We were joined by an internationally acclaimed scholar and content creator in May 2018, on Qissa. We have gotten the opportunity to cater to hundreds of intellectuals from all across Pakistan over the years, due to Qissa . A year into operations, we even started welcoming artists from abroad. It is always a moment of pride for us when well-known artists trust us with their life’s work by giving us the opportunity to supply them any services they might need.
“Inspired Discourses”– Words of An Artist
Such was the case ofMr. Aadil Farook, a non-commercial music artist celebrated worldwide for his work. The book titled “Inspired Discourses”, is an exceptional piece of writing that discusses the traditions and heritage of Islamic intellectuality. Mr. Aadil Farook’s writing brought forward the abundance of rich Islamic knowledge, in all schools of thoughts including but not limited to legality, theology, philosophy, as well as mysticism. His literary achievements are not limited to this book, rather he is also author of two other books of Islamic poetry. All of his books have received excellent reviews from all around the world.
Inspired discourses by Aadil Farook
The Author’s Journey:
His artistic abilities are not limited to writing. In fact, he is also known for 6 of his songs and 1 instrumental composition which have been aired on top FM stations across Pakistan. Mr. Aadil owns a website on his own name that he runs himself, and is eventually nominated for the British Muslim Awards, a highly prestigious award that honored the successes of Muslims residing in Britain. His list of achievements also include translations of two books authored by a mystic and Sufi, from Urdu to English making it widely available. Due to his exceptional accomplishments, he has been likened to Allama Muhammad Iqbal.
Daastan is proud to introduce this book in Pakistan. We are honored to play our part in spreading the love of literature. It has always been our aim to support and empower writers. Join us today and become a part of our struggle.
Our journey as one of the only reliable and quality assured self-publishing platforms in Pakistan has been an extraordinarily rewarding one. We have been the choice of writers of so many brilliant stories from all across the country. Authors from17 countries across the globe have chosen Qissa to publish their work till now. Our platform now features stories in more than two languages, and 13 genres. The way Qissa scaled and became global in the span of just a couple years stunned us, and heartened us even more, to keep pursuing our dream of providing publishing services that were easier, faster, cheaper, and helped us materialize the dreams of our writers.
The Stories That Built Our Story
During all this time, we have also had the opportunity to discover young potential. Qissa has published stories of writers as young as 19 years old from KPK, and 15 years old from Sindh. Both the writers received special marketing from the forum Daastan. By reading their stories, many others were inspired to write and publish themselves.
Fastest crowdfunded book, writthen by Ms. Laiba from KPK
Youngest author from Sindh, Ms. Lareb Soomro, publishes her first book through Daastan
Youngest Author from Punjab:
Another such whiz-kid was Ms. Sameen Irshad, who published her book “My Were-Story” at the age of 14, becoming the youngest author published through Daastan from Punjab. Her novel was 50,000 words long, and for a teenager it was extremely well written. The novel was based on the fantasy genre, featuring real life and legendary myths of werewolves. The team campaigned extensively for her crowdfunding, to bring her story to print.
A 14 year old, Ms. Sameen, authors a 50,000 words novel – My Were- Story
The Next Khalid Hosseini:
Next in line came the youngest author of Kashmir, a 22-year old lady named Ms. Ayesha Siddique, who wrote a story based in Afghanistan titled“The Freezing Point”. With accurate eerie imagery and use of Pashto language for someone who had neither visited the country, nor could speak the language. Her novel was remarkable in its writing style as it brought to mind the approach of the best-selling author Khalid Hosseini. It was a heart wrenching coming of age story, that highlighted the way terrorism and extremism had ravaged what was before a country that housed beauty. The author’s work was brought to print through crowdfunding. Her experience with Daastan was so amazing that she immediately decided to publish her second book on Qissa , when it was ready.
Ms. Ayesha becomes our youngest author from Kashmir
If you have a story that you wish the world to read, now is the time to begin your journey. Sign Up with us at Qissa and become a published author today!
In the May of 2018, Preston University Islamabad organized its 6th successive national Inter University business plan competition called “Preston Entrepreneurial Challenge”. They opened gates to almost a hundred students from all across Pakistan to bring their innovative idea to the forefront. The teams that applied for the prestigious award included private university students, as well as public universities, to ensure fair chance to exhibit their product or idea. Out of 237 entries, only 31 were selected for the grand finale. Selected teams were invited to the university. The event had various challenges so that one clear winner could rise to the top. Daastan stood singular among all, and was awarded Preston University’s first ever Startup Cup.
Daastan’s Founder Mr. Syed Ommer Amer, holding the Preston Startup Cup
Daastan Stands Tall
The purpose of this event was to provide a platform to the rising entrepreneurs of our country. It was a great opportuniy for participants to exhibit their ideas to the most expert minds in the domain so they could provide technical guidance to them. Daastan pitched Qissa to the jury members from both private sectors such as SA Consulting Private Limited and government sector, like Ignite. The contest was sponsored by more than ten different brands and businesses. The chief guest of the competition wasPresident Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Sheikh Amir Waheed, and the event was organized under the distinguished leadership of Mr. Shuja Humayun, the Director Entrepreneurship at Preston University.
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The establishment of Daastan was not just a step towards bringing the writers of Pakistan to get themselves recognized, rather also to utilize and improve the education sector ofPakistan. Our foremost mission was to spread knowledge and for this , we welcomed every opportunity to engage and positively modify the current state of education. Our Founder, Mr. Syed Ommer Amer, collaborated with Al-Huda to engage children in a different learning experiece. Mr Ommer has been writing stories to attract children to learn in unconventional ways. A previous example of this was the animated series Teetoo and Tania, aired on PTV, the script of which was written by Mr. Ommer himself.
Daastan x Al-Huda:
Therefore, we acquired the chance to partner with Al-Huda International in Wah Cantt. The team of Daastan generated tailored content, which aimed to enhance the learning experience of the 700+ students enrolled in the school. We wanted to promote learning through storytelling, which would thoroughly capture the interest of students listening and therefore learn from the story.
Mr. Ommer on Color Day in Al Huda Int. Wah Cant., narrating his story
Painting the World with Words:
Daastan ran its first prototype of this vision of proliferation of knowledge through stories, on more than a hundred students. The tale which was read to them was titled “Bakhshu Mian”. The story was written and read by Mr Ommer Amer himself. It was a treasure trove which highlighted the importance of being grateful for the blessings endowed upon us. The recital was aptly written for the “Color Day” theme which was being celebrated in the school. The story taught students moral values in order to help them recognize their privileges over others.
If you want us to revamp the teaching structure of your school you can drop us an email at merasawal@daastan.com. Let’s start transforming the future together. Sign Up today to change tomorrow!
Stories Untold made rounds over social media recently. Our story writing competition was based on the tragedy of Zainab. Writers poured their hearts out to express their feelings on the incident in order to spread awareness regarding the issue.
Following the horrific misfortune that befell the beautiful little six-year-old Zainab Ansari belonging to Kasur, Punjab, a wave of fright and panic went through all of Pakistan. Each person was recounting the report of that tragedy the family of the little girl had gone through. The trauma they must endure for the rest of their lives is unimaginable. The horrendous act of the perpetrator shattered the happiness of a sound family. It wasn’t one life we lost that day, rather a part of the whole nation seemed to have died along with her.
The Stories Untold Season 4, themed I am Zainab
The Stories Untold : I Am Zainab
At that time, many of the organizations stepped forward to improve the situation and all they could to help. Daastan, after careful consideration decided to launch the fourth season of its signature writing competition, The Stories Untold. The theme of “I am Zainab” was chosen to honor the life that was lost.
Through Stories Untold, we wanted our writers to address the grave issue of child abuse. Moreover, we encouraged them to write about any form of abuse – physical, sexual or emotional. We wanted storytellers to highlight effective ways in order to educate children and protect them from such experiences. Another purpose of this theme was to encourage our community to write stories which would serve as guidance and educational material for their children, helping them learn about this social evil and ways they could protect themselves against them.
Top 5 Urdu entries, from Stories Untold season 4
Top 5 English entries, from Stories Untold season 4
The Response to our Competition:
Despite the social stigma surrounding the topic, we received a lot of entries, out of which we selected a dozen as finalists. The authors of these stories were put into contact with a professional psychologists. We made sure that the message of their stories would spread and be followed. Daastan went through various such screenings to make sure the stories would be child friendly and could serve as a genuine guide for both parents and children.
The finalists selected were all published digitally through Daastan. Top 5 stories are to be printed with Qissa so as to help spread this message as far and wide as possible.
