Syed Muhammad Ashraf

Syed Muhammad Ashraf also known as S. M. Ashraf is an Indian Retired Civil Servant (IRS) and an Urdu novelist and short-story writer. He is first person to qualify civil service examination in Urdu language in India. He has written novels and several collections of short stories. Some of his stories have been translated into English and other languages. He has received the Sahitya Academy Award in 2004 and Aalmi Farogh-e-Urdu Adab Award by Majlis-e-Farogh-e-Urdu Qatar in 2018.

Life He was born on 8 July 1957 at Sitapur, a town in Awadh region in Uttar Pradesh, he belongs to a family of devoted scholars and Sufi saints of Marehra Shareef in Etah district of Uttar Pradesh, India. His father and ancestors headed the Khanquah-e-Barkaatiya that has catered down the ages for the spiritual alleviation of irrespective of their caste, color or creed.

His elder brother, Syed Muhammad Ameen Mian Quadri, serves as the custodian of the Dargah of Marehra Sharif. Ashraf grew up in a family associated with Sufi traditions, which influenced his early outlook. He also had access to the library of Khanqah-e-Barkaatiya, which contains works in Urdu, Persian, Arabic, and Sanskrit.

Education Ashraf's literary predilection was developed and refined further, as he joined the Aligarh Muslim University for doing Bachelor of Arts in Urdu literature. That he took part in the co-curricular activities, particularly literary ones, as evident from the several posts he held at the AMU, ranging from Secretary, University Literary Club, Secretary AMU Great Books Club to Editor, Aftab Magazine. Also, he was the winner of various debating trophies. Ashraf's preoccupation with literary activities and writing stories gained wide acclaim on the University campus, he kept earning the highest academic distinctions by standing first in his BA (Hons.) and MA examinations and was awarded Gold Medals for his academic excellence. After obtaining his master's degree he appeared at the highly competitive Civil Service Examinations and set a new record in the history of UPSC as he took Urdu as the medium of examination and qualified Civil Service. His works include:

Daar Se Bichde Baad-e-Saba Ka Intizar Aadmi General knowledge se bahar ka Sawaal Aakhri Ban-baas Lakadbaggha Roya Qurbani Ka Janwar Andhaa Oont Lakadbaggha Chup Ho Gaya Qadeem Maabadon ka Muhafiz Aakhri Mod Par Lakadbaggha Hansa Toofan