Faiz Ahmed Faiz (Feb 13, 1911 - Nov 20, 1984) was a giant of Urdu literature, and perhaps the most widely known and read modern Urdu poet. After receiving early education in Urdu, Persian, and Arabic, Faiz went on to receive advanced degrees in Arabic and English Literature. He was a leading voice in the Progressive Writers Movement, and created a unique - though now widely used - diction for expressing progressive and Marxist ideas using classical symbols and metaphors. Faiz served briefly in the military before Partition, and became editor of Pakistan's first English Newspaper, Pakistan Times. In 1951, he - along with a few others - was accused of conspiracy against the government and imprisoned in 1951. After four years in jail, he was released and went into exile. Returning in 1958, he was arrested again and detained for almost two years. He then went into exile, living in Moscow and mainly in London. He returned to Pakistan in 1972 and served as an advisor to the Minsteries of Culture and Education in Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's government. He went back into exile in 1979 when Bhutto was executed by the military dictator, Gen. Zia-ul-Haq. This time, he went to Beirut as the editor of the journal Lotus. He finally left Lebanon in 1982 with the outbreak of the civil war and returned to Pakistan, where he died on November 20, 1984.
Faiz wrote much of his most influential poetry in this long period of imprisonment and exile, which made him a symbol for democratic reform and liberal ideas in Pakistan. He also wrote ghazals in a beautiful and distinctive romantic style - often weaving in political and social allusions without damaging the romantic flavor of the ghazal. His last major poem, "Hum DaykhayN Ge" (We Shall See) has been a virtual anthem of democratic activism in Pakistan for more than four decades. Faiz received The Lenin Prize of the Soviet Union in 1962. He was posthumously given the Nishan-e Imtiaz - Pakistan's highest civilian honor - in 1990. Today, his poetry is celebrated wherever Urdu is read or spoken, and he has become a true cultural icon.
This recording is from an Indo-Pak Mushaira held in Delhi c. 1962
Audio Credit: Moin Siddiqui