punjab, as Deputy Commissioner. He then served as Director of Industries of Punjab and had to deal mostly with settlement issues concerning migration. He was first appointed by Ghulam Muhammad as his Principal Secretary. He remained there during Iskander Mirza and Ayub Khan’s time. He later went to Holland as ambassador and also served as Secretary Information and Secretary Education.
His masterpiece, Shahab Nama, was finished but not yet unpublished at the time of his death in 1986. The book immediately made him a household name in Pakistan. Its idea came when he was visiting his friend Ibn-e-Insha in England and they were talking about the philosophy of life. He then started writing chapters and read them in reading circles. Some were published in newspapers and magazines.

He has authored many books and the most famous books of him are mentioned below.

• Shahab Nama
• Maan Ji
• Surkh Feeta
• Ya Khuda

Really, he was a great person in the history of Pakistan. He played a great role in the growth, development and progress of Pakistan. May his soul rest in peace. Aameen!!

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