Talib e Wafa By Hayat Khan

About this novel

Talab E Wafa (Urdu: طلبِ وفا) by Hayat Khan is a complete Urdu romance between a vain football player and a brilliant psychiatrist. Zaki is cheerful and in love with his own reflection, while Dr Misha is already the best doctor in her hospital.

The novel opens with a few lines of poetry asking the beloved to show a little love and bring life back to the dry soil of the heart. Then we meet Zaki in front of a mirror, unable to stop admiring himself: “Yaar, how handsome you are… I love you, Zaki!” He’s so taken with his reflection he even recites a filmi couplet to himself. His sister Hamna, sitting on the bed, groans: “Enough self-love now – you’ve beaten even the girls! Too much self-praise isn’t good.” Zaki laughs: if her brother is this handsome, what can he do about it?

Hamna says being handsome isn’t a crime, but singing his own praises every morning certainly is. Zaki tells her to keep her complaints and pass him his guitar – today at two he has his own race, and she’d better be there. He’s dressed in a football kit, ready for practice, when his friend Taimoor bursts in to hug him – “first class, bro!” – telling him the match will start soon and that today they’ll show Lahore what football really is. The writer tells us Zaki is Hamna’s dearly loved brother; football, singing and bike racing are his passions, and above all, he loves himself most.

آئینے کا عاشق زکی، اور ہسپتال کی سب سے قابل ڈاکٹر مشا۔

In another home, Dr Misha says goodbye to her mother, who reminds her to come home early because Zaini Khala is visiting. At the hospital, a nurse rushes to tell her that Dr Raza has called for her. Dr Raza, a family friend, tells her proudly that she is the best psychiatrist in the hospital, and recalls how, when she was born, he was the first to hold her. It’s clear Misha is admired, sensible and very good at her job.

Hayat Khan contrasts a flamboyant hero and a serious heroine, and the title – “the search for loyalty” – promises that love will test them both.

You can read Talab E Wafa online here or download the complete PDF for free. More by Hayat Khan: Zah Tasara Mina Kawam, Rung Zindagi Ke and Dastak Dil Pe, or see all Hayat Khan novels.