What Will You Give for This Beauty

By: Ali Akbar Natiq

Translated by: Ali Madeeh Hashmi

Qaim Deen sneaks across the Sutlej, into India, to steal cattle—braving cobras, wild boars and the border patrol—and gives generously of his earnings to those in need. Young Nauman’s forbidden love for Nuzhat leads him to seek refuge in a holy place, at terrible cost to his family. Maulvi Abdur Rahman and his neighbour’s bull terrier engage in a hilarious and unrelenting battle of wits. Could Kareeman’s beauty, which hits the village like a storm, be the salvation of Ghafoora the Dimwit?

Possessed of dark irony and a searing moral vision, Ali Akbar Natiq is a storyteller of exceptional talent and manifest power. He renders the robust rhythms of the Punjab countryside, with its undercurrent of violence and poverty, through feuds and feasts, hunts and marriages, mobs and floods, elopements and gossip. Acrobats, holy men, thieves, peasants, landowners, masons and courtesans populate the stories of his virtuoso debut collection What Will You Give for This Beauty?

About the Author

Ali Akbar Natiq began working as a mason, specializing in domes and minarets, to contribute to the family income while he read widely in Urdu and Arabic. Acclaimed as one of the brightest stars in Pakistan’s literary firmament, Natiq has published two volumes of poetry and one collection of short stories.

Ali Madeeh Hashmi is a psychiatrist, writer and translator. He has written about the lives and works of Faiz, Ghalib, Iqbal and Manto.