4 must-read books as a Pakistani
- Akasious
- Dec 28, 2018
- 7 min read
If you are a Pakistani and you haven't read these books yet then I guess you should go grab them as soon as possible as a book lover and as a Pakistani.
These are must read besides that if you are a reader and a Pakistani and you think there can be more books on this list then you can add to my knowledge and I'd love to read the books you recommend.
So the four books I consider as a worth read particularly as a Pakistani are:
1) ShahabNama by Qudrat Ullah Shahab
2) Ghubaar e Khatir by Molana Abu-ul-Kalam Azaad
3) My Brother by Fatima Jinnah
4) Daughter of the East by Benazir Bhutto
Below I am going to explain each book separately
1)Shahabnama
Pc:google
About the Author:
Qudratullah Shahab قُدرتُ الله شہاب
Born26 February 1917.Gilgit,
British India
Occupation: Civil servant
Notable Work: Shahab Nama
Qudrat Ullah Shahab (or Qudratullah Shahab) (Urdu: قُدرتُ اللہ شہاب ), (26 February 1920 – 24 July 1986) was an eminent Urdu writer and civil servant from Pakistan. Shahab holds the distinction of having served as the Principal Secretary to three heads of state; Governor General Ghulam Muhammad, President Iskander Mirza and President Ayub Khan. He went on to serve as the Ambassador of Pakistan to the Netherlands in 1962 and later as Information Secretary of Pakistan and Education Secretary of Pakistan.
source: Wikipedia
About the Book:
Shahabnama is his autobiography his writing style is so moving and intriguing that once into it you never feel like leaving it. The way he tells his moving tale about the circumstances that made the history looks so pure and well written that you can't question anything or any word. Truthfully told and very well written are the key words for his autobiography.
Anyone who wants read the history of Pakistan and who wants to know the circumstances than he/she should prefer it from the eye of this well educated man whose writing skills are worth admiring and his life circumstances are worth reading.
2) Ghubar e Khatir by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad:
About the Author:
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was a congress Muslim leader before separation. He was among few renowned muslim leaders who didn't support independence movement at that time but later after the independence he came to the grave of Quaid e Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah. He accepted Pakistan as a separate state as soon as it came into existence.
Abul Kalam Azad سیّد ابولکلام آزاد
Personal details:
Born 11 November 1888 Makkah, Hejaz Vilayet, Ottoman Empire (now in Saudi Arabia)
Cause of deathStroke (a medical cause)
Political party: Indian National Congress
Maulana Sayyid Abul Kalam Ghulam Muhiyuddin Ahmed bin Khairuddin Al-Hussaini Azad (11 November 1888 – 22 February 1958) was an Indian scholar, activist and a senior leader of the Indian National Congress during the Indian independence movement. Following India's independence, he became the First Minister of Education in the Indian government Minister of Human Resource Development (until 25 September 1958, Ministry of Education). He is commonly remembered as Maulana Azad; the word Maulana is an honorific meaning 'Our Master', and he had adopted Azad (Free) as his pen name. His contribution to establishing the education foundation in India is recognised by celebrating his birthday as "National Education Day" across India
Ghubar-e-Khatir (Sallies of Mind), (Urdu: غبار خاطر)
It is one of the most important works of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, written primarily during 1942 to 1946 when he was imprisoned in Ahmednagar Fort in Maharashtra by British Raj while he was in Bombay (now Mumbai) to preside over the meeting of All India Congress Working Committee. The book is basically a collection of 24 letters he wrote addressing his close friend Maulana Habibur Rahman Khan Sherwani. These letters were never sent to him because there was no permission for that during the imprisonment and after the release in 1946, he gave all these letters to his friend Hakim Ajmal Khan who let it published for the first time in 1946.
My Brother By Fatima Jinnah:
My Brother is the biography of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, by his sister Fatima Jinnah. It is thought that the publication of Hector Bilotho's book, Jinnah Creator of Pakistan in 1954 prompted Miss Jinnah to write about her brother as it was felt that Bolitho's book had failed to bring out the political aspects of her brother's life. It was published by the Quaid e Azam Acadmey in 1987. A major focus of the book are his political aspirations and how his failing health affected them. The daily times summarized it as "...he was aware of the peril his failing health posed, thus wanted to do whatever he could to build the new country whose existence was precarious owing to lack of resources and enormous challenges on the economic and political fronts." It explores his feelings of betrayal in older age and sickness, for example, when picked by an ambulance when struggling to breathe, it ran out of gas, and then lay in wait for an hour for another to come.
My Review:
It is a biography of Quaid E Azam Muhammad Ali jinnah by Fatima Jinnah his younger sister and perhaps “My brother” was the last extraordinary favor that affectionate, supportive and patronizing sister could give to her beloved brother after his demise.
It was when you are a book lover and you have read many biographies, many writers, and a lot much from the history but you certainly realize you have skipped someone Like Muhammad Ali Jinnah a great leader in the history, the founder of Pakistan.Though there are many books on that remarkable individual but obviously no one could ever see him by the pair of eyes by which Fatima Jinnah being one of his sibling had seen him all through her life from child hood, through the youth, through the struggle of Pakistan, through the last days of his life, through the ailment that was the ultimate reason of his death, the very last day of his life 11sep, 1948 and the last words every thing about the leader in the history if one needs a true narrator and an exceptionally authentic source for it all one should go for My Brother by Fatima Jinnah.
The narration style is so heart touching that literally at some pages tears rolled down my face
What a start she takes when she says, “When I see the mausoleum in Karachi going upward inch by inch to shelter the mortal remains of my brother.”
And as I turned leaf by leaf of this piece of writing feeling of motivation , and sorrow accompanied me side by side .
I got motivated at points where Miss Fatima begged his brother not to work for such long hours and to give up for some time but he would rather reply “Have you heard of a General take a holiday, when his army is fighting for its very survival on a battle field?”
On the other hand I felt overwhelmed with sorrow when at end of first chapter “A nation is orphaned” I went through those words:
“Fatii , Khuda Hafiz………. La Illaha Il ALLah….. Mohammad…..Rasul….Allah”
“Col. Ilahi Bux walked on heavy feets towards me, put his right palm over my sholder,and wept like a child those tears without voice or words conveyed to me the fatal news”
There are words and lines in it that are literally pathetic when understood by a common person why would tears not wet anyone’s cheeks if he has a beating heart?
“Scores of flies buzzed arround his face, and his hands have lost strength to raise themselves to ward of their attack”
“waiting for another ambulance to come, every minute an eternity of agony”
“Quaid,who had given them a homeland, was in his midst lying helpless in an ambulance that had run out of petrol”
As the first chapter, “A nation is orphaned” ends I was introduced to the child hood of great leader ever born in the history of Indo-Pak.
Then chapter after chapter it wasn’t a book that was ending but I realized a common name was rising up to a great leader in the history .
How he got to Lincoln’s In , how he opted to be a barrister other than a businessman as it was his father’s wish for his enthusiastic son to be a business man and then how he dremed to alter the map of world and so he realized his dream into reality.
The most beautiful aspect of the book is Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s habits , his youth and very little things that we can’t find in any other piece of writing for Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
On the other hand
The most awful aspect of this book is that after being written it remained unpublished for years and was published after Fatima Jinnah’s demise and still if listed is not a book which has a great number of readers specially in youngsters the reason of that inpopularity probably lies in the fact that this book contains so many bitter realities that any one who reads it specifically if the reader is Pakistani he finds himself drowing in the sea of embarrasment because it contains the worst kind of bitter realities and yes, reality is never in favor of you , it’s always bitter but I must say this is neither a favor nor a symbol of affection by Fatima Jinnah for her brother but it’s the truth being revealed by Madir E milut to her nation a truth that contains every thing but nither lies nor falsehoods of which this piece of writing was accused in the first place for not being published so long.
Daughter of the East by Benazir Bhutto:
Daughter of Destiny: An Autobiography
Author: Benazir Bhutto
Country: Pakistan
Language: English
Genre: Memoir
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Daughter of Destiny: an Autobiography is a 1988 memoir by 11th Prime Ministers of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto. The book was also released as Daughter of the East: An Autobiography from Hamish Hamilton in 1988
source: Wikipedia
My Review:
My review in few words is that Benazir Bhutto was not only a strong woman and a renowned Pakistani Politician and a prime minister but also a good writer. Apart from my political views I must say her words are as deep as her deep and painful life story and this is a must read for any one who has got love for books. Moreover it's in english so people from all over the world can grab their copy and enjoy reading it.
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