Qudrat Ullah Shahab (or Qudratullah Shahab, ur, ; 26 February 191724 July 1986) was an eminent

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. Shahab holds the distinction of having served as the

Principal Secretary The Principal Secretary is a senior government official in various Commonwealth countries. * Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of Pakistan * Principal Secretary to the President of Pakistan * Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of Ind ...

to three heads of state; Governor General Ghulam Muhammad, President

Iskander Mirza Sahibzada Iskander Ali Mirza ( bn, ইস্কান্দার আলী মির্জা; ur, ; 13 November 1899 – 13 November 1969), , was a Pakistani Bengali general officer and civil servant who was the first President of Pakis ...

, and President

Ayub Khan Ayub Khan is a compound masculine name; Ayub is the Arabic version of the name of the Biblical figure Job, while Khan or Khaan is taken from the title used first by the Mongol rulers and then, in particular, their Islamic and Persian-influenced s ...

. He went on to serve as the Ambassador of Pakistan to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in 1962 and later as

Information Secretary of Pakistan The Information Secretary of Pakistan is the Federal Secretary for the Ministry of Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage. The position holder is a BPS-22 grade officer, usually belonging to the Pakistan Administrative Service. The Info ...

and

Education Secretary of Pakistan The Education Secretary of Pakistan is the Federal Secretary for Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training. The position is occupied by a BPS-22 grade officer, usually belonging to the Pakistan Administrative Service. The Secreta ...

Early life

Shahab was born in

Gilgit Gilgit (; Shina: ; ur, ) is the capital city of Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan. The city is located in a broad valley near the confluence of the Gilgit River and the Hunza River. It is a major tourist destination in Pakistan, serving as a h ...

on 26 February 1917. His father,

Abdullah Sahib Abdullah Sahib was the Governor of Gilgit Agency during Dogra rule and was one of the earliest graduates of Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College. He was the father of Pakistani writer Qudrat Ullah Shahab. Early life He was born in an Arain family o ...

, belonged to the

Arain Arain (also known as Raeen) are a large Punjabi agricultural tribe with strong political identity and organisation, found mainly in the Pakistani provinces of Punjab and Sindh with a small population in parts of Indian Punjab, Uttar Pradesh a ...

tribe of Chimkor Sahib village, district Ambala, and was a student at

Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College ( ur, Madrasatul Uloom Musalmanan-e-Hind, italics=yes) was founded in 1875 by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, initially as a primary school, with the intention of taking it to a college level institution, known as Muhammed ...

and a

protégé Mentorship is the influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the personal and p ...

under the supervision of

Sir Syed Ahmed Khan Sir Syed Ahmad Khan Order of the Star of India, KCSI (17 October 1817 – 27 March 1898; also Sayyid Ahmad Khan) was an Indian people, Indian Muslim Islamic modernist, reformer, philosopher, and educationist in nineteenth-century British ...

. Abdullah Sahib later migrated from

Aligarh Aligarh (; formerly known as Allygarh, and Kol) is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Aligarh district, and lies northwest of state capital Lucknow and approximately southeast of the capita ...

and settled down in

. Shahab first rose to prominence when, at sixteen, an essay he penned was selected for the first prize in an international competition organized by the

Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...

, London, and, in 1941, for being the first Muslim from Jammu and Kashmir qualifying for the

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 300 million ...

. He later moved to

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

, Pakistan, after the separation of the sub-continent and took charge as Under-Secretary (Import and Export), Ministry of Trade, of the newly-formed independent state. He also served as the first Secretary General (later the position was renamed as Chief Secretary) of Govt. Of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Qudrat Ullah was deputy commissioner of

Jhang Jhang (Punjabi language, Punjabi, ur, ), ) is the capital city of Jhang District, in the central portion of the province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan. Situated on the east bank of the Chenab river, it is the List of most populous c ...

. He was behind many government schemes launched for the benefit of writers and intellectuals.Profile of Qudrat Ullah Shahab
Rekhta.org website, Retrieved 27 October 2022

Literary works

Shahab himself published in English and

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

in January 1959. Shahab's essay "Maaji" poetically outlines the simplicity of his mother and the relationship that his parents shared, detailing migration, governorship, family dynamics, and death in a short chapter. He is best known for his autobiography ''

Shahab Nama ''Shahab Nama'' (; ) is an Urdu autobiography by renowned Pakistani writer and diplomat Qudrat Ullah Shahab. It is an eyewitness account of the background of the subcontinent's Muslims' independence movement and of the demand, establishment a ...

''.

Spiritualism

The real disclosure came in the final chapter of ''Shahab Nama'' that alluded to an out-of-world personality whom he used to call ''Ninety'' as his spiritual guide. After ''Shahab Nama'' published, which was actually after Shahab's death,

Mufti A Mufti (; ar, مفتي) is an Islamic jurist qualified to issue a nonbinding opinion ('' fatwa'') on a point of Islamic law (''sharia''). The act of issuing fatwas is called ''iftāʾ''. Muftis and their ''fatwas'' played an important rol ...

wrote his autobiography, ''

Alakh Nagri Mumtaz Husain, better known as Mumtaz Mufti ( ur, ; September 11, 1905 – October 27, 1995), was a writer from Pakistan.Mumtaz Mufti Mumtaz Husain, better known as Mumtaz Mufti ( ur, ; September 11, 1905 – October 27, 1995), was a writer from Pakistan.Alakh Nagri Mumtaz Husain, better known as Mumtaz Mufti ( ur, ; September 11, 1905 – October 27, 1995), was a writer from Pakistan.Bano Qudsia Bano Qudsia ( ur, ‎; 28 November 19284 February 2017), also known as Bano Aapa, was a Pakistani novelist, playwright and spiritualist. She wrote literature in Urdu, producing novels, dramas plays and short stories. Qudsia is best recognized ...

, a veteran

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Shahab died on 24 July 1986 in

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital T ...

and is buried in H-8 Graveyard, Islamabad, Pakistan.

Honorary stamp

On 23 March 2013, Pakistan Post issued a stamp with denomination of Rs. 15 under the "Men of Letters" series in the honour of Qudratullah Shahab.Qudrat Ullah Shahab (Men of Letters Series) postage stamps
Pakistan Post website, Published 23 March 2013, Retrieved 27 October 2022

Books

*''

'' – autobiography (1986)Books by Qudrat Ullah Shahab
GoodReads.com website, Retrieved 27 October 2022 *''Ya khuda'',یا خُدا – novel *''Mān̲ jī'', ماں جی – short stories *''Surk̲h̲ fītāh'', سُرخ فِیتہ – short stories *''Nafsāne'', نفسانے – short stories *''Shahāb nagar'', شہاب نگر – literary miscellany *''Pathans'' – an essay about

Pashtuns Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...

References

External links

Qudratullah Shahab's grave
from Daily Times
Book Review
of

in English.
Listen to ShahabNama by Qudratullah Shahab
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shahab, Qudrat Ullah 1917 births 1986 deaths Ambassadors of Pakistan to the Netherlands Pakistani autobiographers Pakistani male short story writers Pakistani short story writers Government College University, Lahore alumni Indian Civil Service (British India) officers Pakistani civil servants Pakistani humorists Pakistani scholars Pakistani Sufis People from Ambala Punjabi people Shrines in Pakistan