Syed Muhammad Ashraf (SM Ashraf) is a Retd. Civil Servant (IRS) and an Urdu novelist and short-story writer of distinction. He is first person to qualify civil service examination in Urdu language in India. He has written novels and several collections of short stories. Some of his stories have been translated into English and other languages.

He has received the Sahitya Academy Award in 2004 and Aalmi Farogh-e-Urdu Adab Award by Majlis-e-Farogh-e-Urdu Qatar in 2018.