Obituary - Ashfaq Ahmed

Pracs · 09-08-2004, 06:05 AM

Renowned writer Ashfaq Ahmed dies
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LAHORE, Sept 7 Renowned writer, intellectual and broadcaster Ashfaq Ahmed died in Lahore today, aged 80, his family said. One of the country's top literary figures and the winner of several national awards, Ahmed, who had been suffering from gall bladder cancer, died on way to the hospital. He leaves behind three sons and wife Bano Qudsia, also a popular Urdu language novelist

ahmed · 09-08-2004, 06:09 AM

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Renowned writer Ashfaq Ahmed dies
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LAHORE, Sept 7 Renowned writer, intellectual and broadcaster Ashfaq Ahmed died in Lahore today, aged 80, his family said. One of the country's top literary figures and the winner of several national awards, Ahmed, who had been suffering from gall bladder cancer, died on way to the hospital. He leaves behind three sons and wife Bano Qudsia, also a popular Urdu language novelist

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God bless his soul......and he recieves high prestige in heaven ..Aimen

u never know

Pracs · 09-08-2004, 06:10 AM

Ashfaq Ahmed's death marks an end to an era in the literary and Sufi writings in Pakistan. Over the span of his literary life, Ashfaq Ahmed touched and shaped the lives of thousands if not millions in Pakistan and the Urdu speaking world.

His dramas and plays that moved us all, will for continuing time be a source of enlightenment and cherished alike. Who can forget 'man chalae ka sauda'.

May his soul rest in peace.

Gone is Ashfaq Ahmed with Mumtaz Mufti and Qudratullah Shahb...

ahmed · 09-08-2004, 06:18 AM

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Ashfaq Ahmed's death marks an end to an era in the literary and Sufi writings in Pakistan. Over the span of his literary life, Ashfaq Ahmed touched and shaped the lives of thousands if not millions in Pakistan and the Urdu speaking world.

His dramas and plays that moved us all, will for continuing time be a source of enlightenment and cherished alike. Who can forget 'man chalae ka sauda'.

May his soul rest in peace.

So true.......all mentioned above were legends ......gone ....leaving behind treasures of litreature.....but dont we think the gap is not bridging ....no new writers comin up of that calliber......esp ....there is no replacment for qudrat ullah shahab and his great SHAHAB NAMA moi favourite
Gone is Ashfaq Ahmed with Mumtaz Mufti and Qudratullah Shahb...

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u never know

Pracs · 09-08-2004, 02:34 PM

yes, there will be no one like the likes of them.. ofcourse you cannot have another Iqbal or Shakespere,... but the pity is we have no upcoming poets or writers who are making it to the top... atleast to the national level.

Augustus · 09-08-2004, 03:24 PM

Pakistan really lost a great personality and i think we even can't pay him a tribute but simply pray May Allah rest his soul in peace forever.. amin

jbladeus · 09-10-2004, 09:51 AM

May the lord give him a good piece of real estate in heaven. He was a good soul.

The pace at which good ppl are leaving this world is alarming. A sign of things to come, i guess?

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Arrrgh... it sure's gonna be mighty rough sailin' today ... mates!

Pracs · 09-11-2004, 12:37 AM

I think its more of a sign that the coming generations just don't measure up to the older one's....

"Allah does not change the state of people unless they change what is within themselves" Quran 1311

Azeem Shah Khan · 09-11-2004, 05:58 AM

God bless his soul and give patience to his family and relatives.

no doubt it is a huge loss to our nation.

azeem

Pracs · 09-11-2004, 03:09 PM

AAMIN

"Allah does not change the state of people unless they change what is within themselves" Quran 1311

Pracs · 09-12-2004, 04:41 AM

Death of a Renowned Urdu Literati
Mohammad Gill

http//www.chowk.com/show_article.cgi?aid=00004060&channel=gulberg

Ashfaq Ahmed was a noted Urdu short story writer and a playwright. I learnt of his death from Dawn (September 8, 2004) but the news item was reported dated September 7. He was 79 at the time of his death. Cancer of the pancreas was the cause of death.

He was a distinguished writer after the generation of Manto, Bedi, and Krishan Chandar. His short story âGuddriyaâ particularly impressed me. His wife Bano Qudsia is also a magnificent Urdu short story writer and a novelist. I remember in the late 1950s, I came across a cute, little Urdu magazine called âDaastangoâ (story teller). It was edited by Ashfaq. At that time I was quite betaken by my passion for Urdu literature and the listings of the first issue of Daastango that I laid hands on interested me very much. I also read quite a bit of English novels and short stories at that time. The translated works of Victor Hugo (Les Miserable) and Guy de Maupassant held my interest particularly. I translated one of Maupassantâs stories (Necklace) and submitted it for publication in Daastango. I called the story âJhootay Moti.â Lo and behold! it got published. That was perhaps the only piece that I published in Urdu. It provided me with an incentive to read more of Ashfaq and Qudsia Bano.

During late 1960s and until about the end of the twentieth century, I got busy with my professional work and my research activities got nearly my full and undivided attention. But in between during the spells of monotonous boredom and hours of leisure, I would acquire Urdu works for light reading. I read Mumtaz Muftiâs Labbaik from which I developed a curious interest for Qudrat Ullah Shahab who was not really unknown to me earlier on. I had read some of his stories, which were interesting. Then I bought Shahab Namah and came to know of a special relationship, which held Shahab, Mufti, and Ashfaq together. Mufti made much of Shahabâs Sufistic leanings quite openly and suggested that Shahab had a âhotlineâ to God. He had a station in the esoteric world. He was one of the âKhuda Raseedahsâ. Ashfaq wouldnât acknowledge any such claims nor would he outright reject them.

Bano seemed to be especially devoted to Shahab who would suggest various Quranic verses to her for incantation. After the death of Shahab, Ashfaq edited a book called âZikr-e-Shahabâ which opened with Muftiâs sketch (after a poem), â Qudrat Ullah Shahab kay teen Pahlooâ, and ended with Ashfaqâs âBaba Saheba.â The implicit devotion (and explicit, in case of Mufti) in which Shahab was held by them, oozes out from their pieces.

Ashfaq was the Director General of the Markazi Urdu Board and worked directly under Shahab who was the Secretary for Education at that time. Mufti also worked under Shahab.

Ashfaqâs Radio drama âTalqeen Shahâ in the early 1960s was a blockbuster particularly in Punjab. Ashfaq also played the central role in it..

Ashfaq is survived by his wife and three sons. May God rest his soul.

"Allah does not change the state of people unless they change what is within themselves" Quran 1311