Mohammad Hafeez was unbeaten on 56 for his ninth half-century, his first in 11 innings, and Ahmed Shezad on 53 as Pakistan still needed another 184 runs to force a win or bat out the remaining 32 overs for a draw - the more likely result.
Pakistan's best winning chase in all Test cricket was 314 against Australia in Karachi in 1994.
Pakistan lost opener Khurram Manzoor early, caught behind off paceman Suranga Lakmal after scoring eight but Hafeez and Shehzad avoided any further loss and put on 94 in an unbroken second wicket stand.
Hafeez reached his half-century with two boundaries in one Sachitra Senanayake over. He had been dropped from the Pakistan team for the two-Test series against South Africa also in Abu Dhabi, in October.
Shehzad, making his Test debut, also hit spinner Rangana Herath for his seventh boundary to reach his maiden fifty in his debut Test.
Earlier, Sri Lanka declared their second innings at 480-5 after batting an hour and 30 minutes but their slow batting showed they had safety on their minds rather than forcing a lead in the three-Test series.
Skipper Angelo Mathews, who batted brilliantly for his second Test hundred and a career-best score on Friday to pull Sri Lanka out of trouble, remained not out on 157 while Prasanna Jayawardene was 63 not out.
The two shared an unbroken 156-run stand for the sixth wicket to put Sri Lanka in a position from where they could harbour hopes of an unlikely win.
Mathews batted for 457 minutes, hit 16 fours and a six in an extraordinary display of patience and fight.
Prasanna ably supported his skipper during his 169-ball knock, hitting six fours and a six.
Pacemen Junaid Khan finished with 3-93, while Bilawal Bhatti took 2-146.
Off-spinner Saeed Ajmal, who took 18 wickets in Pakistan's 1-0 win over Sri Lanka in 2011, finished wicket-less in his 49 overs, conceding 115 runs -- only the fifth time that he failed to get a wicket in an innings in his 31 Tests.
The second Test starts in Dubai on January 8 while the third will be played in Sharjah from January 16.
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