One of the most significant things in my childhood were Urdu magazines and novels. I used to get two children’s magazines every month, Taleem-o-Tarbiyat and Aankh Micholi, and I absolutely loved to read Urdu stories published by Ferozesons. Then one day, my elder brother brought home an Ishtiaq Ahmad novel, which served as my introduction to detective fiction. (If you ask my Abbu ji, Ishtiaq Ahmad novels also served as my introduction to spectacles.) Then came the Imran Series, which got me completely hooked. Sadly, they were not the originals written by Ibn-e-Safi, but their “continuation” — bah! — by Mazhar Kaleem.
The first novel of Ibn-e-Safi’s Imran Series that I ever laid my hands on was Khooni Fankar. It was given to me by a class fellow of mine — I was in class VI or VII at that time — and I couldn’t get past its first couple of pages. One reason was that Khooni Fankar was the second part of a storyline that had started in an earlier novel, Mona Lisa Ki Navasi. Another reason was that I was spoiled by reading the trash written by Mazhar Kaleem. Third reason was that I was just a kid.
I had first read the name “Ibn-e-Safi” in some trivia in Aankh Micholi, in which it was stated that he was the pioneer of detective fiction in Urdu. I was also surprised to learn that the characters of Ali Imran and Colonel Faridi were created by him. At that time, I had become quite a nerd of Ishtiaq Ahmad novels, and was beginning to become a Mazhar Kaleem nerd, a fact that I now deeply regret. The only good that I gained from reading Mazhar Kaleem’s books was that I was able to truly appreciate the originals once I started reading them.
So what’s this Imran Series, anyway?
For those of you who do not know, Imran Series is a series of novels written by Ibn-e-Safi about a fictional detective and spy, Ali Imran. Ibn-e-Safi started writing these novels somewhere in the 1950’s, and continued to write them till his death in 1980. This series, along with the Jasoosi Dunya (another series of novels written by Ibn-e-Safi and which featured the character, Colonel Faridi), is one of the best-selling works of fiction in Urdu. Strangely, I have never read any book from the Jasoosi Dunya, nor do I feel the urge to read them. I sometimes wonder why that is the case, and some of my speculations about it follow later in the post.
So, the Imran Series. In my opinion, the whole appeal of the series lies in its central character, Ali Imran. Here’s a character who is bright, handsome, strong, clever, and ruthless… and a moron.
Yes, I know that’s confusing — or even silly, if you are a new comer to Imran Series. But that’s the real genius of Ibn-e-Safi’s pen; he created a character whose personality is such a paradox that the readers always keep guessing, and enjoying. Imran’s most apparent characteristic is always described as his foolishness (combined with his very good looks), and it is emphasized many times that his goofy behaviour is sort of his second nature. Here’s an excerpt from the novel Mona Lisa Ki Navasi, in which two girls describe his appearance:
”میرا خیال ہے کہ ذرا سی دیر میں یہ رونا شروع کر دے گا۔!“ ڈرائیو کرنے والی ہنس کر بولی۔
”میری جان تو جل رہی ہے۔۔۔!“ دوسری بولی۔
”کیوں جانِ من۔۔۔!“
”اتنا ہینڈسم ہے۔۔۔ لیکن چہرے پر کیسی حماقت طاری ہے۔ ذرا تصور کرو اگر سمارٹ بھی ہوتا تو کیسا لگتا۔!“
”واقعی اتنے دلکش چہرے پر چھائی ہوئی بیوقوفی گراں گذرتی ہے۔!“
[۔۔۔]
”تو کیا تم کئی دنوں سے اس کے پیچھے ہو؟“
”نہیں صرف کل سے۔۔۔ کل میں نے اُسے ریالٹو میں دیکھا تھا۔۔۔ اپنی میز پر تنہا تھا۔ ویٹر نے اس کے قریب پہنچ کر سلام کیا اور وہ سلام کا جواب دے کر بوکھلائے ہوئے انداز میں اٹھ کھڑا ہوا اور اُس سے نہ صرف مصافحہ کیا بلکہ شاید سامنے والی کرسی پر بیٹھنے کی بھی استدعا کر ڈالی۔ ویٹر ہونقوں کی طرح اُس کی شکل دیکھے جا رہا تھا۔ پھر اچانک ایسا لگا جیسے اُسے اپنی حماقت کا احساس ہو گیا ہو۔ شرمندہ سا ہو کر بیٹھ گیا۔!“
Imran himself admits in one story that he is a fool of 1st degree in times of peace. However, his comical exterior serves as the perfect cover for his clandestine role of X-2, Chief of the Ministry of External Affairs’ Secret Service. As Ali Imran, he is a foolish young man, acting as an opportunist, police informer, blackmailer, and occasional detective. As X-2, however, he is ruthless, harsh, extremely diligent, and a sign of terror for his subordinates. During the whole course of the series, only three other people know that Ali Imran is actually X-2, and the way he guards his secret identity is highly entertaining.
What else does the Imran Series offer?
To start with, Imran Series is full of many, many interesting characters. From Ali Imran’s family to the Secret Service Members to the villains to the minor supporting characters — each and every one of them is a great joy to read. Unlike Mazhar Kaleem, who transformed almost every character into a pseudo-intellectual giant, Ibn-e-Safi kept his characters closer to real life. For example, Sulaiman, Imran’s personal chef, is an illiterate villager in the original Imran Series, and his dialogues and actions superbly portray his mindset. Mazhar Kaleem, on the other hand, glorified Sulaiman’s character to an extent that he even played X-2 in some books!
Next comes the story. Some of the early stories in the Imran Series are simple whodunit mysteries, in which Imran can be seen making new contacts and learning new tricks. In one of such stories, he helps Sir Sultan, a high ranking government official, who in return realizes his potential and offers him the secret position of X-2. Thus start Imran’s adventures as a secret agent, and that’s where the series begins to gain its momentum.
And then there’s the beautiful use of Urdu, which really makes for a very enjoyable read. The narration and the conversations just keep flowing smoothly, and even though the language is not overly nastaleeq, I often wonder if we are capable of speaking such Urdu these days, i.e., without overusing English. (Just take a look at the previous excerpt and see if you use words like طاری, گراں, مصافحہ, and استدعا in your everyday conversation.) And then there are dialogues that immensely helped me in pretending that I am an Urdu geek. For example, the following conversation, taken from Khair-andesh:
”آخر ہم کہاں چلے جا رہے ہیں۔“ جیمسن تھوڑی دیر بعد بڑبڑایا۔
”بس کچھ دور اور چل کر ہم گاڑی کا انتظار کریں گے۔“ عمران بولا۔
”کیا عالمِ بالا سے آئے گی۔“
”کہیں میں پھر تمہارے چہرے پر ڈاڑھی نہ اُگا دُوں۔“ عمران اسے گھورتا ہوا بولا۔
”اس غریب الوطنی میں میری تشویش حق بجانب ہے۔“
”مجھ سے زیادہ گاڑھی اردو نہ بولنا۔۔۔ اچھا۔۔۔ بیگل سے فون پر کسی کو ہدایات دے چکا ہوں۔ گاڑی ابھی پہنچ جائے گی۔“
”دیکھا آپ نے گاڑھی اردو کا کمال۔ آخر میری تشویش دور ہو گئی نا۔“
”میں تمہارے وجود کو منصۂ شہود سے نابود کر دوں گا۔“ عمران اسے گھونسہ دکھا کر بولا۔
”ارے باپ رے۔ اتنی گاڑھی حلق سے نہیں اتری یور میجسٹی۔“
”کان پکڑو۔ میں ظفر الملک نہیں ہوں۔“
”یہ لیجئے!“ جیمسن اپنا کان پکڑ کر بولا۔ ”مطلب بتا دیجئے۔“
”میں نے کہا تھا کہ میں تمہیں جان سے مار دوں گا۔“
”ایسی شاندار اردو میں مارنا ہے تو میں تیار ہوں۔“
I am guilty of using the manassah-e-shuhood sentence a couple of times in order to show off my Urdu skills. *wink*
Prefaces that Ibn-e-Safi used to write for every novel have always been very interesting to me. Mostly, they contained letters from readers and Ibn-e-Safi’s witty replies to them, or his take on readers’ reactions to some earlier novel, but sometimes they also included lighthearted commentary on any social issue. Here’s an excerpt from the preface of Mahaktay Muhafiz:
تیسرے صاحب نے بہت ہی بیڈھب سوال کیا ہے۔ وہ مجھ سے سچے مسلمان کی تعریف پوچھ رہے ہیں۔ میری سمجھ میں نہیں آتا کیا عرض کروں۔ ویسے اپنے آس پاس جس قسم کی باتیں سنتا رہتا ہوں اُس سے یہ نتیجہ اخذ کیا ہے کہ سچا مسلمان وہی ہے جس کی بیوی کو چشمِ فلک نے بھی نہ دیکھا ہو۔۔۔ واللہ اعلم بالصواب۔۔۔
Don’t judge a book by its cover
Specially if it’s a book from the Imran Series.
Since I have always seen and bought the re-prints of Imran Series novels, I have no idea what the covers of the original books looked like. (If any of you know anything about them, do let me know.) The very first novels that I’d bought had the same cover, and it looked like this:
Pretty simple and, well, dull. I have always wondered, by the way, if the black figure in this drawing should have yellow eyes instead of white. I mean, the red figure is on a blue background and has blue eyes; the yellow figure is on the red figure and has red eyes; so the black figure, which is on the yellow figure, should have yellow eyes. It’s only logical, no?
But anyway. Regardless of the choices of eye-colors for the weird looking armed figures, the cover is not that horrible. Yes, it’s clumsy, and a rather bad attempt to use abstract art for a spy novel series, but it, sort of, works… somehow.
Some years ago, Asrar Publications, the regular publishers of Imran Series, started publishing the novels in a new format. They took all the novels in a multi-part storyline and combined them in a single volume, so instead of 120 books, we now have 37 volumes. Now that’s a pretty smart decision, and it helps the readers to maintain their collection with less hassle. I, however, do have a problem with these volumes and — yep, you guessed it — it’s the covers.
Take the following cover, for example:
You might want to ask: what the hell is Catherine Zeta-Jones doing on the cover of an Imran Series volume?
But before you even try to think for an answer, I invite you to take a look at the following cover:
Now what the bloody hell is Robert De Niro doing on the cover of an Imran Series volume?
And that’s not all. I have seen Steve Buscemi, Nicolas Cage, Jackie Chan, Harrison Ford, and Jack Nicholson… all of them “featured” on covers of different Imran Series volumes. Combine them with that brilliant design work (which seems to be done by a Photoshop enthusiast who possessed only the mechanical knowledge of photo-editing) and you have an absolute masterpiece. And don’t get me started on the horrible typography (but then, most publishers of Urdu books don’t care much about typography anyway).
If you ask me, I would prefer that bland, old cover of three seemingly burqa-clad, armed figures any day over the new and glossy Hollywood-inspired paste jobs.
What else?
Honestly speaking, I’d be very surprised if someone makes it this far into the post.
I wanted to write about why I hate Mazhar Kaleem novels, why I’ve never bothered reading a Jasoosi Dunya novel, and why I sometimes shake my head at the science fiction presented by Ibn-e-Safi. Don’t get me wrong, Ibn-e-Safi’s science fiction is not that absurd. Sometimes, however, he does use terms which show his lack of research on the topic, but that’s very rare. He once stated that a writer’s task is to review all possibilities, and with the exception of few cases, he does that job very well.
But anyway, since this post is already much longer than I had planned, I think I should stop now. I’ll save the rant against Mazhar Kaleem for a future post.
35 comments
falsa
Jun 11, 2009 at 12:53 pm
All those people who couldn’t go through the whole post but are happy to see you blog raise your hands.
I did.
Tazeen
Jun 11, 2009 at 1:00 pm
Awww
I too grew up on Urdu literature for children and finally moved to Imran series in my teenage years … I have not read one since I passed school and your post took me back to that happy time. I think I am gonna buy one of them and read
bigtugboat
Jun 11, 2009 at 1:12 pm
Though I could go through the whole post but I am happy to see you blog … so I raise my hands too
Minerva
Jun 11, 2009 at 8:20 pm
The picture under Cat Jones is of Missi Pyles from Parent Trap.
lol.
OG
Jun 12, 2009 at 6:35 pm
Hey, I read each and every word of this post!
Since I was also once a great fan of Imran series, but the passion lasted for just one year. I was friends with some boys who used to read it and picked the habit from there. But unfortunately I only got to read Mazhar Kaleem’s Imran Series, which was nice for a while. But I also felt that that romantic aspect was emphasized too much for a young reader (I was 13 at that time)
Adnan Siddiqi
Jun 12, 2009 at 11:05 pm
I was a big fan of Ibn-e-Safi during my college days and have read both Fareedi and Imran version of Ibn-e-Safi. Like many other Ibn-e-Safi fans I am also too inclined towards “Prince of Dhump” but frankly speaking Jasoosi Dunya was way better than Imran series. The combo of Faridi and his asst Capt.Saeed(do I remember right?) was much better than combo of Imran and his servant Joseph.
Mazhar Kaleem,Mushtaq Qureshi and Safdar Saheehen really ruined the taste of ibn-e-safi .Though all characters are my favorite but Sung Hi(the founder of Sung art),Jospeh and Tanweer were all time favorite characters of mine.
Dr.Duago was one of the the classics by Ibn-e-safi and it got popular but it was “zara hat kay” from the main theme of Safi sb.
I did not like the new covering of his novels, it’s like offending Safi Sb. Not sure but I heard that original covers were actually designed by Safi himself or he suggested them.
you have tempted me to read them again.
There are online resources for both Imran Series and Jasoosi Dunya. Have a look.
jasoosiduniya.com/JD/default.aspx
imranseries.com
Thanks for the post.
p.s: Ibn-e-Safi’s son, Dr. Israr was an eye surgeon at Akhter Eye hospital and used to live in Nazimabad No.2. safi was also a Nazimabadi. His son passed away few years ago. he was a wonderful human being and a doctor.
farooq
Jun 13, 2009 at 3:51 am
wooohooo!!! a new post!!!
is that catherina zeta jones?! for some reason, i never really liked her!
can someone write a summary??
Specs
Jun 13, 2009 at 11:02 pm
I’ve never read anything but sab-rang.
No one let me buy Imran Series
I think it was those red lips and bleeding eyes featured on the covers; I always thought it was adult stuff, you know …
The covers made me laugh for a good long time. Ever since photoshop made its way into Pakistan’s Printing Presses, things have just gone downhill.
jingoist
Jun 15, 2009 at 10:17 am
hahah!!!!!
Aaalaaaa post hai yaaar ye….
How can i forget Imran Series….. i started it way back when i was in 5th or 6th grade… (Mazher Kaleem wala)
It all started when I used to read the three series of Ishtiaq Ahmed
1. Inspector Jamshed Series
2. Inspector Kamran Series.
3. Shoqi Brothers series….
and then my cousin opened up his collection to me…. and I literally read hundreds of that…..
Imran, Julia heheh!!
I am sad that i was also spoiled from mazhar kaleem’s imran series… cuz i have heard Ibn-e-safi wrote really good…
you know what a few years back i went to Urdu Bazar … where i had to buy Shahab Nama from Imran Digest (shop name) I found Imran Series, right there and I couldn’t stop my self reading the 2 pages… sadly it was same as it is used to be…
Any how, thanks for reminding such a wonderful moments of my life… looking forward for some more posts now
Welcome back!
MAK
Jun 15, 2009 at 12:23 pm
Good to see u back.
u have done a good analysis except for one thing. If u didn’t intended to rant abt Mazhar Kaleem then y on earth u prolonged ur post by writing what else. U should had stopped there.
I had read couple of them and i think Imran was a good character.
[a}
Jun 16, 2009 at 6:05 pm
Wow I always see these books lying around my uncle’s house.
Since I managed to get through the excerpts u put, I guess I’ll be able to get thru one full book…that’s my goal for the summer! I neeeed to improve in Urdu!
aqeeliz
Jun 17, 2009 at 11:12 pm
My childhood was similar, I used to read “taleem-o-tarbiyat” and “ankh macholi” and then got introduced to Ishtiaq Ahmed novels, though I wasn’t introduced to Imran Series until much later, and even then just read one novel by Mazhar Kaleem.
I haven’t read any urdu book in a while, but I guess I should give Ibn-e-Safi a try. I didn’t think they would be still available in market.
darkknight
Jun 18, 2009 at 11:09 pm
Vey well written bhai. I also started reading with Ishtiaq Ahmed’s novels, then Mazhar Kaleem and then Ibne Safi. Best fiction novles of all time.
@Adnan: It was Captain Hameed not Captain Saeed.
Saeed
Jun 19, 2009 at 10:39 am
Yes, I agree. The white eyes might be a botched job. The new covers – ridiculous.
Sadly, I didn’t grow up reading urdu novels. I wish I had, coz my urdu vocabulary is, sadly, limited to bollywood. Lately I’ve complained to mom about why I wasn’t encouraged to read urdu as a kid (especially since I didn’t study urdu at school (took Hindi & French – I don’t have a boast-worthy vocab in either now).
Many times, I have scoured “urdu book stores” to stock up on novels & to start reading & building up a vocab. But those books just gather dust. Infact, for a few years I even wondered if having a Pakistan-born wife would help. Alas, that didn’t happen. (Hopefully my non-Pakistani fiancee won’t read this).
But I’ll try to read your excerpts, later (I’m at work now), & my style of reading urdu requires time (& my mom by my side). Coz I read, get stuck at word, wonder what it might actually be, & as a last resort, ask mom. Needless to say, I stick to angraizi stuff.
Oh, & detective novels r d shit, man!(negro-talk). I grew up on Agatha Christie. I still read James Hadley Chase. & Now, I really should get back to work.
me
Jun 19, 2009 at 8:33 pm
I have a good idea for your NEXT post…cricket!!!
Kamran
Jun 27, 2009 at 12:57 am
Nice post Saadi!
I must say Imran series is one of the most under rated (scope wise) series I have witnessed. I know it has a HUGE following amongst many readers (still today) but I strongly feel it should have got a lot more attention than it got.
Ibn-e-Safi was a master of the art of such a kind of series as Imran Series. Just amazing were his mix of emotions and actions and fictions that you loved it. I have yet to go through all of his writings – inheriting the interest from my elder brothers – who loved the Imran series and they still do!
I’d love to have a movie made on Imran series, or a game, I’m sure it can beat many a block busters produced
farooqk
Jun 28, 2009 at 3:36 pm
guess what?! its time for you to write a new post!
Beautiful Stranger
Jul 2, 2009 at 3:09 am
I used to read a lot of Ishtiaq Ahmed novels especially when my father was posted in places like Bannu and Bhakar (ever heard of those!!!
). Taleem-o-tarbiyat was a favorite and used to get aankh macholi only sometimes. I loved the special editions of Ishtiaq Ahmed’s novels when all the different teams Inspector Jamshed and Inspector XYZ and the 3 detective brothers (I am forgetting names) would get together to solve a mystery. They always had funny names; Zappatta ki wapsi and so on. I remember one where one of the Inspector dads pretend to be Jesus and then they have to go on a submarine and so on. Can’t remember anything except that. Ah, I am talking too much. Thanks for the great post and taking me back to a part of my childhood I had forgotten. 
n
Jul 3, 2009 at 5:23 pm
i think its not fair if you blame mazhar kaleem for spoiling you.iread his imran series and i think its too good. it is easy to understand and awsum.extremely interesting .each of his book has a unique idea.in start he didnt wrote well but gradually he overcome his shortcomings.his new novels are not up to the mark& i think someone else is using his name.
yesterdaywazbetter
Jul 10, 2009 at 1:07 pm
those imran series r so addicted….
i read only few…..
Adnan Siddiqi
Jul 11, 2009 at 10:27 pm
@Stranger: Those 3 brothers were actually Shoky Brothers. Ishtiaq Ahmad is still alive but he is more into religious stuff. “Bacho ka Islam” and “Khawateen ka Islam” are published by his company
knicq
Jul 14, 2009 at 9:48 pm
Hey hey.. you’ve been busy, and you didn’t even let me on when I came over to yours… I hadn’t been around blogistan much.
So wonderful to have you back.. now I would tell you to keep writing, but I know that will only induce you to not write anymore. So, here I am, telling you to not write! The key to reverse psychology is in keeping it subtle.
Much like most other people, I started with Ishtiaq Ahmad’s novels – sometime when I was in grade 5. Being in a small city not many had heard of beyond its own borders in a country which not many knew of outside of the sub-continent – at least until recently when Dubai got it some coverage – had its disadvantages. You did not get urdu books, and you would mop up anything you found. I read the Umro Ayyar series, the Dastan-e-Ameer Hamza, and Ishtiaq Ahmad novels almost simultaneously with Naseem Hijazi and Rasheed Siddiqui. Truth be told, I never finished Rasheed Siddiqui’s Khuda kee basti.
I was introduced to Imran series by accident, and as tragic as it seems now, by Mazhar Kaleem and Safdar Shaheen. I remember being surprised at being told that the actual Imran series was written by someone called Ibn-e-Safi. After reading him though, I could never bring myself to pick up a Safdar/Mazhar novel, nor an Ishtiaq Ahmed novel.
What? Are you still reading this comment?
I am waiting for someone to come pick me up from the office I am marooned in – whats your excuse?
Huma
Jul 20, 2009 at 10:06 am
it sucks because…i cant read urdu! the most i learnt was meem alif ma..ray sakeen..MAAR hahaha..and thats all i remember! but have fun =D
falsa
Jul 20, 2009 at 11:03 pm
I HAVE TAGGED YOU!
You better do it. *glares at you*
farooq
Jul 28, 2009 at 11:27 pm
naya post likho!! yeh awaam ki awaz hai!
Karachiite
Aug 22, 2009 at 3:05 am
WOW
u guys remember Insp. Jamshed n his three kids, Mahmood, Farooq n Farzana!!
i loved that series by Ishtiaq Ahmed.. Imran series also good..
Missed those old days!!
and yeah, we read taleem o tarbiyat as well.. Also “Nonehal” now who read thattt????
good post.. thnaks
Rashid
Oct 4, 2009 at 5:39 pm
On a boring and a bit gloomy Sunday… when I have nothing to do after watching a crime movie ..I started to surfing about crime stories and ended up here…. This post made me doing something which i never had… commenting on the post
Thumbs up to you …and a job well done…Really reminded my early days… I have almost same story.. I got introduced to a library near my home for renting books…. I started with usual Tarzan … Umroo Ayaar.. Naunihall.. Taleem o Tarbiyat and ankh Macholi.. then shifted to Jamshed series..Kamran Series and Shouki Series…. I got so much addicted that i started reading a complete novel daily. ….. (Now I can just Imagine and laugh !!! 
).. Soon my librarian was short of books.. so he asked me to try Imran series (Mazhar Kaleem 
).. I was in VIth or VIIth grade at that time..
I read hundreds of novel by Mazhar Kaleem but as i grew up and became an engineering student … flaws of his writing started to reveal….I gave several tries but it didn’t work out … then.. i got attracted by ibne-Safi …I think I am fortunate to get in touch with this treasure….what a classic series it is…no supernatural hero and HiFi plots… just simple classic mystery and fiction writing..
On the other hand It really helped me to think and try to develop good traits in my personality… After reading this series…. I unintentionally tried to have such characteristics…..today when i am in my practical life for a while now .. i really misses good literature now…
I hope that the coming generation will get some good thing from it too..
Once again thanks for sharing.
Harib
Oct 19, 2009 at 6:48 pm
@ Knicq it’ Shoukat Siddqui not Rashid Siddqui …
Haven’t read the original Imran Series not even the ripped off ones by Mazhar Kaleem … but I started reading Ishtiaq Ahmed’s novel when I was in 2nd or 3rd class … the first one I read was “Khooni Boli” of the Inspector Jamshed Series, my elder brothers don’t allow me to read that stuff … they used to say that by reading them the brain slows down and blah blah blah … They used to have somewhat hilarious names like “sola teer teen fire” , “Matshiya kia aamad” etc. and crazy names of all the villains like Jeeral, Jimoof, Siimon, Slater (this one can be digested ), Jonat …. and places like Wantaas, Insharjah, Sharjistan, Baygaal …
But as I grow up I stopped reading them because his novels became more like religious sermons. I liked Inspector Kamran series more than the Inspector Jamshed ones because they used to have less brain-less humor and were more plot based. We used to call Shouki brothers as “Ishtiaq Ahmed ka kachra” lol
Ah, the good old days of Taleem-o-Tarbiat and Naunihaal (although I haven’t read much of Naunehal as compare to Taleem-0 but still I think it was good enough). As I started reading it during the 90′s, my favorite writers were Muhammad Younis Hasrat (late),Zakiya Bilgarami of ‘Chacha Bhularkh fame’, Hassan Zaki Kazmi of Science Fiction and the hunting stories by Saleem Khan Gummi. I still have a collection of Taleem-0-Tarbiat… I suppose I have more than 100 issues of Taleem-0-Tarbiat.
Yamna
Oct 28, 2009 at 2:29 pm
even though , I too could,nt read your whole post but Imran series is irresistible…!
uss gherat-e-naheed pe shaula sa zimpak
jhapak jhapak jhapaak, lapak l;apak lapaak….!
Yamna
Oct 28, 2009 at 2:33 pm
The best thing about Ibn-e-safi,s Imran series is that even though its full of crap but no child would understand it.
Benefits of weak urdu….!
a safe thing for children, even though it should nt have been.
:grin
Rashid Ashraf
Dec 1, 2009 at 3:32 pm
دوستوں اور ابن صفی صاحب کے چاہنے والوں!
ابن صفی صاحب سے متعلق اس خاکسار نے ایک ویب سائٹ شروع کی ہے، کچھ نئی چیزیں لیے یہ ویب سائٹ آپ یقیننا” پسند کریں گے۔ متذکرہ ویب سائٹ ایک نان کمرشل ویب سائٹ ہے جسے جناب احمد صفی فرزند ابن صفی کی مکمل تائید حاصل یے۔
wadi-e-urdu.com
[other links and email address snipped]
Balvinder
Sep 2, 2010 at 9:56 pm
My father was Police Inspector when he go to his duties my mother Like other literate women used to read some magazines, and novels,meanwhile find a novel in Urdu,that was Jasoosi Duniya,It was just 3 months before my berth, and my mothers Interest remained reading Jasoosi Duniya for many years after my berth.There was a huge Collection of Ibne Safi,s Urdu Jasoosi Duniya in my house, as my mother liked these novels very much.I read many other writers of Hindi having a quality. I started reading Novels,in the age of 8 years,and my first choice was Ibne Safi’s Jasoosi Duniya in Hindi but having a very good reading speed in Hindi,I read almost all the writers Popular in the Decade between 1970 to 1980.It is very nice to see Ibne Safi Sahibs Pictures and other details about all his work on yours website and Wikipedia and some Pakistani sites,and I am feeling Proud after searching the net because I have 250 Hindi Jasoosi Duniya still out of which 80 percent are like new [snip] My respectful regards to the Great Writer and all his Lovers Balvinder Singh Bhopal M.P. (INDIA) email [snip]
alizay malik
May 6, 2011 at 10:33 pm
imran series are marvolous………..i have read complete series of imran series by ibne safi……no dout mazhar kaleem writes gooood.but no comparison with ibne safi
Fizza
Apr 10, 2012 at 6:38 pm
Topic very well written. I am sure that it’s the voice of many other readers of ibn e safi novels especially imran series. Imran series by ibn e safi was and will always be a great treasure to urdu literature. This top class detective series inspires us and proves that urdu literature can too be versatile. I just wish that ibn e safi could have given the novel a proper ending. I mean shown an ending to Imran series. Although it’s just my wish. May be many will not agree with me. To me it seems that the original character “imran” just secretively vanished with the death of it’s original writter leaving it’s reader in suspense and sadness.
jawaria saeed
Oct 19, 2012 at 3:33 am
O, my god!!!!! i thought it was me who wrote this whole blog. in a verse i could say, “may nay yeh jana k goya yeh bhi eray dil may hai.” I mean. i agree with every word of this blog. the best comparison of ibne safi, the great with mazhar kaleem. his characters. i also came across with mazher kaleem’s imran series, n when it was trying to spoil me my mother told me to read ibne safi n none else.n the day i read ibne safi, i could never read the other guy again. superb. ibne safi was a giant, i’ve heared that even my grandfather and his intellectual friends were a great fan his n the great thing is we living in this scientific n “mission impossible” world never get bored or unsatisfied when reading ibne safi. he’s the best.