recommend some biographies.

I love reading biographies. In last few years I have read the following. Please recommend more. They can be English or Urdu.

Also share your reads.

Some of the biographies that I remember reading

  1. Yadon Kee Baraat (Josh Maliah Badi)
  2. Shahab Nama (Qudratullah Shahab)
  3. Zarguzasht (Mushatq Yousifi) > This one is written as satire, but a biography nevertheless.
  4. Ali pur ka Eili (Mumtaz Mufti) > This one is written as a novel
  5. Tazkira-e-Rasheediya (Molana Rasheed Gangohi)
  6. Biography of Maulana Anwar Shah Kashmiri (Dont remember the name)
  7. Daughter of the East (Benazir Bhutto)
  8. In The line of Fire (Musharraf) > although more of a memoir than biography
  9. Steve Jobs; A biography
  10. Gandhi
  11. My feudal lord Tehmina Durrani)
  12. My Life (Bill Clinton)
  13. Dreams from My Father (Obama)
  14. Pakistan: A Personal History (Imran Khan) (currently reading).

I will add more when remember

Re: recommend some biographies.

From your list, I've read the following:

7

8

9

11

12

13

here are some others from my bookshelves you might enjoy:

Living History- Hillary Rodham Clinton
Leap of Faith- Memoirs of an Unexpected Life (Queen Noor)
Songs of Blood And Sword- Fatima Bhutto
All Round View- Imran Khan
The Run Of His Life, The People Vs OJ Simpson

Re: recommend some biographies.

Nice recommendation Khatti. I would love to read OJ and Fatima's.

Aron Ralston's Between Rock n a hard place.

Re: recommend some biographies.

His Excellency...George Washington (Joseph J. Ellis)

A Life of Challenge.(Drew Sharp )

The Last Lecture ( Pausch, Jeffrey zaslow)

Re: recommend some biographies.

Al-Farooq (by Shibli Nomani) - A Biography of Hazrat Umr e Farooq (RA)
My Brother by Fatima Jinah

recommend some biographies.

^ any PDF link?

Re: recommend some biographies.

Here are the links for Al-Farooq

Al Farooq – English – By Shaykh Allamah Shibli Nomani (r.a) « Islamic Books Library

Al Farooq [RA] by Allama Shibli Nomani (r.a)

Al Farooq (R.A) By ALLAMA SHIBLI NOMANI (RA).pdf - 4shared.com - document sharing - download - MUSALMAN BHAI

Re: recommend some biographies.

Links for My brother by Fatima Jinah

My Brother by Fatima Jinnah

My Brother by Fatima Jinnah ~ PDF Books Hub - Free PDF Books in Urdu - PDF Books in English

Re: recommend some biographies.

Helen Keller, A Life (Dorothy Herrmann)

Re: recommend some biographies.

Touching Distance,( James Cracknell)

Re: recommend some biographies.

Allakh Nagri, the second half of Mumtaz Mufti's life. written more like biography, but some chapters are dedicated to people who influenced his life.

Re: recommend some biographies.

Bano Qudsia wrote biography of Qudratullah Shahb with the title 'Mard e Abresham'. Though she also considers him a good person having some miraculous attributes, but that is far behind the mythological accounts by Mumtaz Mufti in 'Alakh Nagri'

Re: recommend some biographies.

Reading Pakistan by Imran now a days or more like listening to it on Amazon Audible books.

Re: recommend some biographies.

Line of fire was an interesting read

Re: recommend some biographies.

In Shahabnama, he indicated two incidents of his life, which I personally believe his closeness to Allah

1) As a commissioner of Jhang, one time a *buzurg/*Old man came to him and asked for help and told him that Prophet Muhammad (saw) came into his dream and instructed him to ask help from Qudrat Ullah Shahab.

2) Before partition, he was working in Orissa Secretariat, and his housing was a ghost house. He wrote in his autobiography that every night he went through different experiences and events. One time when he was listening a song from gramophone, it started sounding differently. But when he put the piece of paper of first kalma. it sounded correctly. and then he repeated his experience with roman words of kalma. but gramophone only worked with arabic kalma.

other than that,
He was always appointed as secretary of each president till early 60s. He also argued with Yahyah Khan when he was martial law administrator, for that reason he was punished by hurdles in his retirement funds.

Re: recommend some biographies.

Dilon ka raaz to Allah hi janta hai, but I think Shahab saheb and his friends like Mumtaz Mufti exaggerated thing to a great extent. There is one thing fiction, which if crosses its boundaries become myth. I think many of the chapters in Shahbnama and Alakh Nagri crossed those limits

Re: recommend some biographies.

I never read Alakh Nagri, therefore cant say about that. But in Shahbnama, he presented events of his life and I dont see any taste of fiction. But those two events that one may argue.

Re: recommend some biographies.

I would love to read Steve Job's.

Re: recommend some biographies.

Autobiography of Malcolm X. Been in love with him ever since.