مسلمانوں کا نیوٹن ۔ ڈاکٹر عبدالسلام — Page 396
386 The News International, Nov۔26, 1996 A Gifted Scientist Dr۔Mujahid Kamran Abdus Salam was born to Muhammad Hussain, an employee of the Punjab education department on January 29, 1926۔Salam inherited from his father two dominant traits a drive to make a mark in the world and a deep religious commitment۔His personality was shaped by these traits۔Those who knew him well were aware of both these facets of his great personality۔From very early age Salam, under the watchful eyes of his father, developed a love of reading۔I once said to him that his father had left a deep mark on him to which he promptly responded, "You are correct۔" He was not only brilliant but also had the gift of immense concentration۔He was able to develop and retain this trait throughout his life۔There are numerous instances that illustrate this۔I will mention only two, one from his childhood and one from his later years۔The childhood incident has been narrated to me by his first his cousin Col۔G۔M۔Iqbal, who is also his brother- in-law۔One day, his mother kept on calling him but there was no response۔The worried family launched a search for him۔Eventually, he was discovered inside the house hidden behind a stack of quilts (razais) reading a book quite oblivious of the hullabaloo that accompanied the search for him۔Col۔Iqbal further said that Salam used to find for himself suitable nooks and corners or other places in the house where he could concentrate on whatever he was reading۔Second incident The second incident is from the year 1992 when I met him for the last time۔At the time his illness, a rare disorder of the nervous system, had rendered it impossible for him to walk easily even with a stick۔Adjoining his office was a room where he used to rest alone around lunchtime۔He asked me to walk him to that room۔It was with quite a bit of difficulty that we managed to walk up to the door of his office when he spotted a recent research paper lying on the top of a stack of papers on a chest high rack۔He stopped instantly and started looking at the paper۔And then suddenly I felt that he was no longer with me۔He was۔completely absorbed in it for several minutes and I could sense his immense powers of concentration۔His illness, his difficulty in standing, seemed to have disappeared from those minutes and there was an air of such intense absorption about him that it appeared to me that he would not come out of it۔Then he gradually came out of it and we walked to the next room silently۔Salam was gifted with an extraordinary memory۔While he was a college student his class fellows were well aware of this gift of his۔Prof۔Dr۔Waheed Qureshi, one of the foremost experts in Urdu language, was his class fellow in BA at Government College Lahore۔Dr۔Qureshi has confirmed to me the following incident۔One day, a group of classmates including Salam walked through Anarkali Bazar in Lahore۔When they reached the other end, Dr۔Qureshi tested Salam by asking him to recall the name 'boards on the shops on the right hand side۔In the words of Dr۔Qureshi, Salam was surprisingly able to recall about 90% of the