Atish Paray

Atish Paray

Author	Sadat Hasan Manto
Original title	Atish Paray
Language	Urdu
Publisher	Urdu Bookstall (Lahore)[1]
Publication date	1936 (first edition)
Publication place	British India
Media type	Print

Atish Paray (Urdu: آتش پارے, lit. 'Nuggets of Fire') is a collection of short stories by Saadat Hasan Manto.

Background

Atish Paray subtitled “a collection of several thought-provoking stories” was published in 1936 from Lahore, while Manto was living in Amritsar.[2] Two stories from this collection Tamasha - Manto's debut story followed by Taqat Ka Imtehan first appeared in a local weekly Khalq (Creation) by Abdul Bari Alig from Amritsar. Manto dedicated this collection to his late father.[2]

Content

There are eight stories in this collection:[1]

• Khooni Thook (Bloody Spit)
• Inqalab Pasand (Revolutionary)[a]
• Ji Aaya Sahab (Coming Sir)[b]
• Mahigir (Fisherman)[c]
• Tamasha (Spectacle)[d]
• Taqat ka Imtehan (Test of Strength)[e]
• Deewana Shayr (Mad Poet)
• Chori (Theft)

Notes

1. first published in the Aligarh Magazine in March 1935[3]
2. It was later included in Manto Ke Afsanay under the title Qasim with a slight change in the ending[4]
3. also included in his prior collection Rusi Afsanay (Russian Stories)[5]
4. first published under a pseudonym in Abdul Bari Alig’s Urdu newspaper Khalq (Creation)[6] and also included in his prior collection Rusi Afsanay (Russian Stories)[5]
5. It was included in Manto Ke Afsanay[4]

References

1. Flemming 1985b, p. 152.
2. Flemming 1985, p. 38.
3. Flemming 1985, p. 7.
4. Flemming 1985, p. 42.
5. Flemming 1985, p. 36.
6. Flemming 1985, p. 6.

Cited sources

• Flemming, Leslie A. (1985). Another Lonely Voice: The Life and Works of Saadat Hassan Manto. Vanguard Books.
• Flemming, Leslie A. (1985b). "Manto Bibliography". Journal of South Asian Literature. 20 (2): 152–160. ISSN 0091-5637. JSTOR 40872787.