Born in an influential yet mediocre and humble Kashmiri family, Qudrat Ullah Shahab had always been a keen observer and enthusiast ever since he was a young boy making petty pranks in and around his neighbourhoods and later on at Chamkaur Sahib area of Punjab at his grandmother's place with Karam Bux (their home servant).
He had a knack for literature and writing since he was young. He quietly penned down a wonderful essay in English when he had started learning it during college life and secretly submitted it to the Reader's Digest, for which he was then awarded and soon he became a renowned student across Hindustan and the world.
His autobiography "Shahab Nama" is a fascinating narration of life in Kashmir, the days in which he had recently topped his ICS (Indian Civil Service) exams to become a Commissioner and stationed at various Indian city districts, his interaction with his British Imperialist colleagues, with the Pakistan Movement and its key fighters, Pakistan's formation, his posting at Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Azad Kashmir, Murree. When he was the Secretary to Pakistan's second Governor General Malik Ghulam Muhammad (who superceded Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah) and his later secretarial services for Iskander Mirza and Ayub Khan. Visits to Holland for diplomatic studies, the gruesome accounts of notorious Gen. Yahya Khan's dictatorship, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's character-analysis from a different perspective, ministerial services for the education sector under Gen. Zia ul Haq's regime. His first childhood love for Chandrawati (the Hindu girl), marriage with Dr. Iffat, the terrifying tale of the days spent at the haunted mansion with Bhimla Kumari's restless spirit, membership at the United Nations, his appointment at UNESCO in Paris, sights and sounds of England and Holland (ambassadorship at the latter country), visiting Lebanon, Egypt, undercover espionage mission in Israel to investigate and verify report of Israeli hegemony in school syllabus that was used to subvert Islamic teachings and present a blasphemous and distorted view of Islam and the Prophet (PBUH). His memories with Codename "Mustafa" at Tel Aviv, the one-night magical stay at Al Quds, Palestine. The tragic death of Dr. Iffat Shahab at a young age, taking care of his son Saqib Shahab, the urge to acquire spiritual knowledge and enlightenment, the distant encounter with "Ninety", his anonymous guide and much more.
"Shahab Nama" explores in great depth and detail the bureaucrat and hidden saint that was Qudrat Ullah Shahab (rehmatullah alayh - May Allah have Mercy on him). The book is a must read for all aspirants of the knowledge of Pakistan's spiritual dimensions and especially for bureacrats and soldiers.
This book will sometimes make you cry, sometimes laugh yourself off. A blend of emotions, mystery, trauma, joy, confusion, enlightenment; you will fully understand the personality that is always alive in our hearts and minds, the saint that was and is, Qudrat Ullah Shahab (rehmatullah alayh).
Zaki Khalid