ISLAMABAD: Saeed Qureshi, owner of the famed Saeed Book Bank, passed away on Tuesday. He was 77.

Mr Qureshi was being treated at the Shifa International Hospital for some months now. He is survived by two sons, three daughters and several grandchildren.

Mr Qureshi claimed that his bookshop was the largest in South Asia, in terms of space and volume of books.

The three-storey store in Jinnah Super Market was a landmark in the capital and was frequented by locals and foreigners alike.

Mr Qureshi began selling books at a 3x3 metre kiosk in Rawalpindi before moving his business to Peshawar and then to Islamabad.

In a recent interview with Dawn, Mr Qureshi said that although Islamabad was a relatively smaller city, there was a large market for booksellers.

“It is a city of diplomats, international and local civil servants, NGO staff, university students and teachers and others: all of them read books for work and pleasure and many have good purchasing power,” he had said.

Mr Qureshi said he would come to the main bookshop every day and would visit their new outlet in F-11 two to three times a week. Both shops are managed by his sons, Ahmad and Akbar.

“Now his days have ended. At about five o’clock in the evening, his soul was in Allah’s hands,” his son Ahmed told Dawn on Tuesday night.

Published in Dawn, September 9th, 2015

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