Qurbat by Zainab

About this novel

Qurbat (Urdu: قربت) by Zainab is a very long Urdu novel about a heartbroken girl, a lonely workaholic and a restless mother. The young man can’t stand going home, and the wealthy mother of three sons spends her nights at a club, until their stories meet.

The novel opens in the evening. A girl is still lying in bed, buried under her blanket in deep despair. Even Maghrib time has passed – and normally she never misses a prayer. But whatever happened today has pushed her past every limit. She knows her own heart is set on something; she had left everything to Allah, and yet she still can’t find peace. The writer doesn’t reveal what has happened, but the sadness is heavy.

Then the scene shifts to an office at midnight. Everyone left by eight, but one man is still in his room, completely absorbed in his work. He has limited his life to the office and his own room: he leaves in the morning and returns late at night, never taking a break even when he’s tired. He would like to rest, but he knows that going home won’t give him peaceful sleep. He hasn’t known real peace since he was old enough to understand, and the reason is a person living in his home – someone he resents even though he doesn’t want to. In his view, women only ever think of themselves. When the clock shows one, he finally packs up and drives home.

رات کا ایک بجا، دفتر میں اکیلا ایک شخص، اور گھر جانے سے کتراتا دل۔

The third scene takes place at a club late at night, crowded and loud, full of young people talking, laughing and dancing. In one corner sits a forty-nine-year-old woman in a fashionable dress, chatting with a man named Faraz, who flatters her: “You don’t look like the mother of three grown sons.” She laughs, taking it as a compliment, and flicks back her golden hair. Then a beautiful girl walks over – “Khala, you’re still here? I thought you’d left” – and the woman asks whether she has spoken to Mustafa yet.

Zainab sets up a family drama about neglect, broken trust and a son’s resentment, and the title – “closeness” – suggests the story is about finding the nearness that these characters have lost. A long read for fans of serious family-centred romance.

You can read Qurbat online here or download the complete PDF for free. You may also like Samjhota by Muniba Asif and Hum Nazar Se Utar Gaye Honge, or browse more romantic Urdu novels.