Ishak was born in 1909 in Kampung Bukit Seguntang, Temerloh, Pahang and received his early education at the Kg.
In 1930, he went to the Malay College Kuala Kangsar (MCKK) to train as an officer in the Malayan Civil Service.
[2] He held posts as Assistant Deputy District Officer, a Class III Magistrate and a language teacher before entering the literary scene.
In the 1964 election he ran in Bukit Bintang, coming in third behind Tan Toh Hong of the Alliance and Wong Lin Ken of PAP.
[4] Ishak was the first with the idea to publish the Utusan Melayu (The Malay Post) newspaper and subsequently became the founder of the publication.
[5] He left Warta Malaya (Malayan Times) and travelled to Pahang, Kelantan and Terengganu to campaign for the establishment of the Utusan Melayu Press.
[1] Ishak produced many novels, short stories, essays and memoirs as well as writing articles for the Utusan Melayu Group's newspapers.
It was presented by the Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to the Pahang Menteri Besar Mohd Khalil Yaakob to be given to his family.