Wasif Ali Wasif; a Famous Sufi Urdu Writer and Poet

Wasif

Wasif Ali Wasif (15 January 1929 – 18 January 1993) was a teacher, writer, poet and sufi from Pakistan. He was famous for his unique literary style. He used to write short pieces of prose on topics like love, life, fortune, fear, hope, expectation, promise, prayer, happiness, sorrow and so on. He was the regular columnist of Pakistan Urdu Newspaper Nawa-i-Waqt. In his life most of his columns were combined to form books with his own selected title. He did poetry in Urdu and Punjabi languages. Probably no contemporary Urdu writer is more cited in quotations than he is. Later years he used to answer questions in specially arranged gatherings at Lahore attended by the notable community. Some of these sessions were recorded in audio and were later published as Guftgoo (talk) series. His mehfils never had a set subject nor did he lecture on chosen topics. His way was to ask people if they had questions and then he responded to these in his highly original style. He has left behind over 35 books to his credit and his thought was more on mysticism, spirituality and humanity.

Dareechay

Wasif Ali Wasif was born in 15 January, 1929 at District Khushab. His father Malik Muhammed Arif was a teacher. He received his religious education under the supervision of his father. He got primary education in a local school in Khushab. He passed Matriculation examination from Govt. High School Khushab in 1944. His maternal grandfather, a skilled educationist, was appointed as Headmaster at a Govt. school in Jang. Therefore, he was sent to his maternal. He did F.Sc from Govt. Inter college Jhang and graduation from Govt. Degree college Jhang. He was a hardworking student who passed every examination by obtaining first division. Then he moved to Lahore; here he obtained MSC in Mathematics from Government Islamia College, Civil Lines, Lahore and Masters in English from Government College, Lahore.

asif Ali Wasif died on January 18, 1993. Being famous for Sufism and respected by many people, he is usually referred to as Hazrat Wasif Ali Wasif. His shrine is located in Lahore at 25 Bahawalpur Road, near Chawk Chuburjee. His Urs (Religious Festival) is celebrated every year from 22nd to 24th of the month of Rajab.

Hazrat Wasif Ali Wasif did his master in mathematics. At first he taught in some private institutions for sometime, but then he founded Lahore College for English later 'Lahore English college' in 1958. In a short span of time his fame as a very able, benign, competent and dutiful teacher spread around. It was due to ever increasing number of students he started teaching students in two shifts.

Hazrat Wasif Ali Wasif was so much given to silence. He spent most part of the day in this tranquillity, but when he spoke there was nothing that was not quotable. His written and spoken words are quotable for their content as well as their construction. Master of aphorism, he has almost a miraculous ability to capture a rainbow of meaning in a few dewdrops of well chosen words. Of this it were writings in newspaper that secured him a permanent place in the gallery of stylist prose writers. Though his main claim to fame is his writings, a select circle knows that he was an equally great a conversationalist. Ashfaq Ahmed, the conversationalist par excellence of our time has said, “The sentences we concoct are our piece of craft, Wasif’s lines came from somewhere else.” Hanif Ramay is of the view that “Wasif’s prose influences like the poetry of Iqbal.” Few original thinkers have expressed so lofty thoughts in so simple a style. He is as such a common man’s philosopher.

A Na'at by Wasif

Hazrat Wasif Ali Wasif was indeed a dervesh and sufi and in the final part of his life acted as a murshid to many.He was a person in possession of great knowledge and wisdom. He considered himself as a continuation of the great Sufi tradition, imparting useful knowledge, strong faith, hope and love to the ailing hearts. Qudratullah Shahab, Ashfaq Ahmed and Hanif Ramay attended lectures of Wasif Ali Wasif. 

It was in the last writing of Qudratullah Shahab which appeared in the Urdu Newspaper Daily Jang describing that if a person reaches a crossroads of his life, he can find a right path through Wasif Ali Wasif.

An Article on BULLEH SHAH; The Great Punjabi Sufi Poet

Bulleh Shah

Bulleh Shah (1680–1757) (Punjabi: بلہے شاہ, actually Abdullah Shah) was a Punjabi Sufi poet, a humanist and philosopher.

He added a great valuable literature to Punjabi Adab in the genre of poetry. His poetry has Sufi context and has a great readership across the globe and people who understand Punjabi like his poetry and some rock stars adopted his poetry in their songs, which is very rubbish thing and a worse practice, almost humiliating such a great follower of Islam.

All though he and his poetry have nothing to do with my blog as I only present the Urdu stuff but he is a special person and when I found an article about him a thought that worthy to be shared with you guys. Hope you will like it. Here you go!!

Ishfaq Ahmad; A Big Name of Urdu Afsana

Ishfaq Ahmad

Ashfaq Ahmed, PP, SI (Urdu: اشفاق احمد) (August 22, 1925 – September 7, 2004) was a distinguished writer, playwright, broadcaster, intellectual and spiritualist from Pakistan. His prime qualities of heart and hand earned appreciations across the borders. He was regarded by many as the best Urdu Afsana (short-story) writer after Saadat Hasan Manto, Ismat Chughtai and Krishan Chander following the publication of his famous short-story "Gaddarya" [The Shepherd] in 1955.

Ahmed was born on 22 August 1925 in Garhmukteshwar village, Ghaziabad, British India. He obtained his early education in his native district. Shortly before independence in 1947, he migrated to Pakistan and made the Punjab metropolis, Lahore as his abode. He completed his Masters in Urdu literature from Government College Lahore. Bano Qudsia, his wife and companion in Urdu literary circles who is also one of the best novelists of Urdu, was his classmate at Government College.

After Partition, when Ashfaq Ahmed arrived at the Walton refugee camp with millions of other migrants, he used to make announcements on a megaphone around the clock. Later, he got a job in Radio Azad Kashmir, which was established on a truck that used to drive around in various parts of Kashmir. He then got lectureship at Dayal Singh College, Lahore for two years. Whereafter, he went to Rome to join Radio Rome as an Urdu newscaster. He also used to teach Urdu at Rome university. During his stay in Europe, he got diplomas in the Italian and French languages from the University of Rome and University of Grenoble, France. He also got special training diploma in radio broadcasting from New York University.

Compilation of Ishfaq's Short Stories

He started writing stories in his childhood, which were published in Phool [Flower] magazine. After returning to Pakistan from Europe, he took out his own monthly literary magazine, Dastaango [Story Teller], and joined Radio Pakistan as a script writer. He was made editor of the popular Urdu weekly, Lail-o-Nahar [Day and Night], in place of famous poet Sufi Ghulam Mustafa Tabassum by the Government of Pakistan.

In 1962, Ashfaq Ahmed started his popular radio program, Talqeen Shah [The Preacher] which made him immensely popular among the people in towns and villages. It was a weekly feature that ran for three decades, the longest weekly radio show in the subcontinent. He was appointed director of the Markazi Urdu Board in 1966, which was later renamed as Urdu Science Board, a post he held for 29 years. He remained with the board until 1979. He also served as adviser in the Education Ministry during Zia-ul-Haq's regime. In the 60s, he produced a feature film, Dhoop aur Saie [Shadows and Sunshine], which was not very successful at the box office.

characters like "Talqeen Shah", while several TV drama series based on his memorable plays of three decades ago are still enjoyed by the audience. Their appeal lies in the universal truths of life portrayed in human hopes, emotions, aspirations and relationships that touch the soul of people of all age groups. His popular TV plays include Aik Muhabbat Sau Afsanay [Bunch of Love Stories], Uchhay Burj Lahore Dey [Barbicans of Lahore], Tota Kahani [Story of the Parrot] , Lekin [But], Hairat Kadah [Incredibility] and Mun Chalay Ka Sauda [Bargain of the Stubborn]. All through his life, Ashfaq Ahmad endeavored to reform the society through his writings. He had authored over twenty five books including a travelogue, Safar dar Safar [Long Way Journey], with an atypical style. In fact, he gave a new mold to diction and locale situations, many of his fans would fondly remember. He used Punjabi literary words very well in Urdu and introduced a new kind of prose, which was unique to him. For his excellent literary work, he was awarded President's Pride of Performance and Sitara-i-Imtiaz for meritorious services in the field of literature and broadcasting.

Baba Sahiba; Ishfaq's Auto Biography

Ashfaq Ahmed's subtle sense of humour is reflected in his long-running radio programs and Besides his personality as a great author of impressive and laudable books, Ashfaq Ahmed, in his later period of life, was greatly inclined towards sufism, which was visibly reflected in most of his works. His close association with Qudrat Ullah Shahab and Mumtaz Mufti was also attributed for this tendency. Of-late, he used to appear in a get together with his fans in television's program 'Baittakh' [The Guest Room] and 'Zaviya' [The Dimension] wherein he gave swift but satisfying responses to each and every query, placed before him, explicitly by the youth of each gender, in a mystic style.

Ashfaq Ahmed died on 7 September, 2004 at the age of 79, of pancreatic cancer. He has written many books and his books are fun to read and one can really be entertained by reading his books and can get knowledge as well. Some of his books are mentioned below  

• Aik hi boli
• Aik Mohabbat 100 Dramey
• Aik Muhabbat So Afsaney
• Arz-e-musannif
• Aur Dramey
• Band Gali
• Baba Sahiba
• Dhandoraa - Talqeen Shah
• Gadaria - Ujlay Phool
• Gulldan
• Hairat Kaadah
• Hasart-e-Tameer
• Jung Ba Jung
• Khail Tamasha
• Khatiya Watiyaa - Poetry
• Man Chaley Ka Soda
• Mehmaansaraey
• Nangey Paoon
• Safar Dar Safar
• Safar e Maina
• Shahla Kot
• Shehre Aarzoo
• Shora Shori - Talqeen Shah
• Subhaey Ifsaney
• Talism Hosh Afza
• Tota Kahani
• Uchay Buraj Lahore Dey
• Waday e Jang
• Zaviya
• Zaviya - 2
• Zaviya - 3
• Zaviya - 4
• Zaviya - 5
• Zaviya - 6

Mumtaz Mufti; A big name of Urdu literature!

Mumtaz Mufti

Mumtaz Mufti SI (Urdu: ممتاز مفتی) (September 11, 1905 – October 27, 1995), was a distinguished writer from Pakistan.

Mumtaz Mufti was born in Batala, Punjab, (now in India). He was a son of Mufti Muhammad Hussain and his first wife Sughra Khannum. He became a civil servant under British rule and started career as a school teacher. Soon after partition, he migrated to Pakistan with his family.

Mumtaz Mufti started writing Urdu short stories while working as a school teacher before partition. In the beginning of his literary career, he was considered a non-conformist writer having liberal views, who appeared influenced by Freud. His transformation from Liberalism to Sufism was due to his inspiration from Qudrat Ullah Shahab. All the same, he did manage to retain his individual accent and wrote on subjects which were frowned upon by the conservative elements in society.

The title cover of Ali Pur Ka Aelee

The two phases of his life are witnessed by his autobiographies, Ali Pur Ka Aeeli and Alakh Nagri. According to forewords mentioned in his later autobiography, Ali Pur Ka Aeeli is an account of a lover who challenged the social taboos of his times, and Alakh Nagri is an account of an acolyte who greatly influenced by the mysticism of Qudrat Ullah Shahab. Beside these two books he has authored many other books. Some of them are mentioned here:

• An Kahi
• Chup
• Guria Ghar
• Ismaraeen
• Kahi Na Jai
• Labbaik
• Muftianey
• Nizam e Saqa
• Roughani Putlay
• Talash

Qudrat Ullah Shahab; The famous Urdu Writer

Qudrat Ullah Shahab

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.

Gilgit, The birth place of Shahab

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.

Title cover of Shahab Namah

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!!