Qateel Shifai was born in Haripur, Hazara Division, British India (now Pakistan). He adopted 'Qateel Shifai' as his pen name in 1938. Due to his father's early death, Qateel was forced to quit his education. Being unsuccessful in his business he decided to move to Rawalpindi, where he started working for a transport company. In 1946, he was called to Lahore to work as the assistant editor of the monthly 'Adab-e-Latif', a literary magazine.