Faiz Ahmad Faiz
Faiz Ahmad Faiz was one of the most influential left-wing Urdu poets of the 20th century. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature and is celebrated for merging romantic lyricism with revolutionary struggle.
Tenderness and revolt in the same breath
Faiz Ahmad Faiz (1911–1984) was born in Sialkot and studied in Lahore. He taught English literature, served in the British Indian Army during the Second World War, and later edited the Pakistan Times.
In 1951 he was arrested in the Rawalpindi Conspiracy Case and spent four years in prison. Much of his finest poetry, collected in Dast-e-Saba and Zindan Nama, was written in those cells. He received the Lenin Peace Prize in 1962.
His nazm 'Hum Dekhenge' became an anthem when the singer Iqbal Bano performed it in a Lahore stadium in 1986, defying a ban, reportedly wearing a black sari. The recording is still played at protests worldwide.
Recurring themes
- Love and justice as one subject
- Imprisonment and hope
- Collective struggle
- Exile and homecoming
- Beauty under pressure
Where to start
Read 'Mujh se pehli si mohabbat', 'Bol' and 'Hum Dekhenge' together; they show his journey from private romance to public conscience.
Worth knowing
Faiz re-purposed classical love imagery — the rose, the beloved's lock of hair — as coded references to revolution, which is why his poems can be read both ways.
Classical Couplets by — Faiz Ahmad Faiz
Aur bhi dukh hain zamane mein mohabbat ke siwa,
Rahatein aur bhi hain vasl ki raahat ke siwa.
Hum dekhenge, lazim hai ke hum bhi dekhenge,
Wo din ke jis ka waada hai, jo lauh-e-azal mein likha hai.
Mujh se pehli si mohabbat mere mehboob na maang,
Maine samjha tha ke tu hai to darakhshan hai hayat.
Bol ke lab aazaad hain tere, bol zabaan ab tak teri hai,
Tera sutwaan jism hai tera, bol ke jaan ab tak teri hai.
Dil na-umeed to nahi, nakaam hi to hai,
Lambi hai gham ki shaam, magar shaam hi to hai.
Maqaam Faiz koi raah mein jacha hi nahi,
Jo koo-e-yaar se nikle to sooy-e-daar chale.
Gulon mein rang bhare, baad-e-naubahar chale,
Chale bhi ao ke gulshan ka karobaar chale.
Kab yaad mein tera sath nahi, kab haath mein tera haat nahi,
Sad-shukr ke apni raaton mein, ab hijr ki koi raat nahi.
Nisaar main teri galiyon pe aey watan ke jahan,
Chali hai rasm ke koi na sar utha ke chale.
Wo baat jis ka saare fasaane mein zikr tha,
Wo baat unko bohat na-gawaar guzri hai.
Tum aaye ho na shab-e-intezaar guzri hai,
Talaash mein hai sahar jis ki wo bahaar guzri hai.
Gham-e-jahan ho ya gham-e-yaar, dono hi azeez hain,
Ek se seekha hai jeena, doosre ne sikhayi maut.
Humne har daur mein seekha hai sar utha ke jeena,
Zulm ke samne jhukna humein aata hi nahi.
Garbaat mein hai jo maza wo mehlon mein kahan,
Dil ko sukoon wahi milta hai jahan koi shor na ho.
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