Qudrat Ullah Shahab

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Qudratullah Shahab

Born
26 February 1917
[1]

Gilgit, British India
Died
24 July 1986 (aged 69)
Islamabad, Pakistan
Resting place
H-8 Graveyard, Islamabad
Occupation
civil servant, Diplomat
Nationality
Pakistani
Education
Indian Civil Service
Notable
works
Shahab Nama
Spouse
Iffat Shahab (died in Canterburyon 17 June 1974,
aged: 42)
[2]

Children
Saqib Shahab
Qudrat Ullah Shahab (or Qudratullah Shahab; 26 February 1917 24 July 1986) (Urdu:
) was an eminent Urdu writer and civil servant from Pakistan. He is best known for his
autobiography, Shahab Nama.
Contents
[hide]
1 Early life
2 Indian Civil Service
3 Pakistan and his career
4 Literary works
5 Spiritualism
6 Legacy
7 Death
8 Honoury Stamp Issued by Government of Pakistan
9 List of publications
10 References
11 External links
Early life[edit]
He was born in Gilgit in 1917. His father Abdullah Sahib belonged to the Arain tribe of Chimkor
Sahib village, district Ambala and was a student at MAO College and a protegunder the supervision
of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan. Sahib later immigrated from Aligarh and settled down in Gilgit.{
[3]
} Shahab
started writing in his early days both in Urdu and English languages. At the age of 16, he won an
international essay competition organised by the Readers Digest, London. He graduated from Prince
of Wales College, Jammu, and later from Government College Lahore.
According to his autobiography, he spent his childhood in Eastern Punjab near Chamkor Sahib,
Ropar (Rupnagar) District.
Indian Civil Service[edit]

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this
section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be
challenged and removed. (October 2012)
He was selected for Indian Civil Service in 1940 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 the starving local community.
Pakistan and his career[edit]

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this
section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be
challenged and removed. (October 2012)
After coming to Pakistan he was first posted in the Ministry of Commerce as a Deputy Secretary and
then as Chief Secretary of the new state of Azad Kashmir at Muzaffarabad. Thereafter, he became
Deputy Commissioner of Jhang, Punjab. He also served as Director of Industries of Punjab and
Sdealt mostly with settlement issues concerning migration. He was appointed by Governor
General Ghulam Muhammad his Principal Secretary and remained on this post during Iskander
Mirza's and Ayub Khan's regimes. He served as Ambassador of Pakistan to Netherlands in 1962
and later as Secretary of Information and Education. He resigned after a clash with the new regime
of Yahya Khan and opted for a self-imposed exile at UK. Shahab was elected a member of the
executive board of UNESCO in 1968.
Literary works[edit]
Shahab had published in English and Urdu languages for contemporary newspapers and magazines
of Pakistan Writers' Guild, founded at Karachi in January 1959.
[4]

He is best known for his autobiography Shahab Nama.
[5]
In the first chapter, Shahab mentioned how
the idea of writing a memoir occurred to him when he paid a visit to Ibn-e-Insha in London.
[citation
needed]
While they were discussing the philosophy of life, it inspired him to pen his own experiences.
The complete work was published after his death in 1986.

Qudrat Ullah Shahab and Mohammad Tufail in praising ceremony of Mumtaz Mufti book, labbaik,1972
Spiritualism[edit]
There has been much debate on the spiritual side of his personality. Mumtaz Mufti, Shahab's close
friend and a well-known writer, wrote about it. Also in Shahab Nama, Shahab shared some of his
spiritual experiences, especially the bewitched bungalow of 18 civil lines (Cuttuck) that contributed to
his understanding of Parapsychology.
[citation needed]

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
[6]
as his spiritual guide. After Shahab Nama published, which
was actually after Shahab's death, Mufti wrote his autobiography, Alakh Nagri, and openly discussed
the hidden traits of Shahab's life. Mufti wrote in the foreword of the book:
"Since Shahab has opened his own secrets in the last chapter
of Shahab Nama, I find no reason not to share experiences
which I witnessed about the mysticism of Shahab"
[7]
(English translation
of the original text in Urdu).
Legacy[edit]
From the early days of Pakistan, Shahab worked with the national
leadership country until the regime of Yahya Khan. Shahab
revealed in Shahab Nama, as Mumtaz Mufti did inAlakh Nagri, that
the idea of retaining the name "Islamic Republic of Pakistan" was
proposed by him to Ayub Khan, after Ayub had started to write in
official communications the name of the country simply as
'Pakistan', instead of 'Islamic Republic of Pakistan', during his initial
days in office. After some initial hesitation, Ayub agreed with
Shahab's reasoning so much that he 'adopted' the idea as his
own!
[8]

The last chapter of Shahab Nama about his exposure
to spiritualism has been controversial.
[9]
Though throughout his
lifetime, Shahab had enjoyed a respectful image among his
colleagues and friends. Many of them paid him tributes in their
essays and short stories. Notably, Mumtaz Mufti made him the
subject of his autobiography Alakh Nagri and later dedicated
another book Labbaik. Bano Qudsia, a veteran Urdu writer, wrote a
book Mard-e-Abresham on Shahab's personality. A collection of
essays about Qudrutullah Shahab has been compiled in a
book, Zikr-e-Shahab.
[10]

Death[edit]
Shahab died on 24 July 1986 in Islamabad and is buried in H-8
Graveyard Islamabad Pakistan.
[11]

Honoury Stamp Issued by Government of
Pakistan[edit]
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. The Stamp can be found on this
URL from Pakistan Post's official
website: http://www.pakpost.gov.pk/stamps1/QudratUllahShahab.ht
ml
List of publications[edit]
Shahab Nama
MAAN JI (The Mother)
Nafsanay
Surakh Feeta (Red Ribbon)
Ya Khuda (O God)
References[edit]
1. Jump up^ Final Resting Place of Hz Qudratullah Shahab (RA)
Stray Reflections. Strayreflections.wordpress.com (22
February 2008). Retrieved on 21 April 2012.
2. Jump up^ Zikr-e-Shahab: Remembering Qudrat Ullah Shahab
| LUBP. Criticalppp.com (9 September 2004). Retrieved on 21
April 2012.
3. Jump up^ Qudrat Ullah Shahab. Shahab Nama. p. 70.
4. Jump up^ History 01. Pakwritersguild.org. Retrieved on 21
April 2012.
5. Jump up^ "Book Review: Shahab Naama". Khudi.pk.
Retrieved 7 August 2012.
6. Jump up^ Qudrat Ullah Shahab Crescent.
Monthlycrescent.com. Retrieved on 21 April 2012.
7. Jump up^ [1]
[dead link]

8. Jump up^ Shahab Nama
9. Jump up^ Qudratullah Shahab & Mumtaz Mufti's Works |
Accountancy Forum Accounting Discussions.
Accountancy.com.pk. Retrieved on 21 April 2012.
10. Jump up^ Book Review: Shahab Naama. Khudi.pk (15 April
2010). Retrieved on 21 April 2012.
11. Jump up^ Aulia-e-Allah of Pakistan. Aulia-e-pakistan.com .
Retrieved on 21 April 2012.
External links[edit]
Qudratullah Shahab's grave from Daily Times
Book Review of Shahab Nama in English.
Listen to ShahabNama by Qudratullah Shahab
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