Faiz Ahmad Faiz
Faiz Ahmed Faiz...
Faiz Ahmed Faiz was a renowned Pakistani poet, and one of the most famous poets of the Urdu language. He was a member of the Anjuman Tarraqi Pasand Mussanafin-e-Hind (All India Progressive Writers' Movement) and an avowed Marxist. In 1962, he was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize by the Soviet Union.
Early life
Faiz Ahmed Faiz was born in Kala Kader village, Sialkot in Punjab in British India to Sultan Mohammad Khan and his youngest wife Fatima.
Following the Muslim tradition in South Asia, at an early age Faiz was sent to the Masjid (Mosque) to be oriented to the basics of religious studies by Maulvi Muhammad Ibrahim Mir Sialkoti. He went on to the Scotch Mission School, Sialkot, for academic education and after matriculation joined Murray College, Sialkot-Pakistan for intermediate study and graduation. His most influential teachers were Professor Yousuf Saleem Chishti, who taught Urdu, and Shams-ul-Ullamah Syed Mir Hasan, who taught Arabic. Hasan had also taught the renowned philosopher, poet, and politician of South Asia, Allama Dr. Muhammad Iqbal. Faiz acquired a post-graduate degree from the Government College, Lahore-Pakistan, a Master of Arts in English Literature, and he also attended the Oriental College, Lahore-Pakistan, where he obtained another master's degree in Arabic Literature.
Career
Faiz started a branch of Progressive Writers' Movement in Punjab in 1936. Also he was a Member and Secretary of this branch. He was also an Editor of Mahanama (Monthly). Faiz became a lecturer in English at M. A. O. College, Amritsar in 1935 and then at Hailey College of Commerce, Lahore. He briefly joined the British Indian Army and was promoted to the rank of Lieut. Colonel in 1944. He resigned from the Army in 1947 and returned to Lahore to become the first editor in chief of the Pakistan Times, In 1959 he was appointed as Secretary, Pakistan Arts Council and worked in that capacity till 1962.
Return to Pakistan
Returning from London in 1964 he settled down in Karachi and was appointed as Principal at Abdullah Haroon College. Faiz distinguished himself as a journalist and was editor of the Pakistan Times, the Urdu newspaper Nasha Sharab Da and the weekly Lail-o-Nihar. In the 1965 war between India & Pakistan he worked in an honorary capacity in the Department of Information and during that period Faiz was very much close to the senior officers, like Syed Fakhruddin Balley. In exile he acted as Editor of the magazine Lotus in Moscow, London and Beirut.
Faiz wrote poems that opposed the bloodshed during separation of Bangladesh from Pakistan.
Communism
In a certain period of his life, Faiz was a communist and was associated with the Communist Party of Pakistan. He spent much of the 1950s and 1960s promoting the cause of communism in Pakistan. During the time when Faiz was editor of The Pakistan Times, one of the leading newspapers of 50s, he lent editorial support to CP. He was also involved in the circle lending support to military personnel (e.g. Major General Akbar Khan. This involvement with CP and Major General Akbar Khan's coup plan lead to his imprisonment later.
Sufism
Faiz was an avowed supporter of Sufism. He had close relations with several Sufi saints of his time. He was all time favourite of Baba Malang Sahib, a Sufi of Lahore , Ashfaq Ahmad, Syed Fakhruddin Balley, Wasif Ali Wasif and other renowned sufies. Once when he was asked how can he compares Sufis with socialist comrades, he replied, "They (Sufis) are the real comrades". He is also credited for coining the term Ana al-Haqq in political sense.
Major Works
Naqsh-e-Faryadi (1943)
Dast-e-Saba (1952)
Zindan-Nama (1956)
Dast-e-Tah-e-Sang (1965)
Translations
Faiz Ahmed Faiz's poetry has been translated into many languages, from English to Russian. A Balochi Poet, Mir Gul Khan Nasir, who was also a friend of Faiz Ahmed Faiz translated his book "Sar-e-Wadi-e-Seena" into Balochi with the title "Seenai Keechag aa". This work of Faiz was translated by Gul Khan while he (Gul Khan) was in jail during Bhutto's regime for opposing the government's policies. It was published in 1980, after Zia-ul-Haq toppled Bhutto's government and freed all the political prisoners of his (Bhutto's) regime.
Faiz Ahmed Faiz, himself, has also translated works of notable poets from other languages into Urdu. In his book "Sar-i Waadi-i Seena" there are some translations of the famous poet of Dagestan, Rasul Gamzatov. "Deewa", a Balochi poem of Mir Gul Khan Nasir was also translated into Urdu by Faiz.
Personal life
In the 1930s Faiz Ahmed Faiz married a British woman, Alys Faiz. They had two daughters Moneeza and Salima Hashmi. Salima is an eminent artist while Moneeza is a TV producer. Salima and Moneeza are married to brothers Shoaib Hashmi and Humair Hashmi who are noted media personalities.
Awards
Faiz was the first Asian poet to be awarded the Lenin Peace Prize, the Soviet Union's equivalent to the Nobel Prize in 1963. Other notable recipients include Pablo Neruda, Nelson Mandela, W. E. B. Du Bois, Bertolt Brecht, Fidel Castro and Nobel Prize winning Chemist Linus Pauling. He recorded for the Library of Congress in 1977 which has fifty two works by him.
Before his death in 1984 he was also nominated for the Nobel Prize..
Rana Jibran!
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Love is my Shield,Truth is my Sword,Brain is my Crown,Smile is my Treasure and I'm a Queen;
Quitters never win and Winners never quit..!!!
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