Faiz Ahmad Faiz

Faiz Ahmad Faiz - An Extraordinary Urdu Poet

I am not much that knowledgable in Urdu language but its sheer beauty as expressed by so many of our great poets in poems, nazms, ghazals, makes the heart flutter. I am just a sucker for this form of poetry as it seems like one never gets enough of it. Here I am, starting this new thread on one of eminent Urdu poets of our time, Faiz Ahmad Faiz. Here is what I have leanrned of this great man ...

Faiz Ahmad Faiz is one of the most distinguished Urdu poets of our times. He was born in Punjab in 1911 and after the partition of India migrated to Pakistan. Very well educated, he worked as a lecturer for some time. He was married to a British woman with whom he had two daughters. He was an avowed Marxist and wrote freely about this in magazines and journals.

Faiz spent four years in jail on the charges that he was part of the conspiracy to throw the then Pakistan government. While in prison, he published much of his best work, mostly poetry. In 1962, he became the first Asian to be awarded the Lenin Peace Prize by the Soviet Union.

When Zia ul Haq became the president of Pakistan in a coup in 1979, Faiz decided to leave Pakistan. He lived in exile in Beirut from where he freely wrote for many publications. After nearly four years, in 1982, he returned to Pakistan. He lived only for two more years after his return.

During his lifetime, Faiz was the recipient of many awards besides the one mentioned above. He received the Peace Prize from Human Rights Society. He also received Pakistan’s Nigar awards and posthumously, six years after his death, Nishan-E-Imtiaz, the highest civilian award of Pakistan.

Fiaz’s work includes some 50 plus books. Most of these were translated into several languages. His poetry was unconventional in the sense that it was casual and had the conversational tone. Enriched by his own political experiences, his poetry was embellished with political and social issues.

I am attaching several of his pictures below. These include Faiz Saab with Indian movie luminaries Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Satyajit Ray, and Sunil Dutt.

I don’t have much of Faiz Saab’s work but I do have some 100 plus ghazals or nazms. The singers of these poems include Abida Parveen, Farida Khanum, Iqbal Bano, Mehdi Hassan, Nayyara Noor, Noor Jehan, and Faiz Saab himself.

I will share these with you in the next few weeks …

This post has been edited by swarapriya: Sep 7 2009, 06:48 PM

Faiz Poetry Recitation

Here is an unusual album. These are all recitations of Faiz Saab's poems. Faiz Saab himself and the great lady Noor Jehan are reciting these poems. Here they are ...

Swarapriya,

Thank you for the songs. Does this collection have any introduction of Faiz or some commentary?

No. I have included here everything from the album. It appears to me that this may be one of several albums. I am not sure because the cover has no such indication. I am sorry that I am not much of help here.

Cheers,
Swarapriya

Yet another beautiful thread!!

Thanks for this lovely collection.

Thanks a lot for this Swarapriya. Really good...

Thank you.

You're very welcome.

You're indeed very welcome. Cheers.

Very good and rare material. Any idea about the date & venue? I guess in early 1960,s. There must be some info on internet....khawar

I know Aaj Ki Raat is a private mehfil recording from the mid to late 50s.

Links for more information:

http://www.hamaraforums.com/index.php?s=&a...st&p=323372

http://www.hamaraforums.com/index.php?s=&a...st&p=332589

http://www.hamaraforums.com/index.php?s=&a...st&p=558480

Kumar ji,

This is awsome. Thank you for the information.

Cheers,
Swarapriya

Faiz By Abida

When Abida sings Faiz, the result is like a critic said "a throbbing testimony to beauty". This is what The New York Times has to say about Abida: "... she melds virtuosity and devotion ... brings profundity to the music along with flamboyance ..."

There are six ghazals in this album. Because of their lengths, I am uploading them in two back-to-back posts. Here is the first set of ghazals ...