Rah e Hayat by Nooreh Shaal

About this novel

Rah e Hayat by Nooreh Shaal is an Urdu novel that mixes university life, friendship and a quiet spiritual journey. Read it online or download the complete PDF free on Crazy Fans of Novels.

The novel opens with verses 68 to 70 of Surah Al-Waqiah, where Allah asks whether we have looked at the water we drink and who sends it down from the clouds, and then reminds us that He could make it bitter. The writer explains the tafseer in simple words: rain is born from the salty sea, yet it reaches us sweet and pure, and that is a blessing we should thank our Rab for. This opening sets the mood for everything that follows.

Then we move to a silent lecture hall. The students sit in rows on wooden benches, listening to Sir Abid Raza’s Quran tafseer with full attention. Mizrab sits in the front row, head down, writing every word of his lecture in her notebook. Suddenly two tears fall on the page and her pen stops. Her friends look at her in surprise, but this is not the first time. Sir Abid Raza’s lectures always move her, and the feeling stays with her for days.

Outside the hall the tone turns light and funny. Mizrab sits with her group, Zoniya, Haniya and Ghazal, under a sky full of grey clouds. Zoniya cannot stop admiring Sir Zargham Bashah, a teacher from the English department, not their own, and Ghazal keeps scolding her, “Oye bas karo, wo teacher hain.” When he walks past without even looking, Zoniya sighs, “Uff, ye ada-e-beniyazi,” while Mizrab’s mind is still lost in the lecture. Nooreh Shaal balances hansi-mazaq with a deeper question about the path of life, the raah e hayat, that each of these girls will choose.

زندگی کا راستہ وہی سیدھا ہے جو شکر سے شروع ہو کر اپنے رب تک جاتا ہے۔

Read more by the same writer: Man Ki Barish, Naye Mosam Ki Sehar and Chaman Zahra, or see all Noor Shaal novels and more romantic Urdu novels.