Faiz Ahmed Faiz
Sailkot a city in the provinceof Punjab Pakistan enjoys the honor of being the hometown of two of the greatest poets of the Urdu language; Allama Iqbal and Faiz Ahmed Faiz. Famous poet of Pakistan Faiz was born on 13th February, 1911 in an educated family. He received his early education in his hometown and later went to Lahore for further education. From the very beginning he showed an interest in languages and his exceptional talent made people take him seriously from a very early age. He joined the MAO College Aligarh as a lecturer; however his literary activities soon saw him as a member of the Progressive Writers Movement. It is said that during the time he was doing his Masters, he was introduced to and influenced by communist ideas and he became a member of the communist party.
In 1942, Faiz got commission in the British Indian Army and was subsequently promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in 1944. He was among the few commissioned officers who preferred to join the newly established state Pakistan. The war with India over Kashmir made him leave the army and he started giving his undivided attention to his writing. Faiz became the editor of Pakistan Times. He was imprisoned on several occasions but the confinement in prison only brought out the best in him as two of his star pieces “Dast-e-Saba” and “Zindan-Nama” were written during his time in jail. Faiz was a dedicated communist and this was the reason he was often in the bad books of the Pakistani governments.
Faiz’s early poetry was based on love and longings of a lover but later on the bitter sweet experiences in life made subjugation and oppression the subject of his poetry. He expressed human suffering and disillusion beautifully in his poems. Some of his poems are soft and romantic as well.
Faiz’s poetry inspires a common man to rise against the injustice. Faiz was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize by the Russian government and Nishan-e-Imtiaz by the Pakistani government. He has also won the Nigar Award and the Lotus Award for Literature for his outstanding work. Faiz passed away on 20th November 1984. The invaluable contribution of Faiz has immortalized his name and he will always be remembered as a great poet.
