Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Mohsin Naqwi



Mai chup raha keh zeher yehi mujh ko raas tha

Wo sang-e-lafz phaink kar kitna udaas tha

Aksar meri qaba pay hansi aa gai jissay
Kal mill gaya toh wo bhi dareeda libaas tha

Mai dhoondhta tha door khalaaon mai ek jism
Chehron ka ek hajoom meray aas paas tha

Tum khush they patharon ko khuda jaan kar magar
Mujh ko yaqeen hai wo tumhaara qayaas tha

Bakhsha hai jis nay rooh ko zakhmon ka perahan
*Mohsin* wo shakhs kitna tabiyat shanaas tha



Tazeer-e-ehtimaam-e-chaman kaun day gaya
Mujh ko gulaab jaisa kafan kaun day gaya

Daikhay jo khad-o-khaal toh socha hai baareha
Sehra ki chaandini ko badan kaun day gaya

Meri jabeen ki saari lakeerain teri atta
Lekin teri qaba ko shikan kaun day gaya

Teray hunar mai khulqat-e-khushboo sahi magar
Kaanton ko umer bhar ki chubhan kaun day gaya

Jungle say poochti hain hawaaon ki barhami
Jugnoo ki tairgi mai kiran kaun day gaya

Kis nay basaaye aankh mai ashkon kay qaaflay
Be-ghar musaafiron ko watan kaun day gaya

Tujh say toh khair pall ki musaafit ka saath tha
Meray badan ko itni thakan kaun day gaya

Todha hai kis nay nok-e-sinaan par sakoot-e-sabr
Lab bastagi ko taab-e-sukhan kaun day gaya

*Mohsin* wo kaayinaat-e-ghazal hai ussay bhi daikh
Mujh say na pooch mujh ko yeh funn kaun day gaya



Wafa mein Aab yeah hunar Ikhtiyaar karna hai..
Woh sach kahay na kahay aaitbaar karna hai..

Yeah tujh ko jaagtay rehnay ka shouq kab say howa ?
Mujhay tu khair taira intazaaar karna hai

Hawa ke zad mein jalanay hain ansoon kay chiraagh
Kabhi yeah jashan sar rah'guzaar karna hai

woh muskura kay naye waswasoon mein daal gaya
Khayaal tha eh ussay sharamsaar karna hai

Misaal e shaakh e barhana khizan ke rut mein kabhi
Khud apnay jisam ko bay barg o baar karna hai

tairay firaaq mein din kiss tarhaan kattain apnay
Keh shughal e shab tu sitaray shumaar karna hai

Chaloo yeah ashak hee moti samajh kay baich ayain
Kissi tarhaan tu humain rooz'gaar karna hai

Kabhi tu dil mein chupay zakham bhi numayaan hoon
Qaba samajh kay badan taar taar karna hai

Khda khabar yeah koi zid keh shouq hai mohsin
Khud Apni jaan kay dushman say payaar karna hai



SAFAR TANHA NAHIN KARTE,
SUNO! AISA NAHIN KARTE,
JISSA SHAFAF RAKHNA HO,
USSAY MAILA NAHIN KARTE,
TERI ANKHAIN IJAZAT DE,
TO HUM KIA KIA NAHIN KARTE,
BOHAT UJRAY HOAY GHAR PAR,
SAFAR JISKA MUQADAR HO,
USSAY ROKA NAHIN KARTE,
JO MIL KAR KHUD SE KHO JAYE,
USSAY RUSWA NAHIN KARTE,
CHALO TUM RAZ HO APNA,
TUMAHIN AFSHAN NAHIN KARTE,
YEH UNCHAY PAIR KAISE HAIN,
KAHIN SAYA NAHIN KARTE,
JO DHUN HO, KAR GUZARNE KI,
TO PHIR SOOCHA NAHIN KARTE,
KABHI HANSNE SE DARTE HAIN,
KABHI ROYA NAHIN KARTE,
SIHAR SE POOCH LO MOHSIN,
KE HUM SOYA NAHIN KARTE....



Mere Naam Se Pehle...


abh ke us ki ankhon mien
besabab udaasi thi
abh ke us ke chehray per
dukh tha...behawasi thi

abh ke yun mila mujh se
yun ghazal suni...jese
mein bhi na_shanasa hoon
wo bhi ajnabi jesse

zard khaal o khad uss ke
sogawar daman tha
abh ke uss ke lahjay mein
kitna khudra pan tha

wo ke umer bhar jis ne
shahr bhar ke loogon mien
mujh ko hum sukhan jana
khud se mehrban samjha
mujh ko "Dilruba" likha

abh ke sada kaghaz per
surkh roshnai se
us ne talkh lahjay mein
mere naam se pehle!
sirf "Bewafa" likha



Kab tulak shab kay andhairay mein sehar ko tarsay
Woh musafir jo bharay shehar mein ghar ko tarsay

Aankh thehray howay paani say bhi katraati hai
Dil woh reh'roo keh samandar kay safar ko tarsay

Mujh ko uss qehat kay mosam say bacha rub e sukhan
Jab koi ehal e hunar, arz e hunar o tarsay

aab kay iss toor musalat howa andhaira har soo
Hijar ke raat mairay deeda e tar ko tarsay

Umar itni tu ataa kar mairay fun ko khaliq...
Maira dushman mairay marnay ke khabar ko tarsay

Uss ko paa kar bhi ussay dhoond rahi hain ankhain
Jaisay paani mein koie seep gohar ko tarsay

na'shana'saye kay mousam ka asar tu daikho!
Aaina khaal o khad e aania gar ko tarsay

Aik dunia hai kay basti hai tairi ankhoon mein
Woh tu hum thay jo tairi ik nazar ko tarsay

Shoor e sur'sar mein jo sar sabaz rahi hai mohsin
Mousam e gul mein wohi shaakh samar ko tarsay



Kabhi jo cheirr gaee yaad-e-raftgaaN Mohsin
Bikhar gaee hain nigaahein kahaaN kahaaN Mohsin

Hawa ne raakh urraai to dil ko yaad aaya
K jal bujheeN mere khwabon ki bastiyaaN Mohsin

Kuch aaise ghar bhi miley jin mein ghoogatton k iwaz
Hui hain dafn dopatton mein larrkiyaaN Mohsin

Khandar hai ehd-e-guzishta na chhu na chheirr isey
Khulein to band na hon is ki khirrkiyaaN Mohsin

Bujha hai kaun sitaara k apni aankh k saath
Huey hain saare manaazir dhuaaN dhuaaN Mohsin

Nahi k us ne ganwaaye hain maah o saal apne
Tamaam umr katti yoon bhi raaegaaN Mohsin

Mila to aur bhi taqseem kar gaya mujh ko
Sameittna theeN jisey meri kirchiyaaN Mohsin

Kahin se us ne bhi torra hai khud se rabt-e-wafa
Kahin se bhool gaya main bhi daastaaN Mohsin

" Mera Noha Inhi Galiyon Ki Hawa Likhe Gi "


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Main k is shehr ka seemaab-sifat shaayar hoon
Meri takhleeq mere fikr ki pehchaan bhi hai

Mere harfoN, mere lafzoN mein hai chehra mera
Mera fan ab mera mazhab, mera eemaan bhi hai

Meer o Ghalib na sahi phir bhi ghaneemat jaano
Mere yaaroN k sarhaane mera deewaan bhi hai

Mujhse poocho k shikast-e-dil o jaaN se pehle
Mere ehsaas pe guzri hai qayaamat kya kya

Saaya-e-daar o shab-e-gham ki sakhaawat se alag
Main ne sochi qad o geisu ki alaamat kya kya

Mere toote huey khwaboN k kharaaboN se pare
Mere bikhre huey jazbe they salaamat kya kya


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Tanz-e-aghyaar se ehbaab k ikhlaas talak
Main ne har ne'mat-e-uzma ka libaada pehna

Dast-e-qaatil ki kashish aap gawaahi de gi
Main ne har zakhm qaba se bhi zyaada pehna

Meri aankhoN mein kharaashein theeN dhanak ki lekin
Meri tasveer ne malboos to saada pehna


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Zarbat-e-sang-e-malaamat mere seene pe saji
Tamgha-e-jurrat o ezaaz-e-hukoomat ki tarha

Khul k barsi meri sochon pe adaawat ki ghata
AasmaanoN se utarti hui daulat ki tarha

Qarya qarya hui ruswa mere fan ki chaahat
Kone kone mein bikharti hui shohrat ki tarha


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mujh pe karrki hain kamaanein mere gham-khwaroN ki
Mere ashkon ka tamaasha sar-e-baazaar hua

Mere aangan mein hawaadis ki sawaari utri
Mera dil wajh-e-azaab-e-dar o deewaar hua

Ishq mein izzat-e-saadaat bhula kar aksar
Meer saahab ki tarha main bhi gunahgaar hua

Apni ujrri hui aankhon se shuaayen le kar
Main ne bujhti hui sochon ko jawaani di hai

Apni ghazlon k sukhan-taab sitaare chun kar
SangreizoN ko bhi aashufta-bayaani di hai

Husn-e-khaak-e-rah-e-yaaraaN se mohabbat kar k
Main ne har morr ko ik taaza kahaani di hai

Mujhse roothe hain mere apne qabeele waale
Mere seene mein har ik teer-e-sitam toota hai

Lafz o ma'ni k taqaazoN se ulajh kar aksar
Mere haathon mera majrooh qalam toota hai

Karb-e-na-qadri-e-yaaraaN k bhanvar mein ghir kar
Baar-ha dil ki tarha shauq ka dam toota hai

Main k is shehr ka seemaab-sifat shaayar hoon
Main ne is shehr ki chaahat se sharf paaya hai

Mere a'ada ka ghazab abr-e-karam hai mujh ko
Mere ehbaab ki nafrat mera sarmaaya hai

Meri bikhri hui ruswaai hai shohrat meri
Mere sehra ki tamaazat mera sarmaaya hai

Mutma'in hoon k mujhe yaad rakhe gi dunia
Jab bhi is shehr ki tareekh-e-wafa likhe gi

Mere ghar k dar o deewaar mujhe sochein ge
Wus'at-e-dasht mujhe aabla-pa likhe gi

Mera maatam isi chup chaap fiza mein hoga
Mera noha inhi galiyoN ki hawa likhe gi...



Qatl chhupte they kabhi sang ki diwaar k beech
Ab to khulne lage maqtal bhare bazaar k beech

Apni poshaak k chhin jaane pe afsos na kar
Sar salaamat nahi rehte yahan dastaar k beech

Surkhiyaan amn ki talqeen mein masroof raheen
Harf baarood ugalte rahe akhbaar k beech

Jis ki choti pe basaaya tha qabeela main ne
Zalzale jaag parre hain usi kohsaar k beech

Kaash is khwab ko ta'beer ki mohlat na miley
Sho'le ugte nazar aaye mujhe gulzaar k beech

Dhalte sooraj ki tamaazat ne bikhar kar dekha
Sar-kasheeda mera saaya saf-e-ashjaar k beech

Rizq, malboos, makaaN, saans, marz, qarz, dawa
Munqasim ho gaya insaaN inhi afkaar k beech

Dekhe jaate na they aansu mere jis se Mohsin
Aaj hanste huey dekha usey aghyaar k beech



Chaahat ka rang tha na wafa ki lakeer thi
Qaatil k haath mein to hina ki lakeer thi

Khush hoon k waqt-e-qatl mera rang surkh tha
Mere laboN pe harf-e-dua ki lakeer thi

Main kaarvaaN ki raah samajhta raha jise
Sehra ki reit par wo hawa ki lakeer thi

Sooraj ko jisne shab k andheron mein gum kia
Mauj-e-shafaq na thi wo qaza ki lakeer thi

Guzra hai shab ko dasht se shaayad wo parda-daar
Har naqsh-e-pa k saath rida ki lakeer thi

Kal uska khat mila k saheefa wafa ka tha
Mohsin har ek satr haya ki lakeer thi...



zamane bhar kee nigahon main jo Khuda sa lage
wo ajnabee he magar muj ko aashna sa lage

na jaane kub meree dunya main muskuraye ga
wo ek shakhs ke khwabon main bhe khafa sa lage

ajeeb cheez he yaaro ye manzelon kee hawas
ke raahzan bhee musafir ko rehnuma sa lage

dil tabah! tera mashwara he kia ke mujhe
wo phool rang sitara bhee bewafa sa lage

hoyee he jis se munawar her aik aank kee jheel
wo chaand aaj bhee MOHSIN ko kum numa sa lage



Main Jo Mehka To Meri Shaakh Jala Di Us Ne...

Sabz Mausam Main Mujhe Zard Hawa Di Us Ne...

Pehle Ek Lamhe Ki Zanjeer Se Baandha Mujh ko...

Or Phir Waqt Ki Raftaar Barha Di Us Ne...

Jaanta Tha Ke Mujhe Maut Sakoon Bakhshay Gi...

Woh Sitamgar Tha So Jeene Ki Dua Di Us Ne...

Us Ke Hone Se Thi Saansain Meri Dugni...

Woh Jo Bichra To Meri Umar Ghata Di Us Ne...


Mohasin Naqwi



abhii kyaa kahen abhii kyaa sunaayen 
ke sar-e-fasiil-e-sukuut-e-jaan 
kuf-e-roz-o-shab pe sharar numaa 
vo jo harf jarf charaaG thaa 
use kis havaa ne bujhaa diyaa 
 
kabhii lab hilenge to puuchhanaa 
 
sar-e-sahar-e-ahad-e-visaal-e-dil 
vo jo nikahaton kaa hujuum thaa 
use dast-e-mauj-e-firaaq ne 
tah-e-Khaak kab se milaa diyaa 
 
kabhii gul khilenge to puuchhanaa 
 
abhii kyaa kahen abhii kyaa sunaayen 
yuun hii Khvaahishon ke fishaar men 
kabhii be-sabab kabhii beKhalal 
kahaan kaun kis se bichhad gayaa 
kise kis ne kaise ganvaa diyaa 
 
kabhii phir milenge to puuchhanaa 
 

bichhad ke mujh se kabhii tuu ne ye bhii sochaa hai
adhuuraa chaand bhii kitanaa udaas lagataa hai
 
ye vasl kaa lamhaa hai ise raayegaan na samajh
ke is ke baad vahii duuriyon kaa saharaa hai
 
kuchh aur der na jhadataa udaasiyon kaa shajar
kise Khabar tere saaye men kaun baiThaa hai
 
ye rakh-rakhaao muhabbat sikhaa gaii us ko
vo ruuth kar bhii mujhe muskuraa ke milataa hai
 
main kis tarah tujhe dekhuun nazar jhijhakatii hai
teraa badan hai ke ye aaiinon kaa dariyaa hai


 



hamaaraa kyaa hai ke ham to chiraaG-e-shab kii tarah
agar jale bhii to bas itanii raushanii hogii 
ke jaise tund andheron kii raah men juganuu 
zaraa sii der ko chamake chamak ke kho jaaye 
phir is ke baad kisii ko na kuchh sujhaa_ii de 
na shab kaTe na suraaG-e-sahar dikhaa_ii de 
hamaaraa kyaa hai ke ham to pas-e-Gubaar-e-safar 
agar chale bhii to bas itanii raah tay hogii 
ke tez havaaon kii zard maail naqsh-e-qadam 
zaraa sii der ko ubhare ubhar ke mit jaaye 
phir us ke baad na raastaa na rahguzar mile 
hadd-e-nigaah talak dasht-e-bekinar mile 
hamaarii simt na dekho ke ko_ii der men ham 
qabiilaa-e-dil-o-jaan judaa hone vaale hain 
base basaaye huye shahar apanii aankhon ke 
misal-e-khaanaa-e-viiraan ujadane vaale hain 
havaa kaa shor ye hii hai to dekhate rahanaa 
hamaarii umar ke Khemen ukhadane vaale hain


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
itanii muddat baad mile ho 
kin sochon men gum rahate ho 
 
tez havaa ne mujh se puuchhaa 
ret pe kyaa likhate rahate ho 
 
kaun sii baat hai tum men aisii 
itane achchhe kyon lagate ho 
 
ham se na puuchho hijr ke qisse 
apanii kaho ab tum kaise ho


 
jab se us ne shahar ko chhodaa har rastaa sunsaan huaa 
apanaa kyaa hai saare shahar kaa ik jaisaa nukasaan huaa 
 
mere haal pe hairat kaisii dard ke tanhaa mausam men 
patthar bhii ro padate hain insaan to phir insaan huaa 
 
us ke zaKhm chhupaa kar rakhiye Khud us shaKhs kii nazaron se 
us se kaisaa shikavaa kiije vo to abhii naadaan huaa 
 
yuun bhii kam aamez thaa "Mohsin" vo is shahar ke logon men 
lekin mere saamane aakar aur hii kuchh anjaam huaa 
 
 
ret par likh ke meraa naam mitaayaa na karo 
aankhen sach bolatii hain pyaar chupaayaa na karo 
 
log har baat kaa afsaana banaa lete hain 
sab ko haalaat kii rudaad sunaayaa na karo 
 
ye zaruurii nahiin har shakhs masiihaa hii ho 
pyaar ke zaKhm amaanat hain dikhaayaa na karo 
 
shahar-e-ehasaas men pattharaav bahut hain'Mohsin'
dil ko shiishe ke jharonkhon men sajaayaa na karo 
 
 
 
ye dil ye paagal dil meraa kyon bujha gayaa aavaaragii 
is dasht men ik shahar thaa vo kyaa huaa aavaaragii 
 
kal shab mujhe be-shakl sii aavaaz ne chaunkaa diyaa 
main ne kahaa tuu kaun hai us ne kahaa aavaaragii 
 
ik tuu ki sadiyon se mere hamraah bhiii hamraaz bhii 
ik main ki tere naam se naaaashnaa aavaaragii 
 
ye dard kii tanhaaiyaan ye dasht kaa viiraan safar 
ham log to uktaa gaye apanii sunaa aavaaragii 
 
ik ajanabii jhonke ne jab puuchhaa mere Gam kaa sabab 
saharaa kii bhiiigii ret par main ne likhaa aavaaragii 
 
le ab to dasht-e-shab kii saariii vusaten sone lagiin 
ab jaaganaa hogaa hamen kab tak bataa aavaaragii 
 
kal raat tanhaa chaand ko dekhaa thaa main ne Khvaab men 
'Mohsin'mujhe raas aayegii shaayad sadaa aavaaragii 
 
 
Thahar jaao ke hairaanii to jaaye 
tumhaarii shakl pahachaanii to jaaye 
 
shab-e-Gam tuu hii mahamaan ban ke aajaa 
hamaare ghar kii viraanii to jaaye 
 
zaraa khul kar bhii ro lene do ham ko 
ke dil kii aag tak paanii ho jaaye 
 
balaa se tod Daalo aaiinon ko 
kisii suurat ye hairaanii to jaaye 
 
 
zikr-e-shab-e-firaaq se vahashat use bhii thii 
merii tarah kisii se muhabbat use bhii thii
 
mujh ko bhii shauq thaa naye cheharon kii diid kaa
rastaa badal ke chalane kii aadat use bhii thii
 
us raat der tak vo rahaa mahv-e-guftaguu
masruuf main bhii kam thaa faraaGat use bhii thii
 
sunataa thaa vo bhii sab se puraanii kahaaniyaan
taazaa rafaaqaton kii zaruurat use bhii thii
 
mujh se bichhad ke shahar men ghul mil gayaa vo shakhs
haalaanke shahar bhar se raqabat use bhii thii
 
vo mujh se badh ke zabt kaa aadii thaa jii gayaa
varnaa har ek saans qayaamat use bhii thii

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Saturday, February 14, 2009

Nahiin nigaah men manzil to justajuu hii sahii




nahiin nigaah men manzil to justajuu hii sahii 
nahiin visaal mayassar to aarazuu hii sahii 
 
na tan men Khuun faraaham na ashk aankhon men 
namaaz-e-shauq to vaajib hai be-vazuu hii sahii 
 
kisii tarah to jame bazm maikade vaalo 
nahiin jo baadaa-o-saaGar to haa-o-huu hii sahii 
 
gar intazaar kathin hai to jab talak ai dil 
kisii ke vaada-e-fardaa kii guftaguu hii sahii 
 
dayaar-e-Gair men maharam agar nahiin koii 
to'Faiz'zikr-e-vatan apne ruubaruu hii sahii

Raaz-e-ulfat chupa ke dekh liya

raaz-e-ulfat chupa ke dekh liya
dil bahot kuchh jalaa ke dekh liya

aur kya dekhne ko baaqii hai
aap se dil laga ke dekh liya

wo mere hoke bhii mere na hue
unko apna bana ke dekh liya

aaj unakii nazar men kuchh hamne
sabkii nazaren bachaa ke dekh liya

aas us dar se tuutii hii nahiin
jaa ke dekha,na jaa ke dekh liya

'Faiz', taqmiil-e-Gam bhii ho na sakii
ishq ko aazamaa ke dekh liya

Duaa

aaiiye haath uThaayen ham bhii
ham jinhen rasm-e-dua yaad nahiin
ham jinhen soz-e-mohabbat ke siwaa
koii but, koii Khudaa yaad nahiin

aaiiye arz guzaren ki nigaar-e-hastii
zahar-e-imaroz men shiiriinii-e-fardaan bhar de
wo jinhen tabe garaanbaarii-e-ayyaam nahiin
unakii palakon pe shab-o-roz ko halkaa kar de

jinakii aankhon ko ruKh-e-subh kaa yaaraa bhii nahiin
unakii raaton men koii shamaa munawwar kar de
jinake qadamon ko kisii rah kaa sahaaraa bhii nahiin
unakii nazaron pe koii raah ujaagar kar de

jinakaa diin pairavii-e-kazbo-riyaa hai unako
himmat-e-kufr mile, jurat-e-tahaqiiq mile
jinake sar muntazir-e-teG-e-jafaa hain unako
dast-e-qatil ko jhaTak dene kii taufiiq mile

ishq kaa sarr-e-nihaan jaan-tapaan hai jis se
aaj iqaraar karen aur tapish miT jaaye
harf-e-haq dil men KhaTakataa hai jo kante kii tarah
aaj izahaar karen or Khalish miT jaaye


Friday, February 13, 2009

Faiz Ahamad Faiz--Biography


.

Date of Birth: February 13th, 1911
Place: Sialkot (Punjab), Pakistan

Faiz's mother was Sultan Fatima. Faiz's father died in Sialkot in 1913. Faiz's father was a learned man and enjoyed the company of well-known literary persons. Wrote the biography of Amir Abdur Rehman. Faiz was therefore, born in a respectable and literary environment and was a very promising student with a religious background.

Primary Education: Started memorizing the Holy Quran at the age of four and in 1916 started his formal education in the famous school of Moulvi Ibrahim Sialkoti, and learnt Urdu, Persian and Arabic. Was admitted to the Scotch Mission High School in 1921 in Class IV. Passed his Matriculation Examination in the 1st Division from Murray College, Sialkot and during this period learnt Persian and Arabic from Allama Iqbal's teacher, Shamsul Ullama Moulvi Syed Meer Hasan.

College Education: Passed his B.A. (Honours) in Arabic from the Government College, Lahore and then M.A. in English from the same College in 1932. Passed his M.A. in Arabic in the 1st Division, from Oriental College, Lahore.

Employment: Lecturer in English at M. A. O. College, Amritsar in 1935 and then at Hailey College of Commerce, Lahore. Joined the Army as Captain in 1942 and worked in the department of Public Relations in Delhi. Was promoted to the rank of Major in 1943, and Lieut. Colonel in 1944. Resigned from The Army in 1947 and returned to Lahore, where, in 1959 appointed as Secretary, Pakistan Arts Council and worked in that capacity till 1962. Returning from London in 1964 he settled down in Karachi and was appointed as Principal, Abdullah Haroon College , Karachi. Editorship of the monthly magazine Adabe-Latif from 1947 to 1958. Worked as Editor under the Progressive Papers Ltd, of the Pakistan Times, the Urdu newspaper Imroze and the weekly Lailo-Nihar. In the 1965 war between India & Pakistan he worked in an honorary capacity in the Department of Information. Acted as Editor of the magazine Lotus in Moscow, London and Beirut.

Marriage & Children: In March 9th, arrested under Safety Act and charged in the Rawalpindi Conspiracy case, and having borne the hardships of imprisonment for four years and one month in the jails of Sargodha, Montgomery (now Sahiwal) Hyderabad and Karachi, was released on April 2nd, 1955.

A love of freedom and a skill at expressing his inner thoughts through the creative word made Faiz Ahmed Faiz one of Pakistan's most influential poets. A two time nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, Faiz combined highly-educated wordplay with a social scientist's view of modern Pakistanian life. According to The Pakistanian News, (Faiz's) greatness lay in his ability to have written of contemporary issues and the human predicament in an idiom which always retained the high sobriety of classicism". In addition to his poetry, Faiz wrote numerous ghazals (romantic classical Indian songs) including "Mujhse Pehli Si Muhabbat Mere Mehbood Na Maang (Do Not Ask My My Love To Love you The Way I Used To Love You)," which began a major hit for Pakistanian vocalist Noor Jehan. A number of Faiz's ghazals were recorded by Iqbal Bano on the album, Iqbal Bano Sings Faiz.

Despite working with the army and government, Faiz remained involved with literary pursuits, serving as editor of the Pakistan Times, the urdu-language newspaper Imroze, a monthly magazine, "Adabe-Latif" and a weekly newspaper, "Lailor-Nohor". He later served as editor of a magazine, "Lotus", based in Moscow, London and Beirut. Although he worked in a honorary capacity for the Department of Information, during the war between India and Pakistan in 1965, Faiz spent much of the 1960s promoting the cause of communism. As a result, he was imprisoned for a brief period.


His legacy

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Faiz was acknowledged long ago as the greatest Urdu poet after Iqbal. Even those who were critical of his progressive social and political beliefs could not deny him that position, although they always qualified their praise of him by regretting that such a good man should have fallen among the Communists.

He was a keen student of various traditions of classical poetry in Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi, Arabic, Persian, and English among others and had realized at an early age that it was the content and not the form which was basic in the art of poetry, that originality had little to do with formal experimentation and was primarily a matter of a profound understanding of human existence in its totality and wholeness.

His Critical essays, written mostly during his formative years, are a testimony to the fact that he had arrived at, and formulated clearly the essential elements of the poetics necessary for our age, the age of the masses.

Iqbal had sung poems of glory to the fact of revolution and given out a clarion call to the people to rise up against the master-classes and tyrants. Faiz, having joined the people in their rebellion, and having adopted the collective cause as a poet of the revolution, made the transformation of the individual human being and his passage through the infinite variety of situations and moods in this process, the subject of his poetry. He is concerned, above all, with the experience of the individual human soul in the long and arduous journey of revolutionary struggle.

And yet love is the leit motif of his poetry. Faiz is one of the great lyricists who seems, from one point of view, to have sung of nothing with greater passion than love.

Faiz takes Ghalib's plea for a deeply philosophical coordination of the poetic profession as his premise to refute the arguments of the aesthetes of his time for whom poetry was merely peripheral activity. But he goes further and comments that Ghalib's definition of creative vision is incomplete, because the poet is not only required to see the ocean in the drop, but also has to show it to others.

That is why, apart from being a great revolutionary poet, he was a great love poet, and there was no distinction between the two, love and revolution had become identical in him.


Message from Faiz
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Faiz Ahmad Faiz is the voice of the conscience of the suffering humanity of our times. A voice which is a song as well as a challenge, which has a burning faith and cries out against the agony of its era, a constant endeavor and the thunder of the revolution, as well as the sweet recital of love and beauty. This had particularly affected the colonial economy of India. Thus, according to Faiz:

The young, smart lads of college, who considered themselves all-powerful, were grovelling in the country lanes in search of livelihood. These were the days when the laughter of the children ceased. Bankrupt farmers left their farms and looked for menial work in cities. Respectable women took to prostitution.

When personal sorrow drank the elixir of world-sorrow, the lovers' love became doubly strong:

My heart repents neither this love nor the other,
My heart is spotted with every kind of sorrow,
Except the mark of repentance.

Faiz is a poet of beauty and love. His message is the reign of beauty and love in the country. The passion for enjoying the beauty of life, his deep attachment to love of self and the agony of the world, his love of humanity, his patriotism, his passion for revolution, his sense of justice, are all metaphors of the agony of love. That agony of love which is the soul of his imagination and feeling, on account of which he illuminates the beauty of both worlds with the desolation of his heart.

He does not agree with the doctrine of art for art's sake, or of existentialism that artistic and social values are things apart. Referring to the poet Keats's famous lines that beauty is love and love is beauty and a beautiful object is an eternal source of joy, Faiz says that, notwithstanding what Keats may have felt, beauty can only be eternal when it is creative, when it inspires the onlooker's enthusiasm, thought and action with promoting more beauty. For Faiz, the testing power of beauty is in its creativity. Beauty is not mere artistic value, it is also a social and moral value:

The candle of a look, the star of imagination, All these illuminations have come from your gathering.
Whichever be the source of pain, we ascribe it to you,
Whatever complaints we have, are on account of you.

If it be the agony of the world, if it is the beloved's face or the hand of the rival,
We responded towards all of these with love.

Faiz wrote a sad revolutionary battle-song, the like of which is not be found in any language of the world:

For the love of your flower-like lips,
We were sacrificed on the dry branches of the noose,
For the desire of the candles of your hands
We were killed on half-dark paths.

And with revolutionary dignity:

On our lips the words of the ghazal,
And the torch of misery in our hands,
Gather our banners from the place of murder,
Caravans of other lovers will emerge,
For whose path our feet have shortened the distances of pain.

Faiz Sahib has said that poetry is not only seeing, it is also struggle and in this struggle, one's participation according to one's ability is not only a demand of life, it is also a demand of art.

Faiz Sahib's philosophy of love is derived from his philosophy of beauty. He was very fond of the verse of Hafiz Shirazi in which the poet considers love to be of everlasting reality. The repetition of this verse is to be found in Faiz Sahib' poetry. In the Lenin Peace Prize speech he had said:

I believe that humanity which has never been defeated by its enemies will, after all, be successful; even now and at long last, instead of wars, hatred and cruelty, the foundation will rest on the message of Hafiz, an old Persian poet: "Every foundation you see is defective, except the foundation of love, which is faultless.

And Faiz Sahib prays:

Let us too lift our hands,
We who do not remember the customary prayer,
We who do not remember any idol or God except love.

This agony of love is not only a part of the human condition but it is a relationship which extends from one end of the world to another. Faiz Sahib's love for humanity is free from the prejudices of race, colour or nationality. The new literature of protest suggests a radical change and, in the words of Faiz, it confers on us the power of "forcefully spurning the hand of the killer". It does not accept defeat because it is convinced that darkness should and must end.

Publications

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.Naqshe Faryadi, 1941
• Daste Saba, 1953
• Zindan Nama, 1956
• Mizan, a collection of literary articles,1956
• Daste-Tahe-Sang, 1965
• Sare-Wadiye Seena, 1971
• Shame-Shehr Yaran, 1979
• Merey Dil Merey Musafar, 1981
• Nuskha-Hai-Wafa, 1984