When the times are
dark and the realities get delusional, no other art form but poetry can soothe
our disquiet and arouse us to our complacency. Amongst all other languages and
literature, Urdu language and Urdu poetry holds a unique place in everyone’s
heart and one can never imagine having a complete understanding of contemporary
Urdu poetry without recognizing the significance of Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s varied
oeuvre.
Born on February
13, 1911 in village Kala Qadir, Sialkot, that is now a part of Pakistan, Faiz
began his poetic career in the 1930s during British imperialism in India. No
later than that he became an iconic voice of a generation. He was one such poet
whose revolutionary verses denounced tyranny and strove for justice. He used
his melancholic yet musical lines to weave tender strands of hope and promise
amongst the youth in those turbulent times. Faiz was also remarkably known for
his coruscating and soulful love poems.
By the beginning of
the 1930s, the Anti-British sentiment and desire for national freedom was at
its peak, several anti-imperialistic and left-oriented groups mushroomed with
the intention to inspire writings that advocated for an egalitarian society and
stood up against injustice and backwardness. Faiz also became a member of the
Progressive Writers’ Movement. Communalism had been sparked off between the
Hindu and Muslim communities of pre-partition India and Faiz, a poet merely in
his twenties then, got upset due to the political circumstances and he was
triggered to write against these forces of communalism and confront the
colonial presence.
In those times of
oppressive socio-political structure, the Progressive Writers’ Movement was
driven by Marxist ideology. The movement was founded in 1935 in London and had
some famous idealists as its members- Sajjad Zaheer, Rashid Jahan, Kaifi Azmi,
Ismat Chughtai, Ahmed Faraz, Firaq Gorakhpuri, Manto, Mulk Raj Anand, Makhdoom
Mohiuddin and Faiz himself.
Faiz’s first
collection of poetry got published in the year 1941 by the name of ‘Naqsh –e- Fariyaadi’ (The Image of
Complaint). It had significant poems that arouse every emotion in the readers’
hearts – Mujhse Pehli Si Mohabbat Meri
Mehboob Na Maang (Beloved, Don’t Ask Me for the Love That Was), Tanhaai (Solitude), Bol (Speak) and Iqbal (Iqbal). Tanhaai
and Bol have been ranked high
among literary critics. Iqbal had
been written by Faiz in his memory where he called his fellow writer Iqbal ‘khush-nawa
fakir’ (a sweet-singing fakir).
In 1947, Faiz
became the editor of two dailies in Lahore - The Pakistan Times and The
Imroz. He also became the Vice President of Trade Union Congress in 1951 and
was sent to San Francisco and Geneva during this time as a part of Pakistani
Government’s delegation to the International Labour Organization. While
everything seemed to be working quite well for him, Faiz got arrested in
connection with the Rawalpindi conspiracy case. But getting behind the bars
couldn’t cage his stream of thoughts and emotions.
Faiz published his
second collection in 1952 by the name of ‘Dast-e-Saba’
(The Touch of the Breeze). Several poems were included in this collection – Subh-e-Azaadi (Dawn of the Freedom), Sheeshon ke Maseeha Koi Nahin (The
Heart’s Wine Glass, Once Broken, Cannot be Repaired) and others. The first poem
of this collection, when he was denied the tools to write his poetry in prison,
shows his undeterred optimism and protest against tyranny. With the Independence
and Partition of India, tumultuous circumstances engulfed the subcontinent,
mass migration and terrible massacres followed. It was then, Faiz wrote one of
his greatest poems Subh-e-Azaadi
(Dawn of the Freedom) that expresses deep sense of grief for the ways things
had turned out. This poem is known for its ambiguous use of metaphors and
context that it tries to portray.
By 1953, Faiz was
transferred to Hyderabad jail and was released in April 1955 on bail, and then
acquitted in September the same year.
The third
collection of poetry by Faiz, published in 1956 by the name of ‘Zindaan-Nama’ (Prison Narrative) had
poems like Ay Raushniyon ke Shahr (O
City of Lights!) and Koi Aashiq Kisi
Mehbooba Se (A Lover to a Beloved).
Faiz was again
imprisoned for a short time during Ayyub Khan’s martial law in 1958. He was
awarded Lenin Peace Prize four years later. His fourth collection of poems ‘Dast-e-tah-e-Sang’ (Poems from Duress)
got published in 1965.
It was probably the
Progressive Writers’ Movement from where Makhdoom Mohiuddin and Faiz got to
know each other and became close friends.
Makhdoom, known for
his remarkable verses Aap Ki Yaad Aati
Rahi Raat Bhar and Phir Chhidi Raat,
was characterized as a “reluctant Progressive” by Carlo Coppola. He argued that
unlike Faiz, Makhdoom knew how to differentiate his romantic and revolutionary
poetry. He remarked Makhdoom’s shift from one genre to another to be gradual
and complex. After the Partition, he stayed in India while Faiz stayed in
Pakistan, but Urdu connected them across borders.
Both of them had love for
their common language and an understanding for each other’s culture and the
past as well as the contemporary struggles. Among Faiz’s eight volumes that had
been published, his one of the last poems is a beautiful ghazal that Faiz wrote
in 1969 when his dear friend passed away. This ode borrows the meter and the
refrain from Makhdoom’s own ghazal Aap Ki
Yaad Aati Rahi Raat Bhar. In his tribute, Faiz expresses his sorrow and
says how his memories keep coming back to him all night.
In the contemporary
times, when the present is so dark, the dignity of every individual is
questionable, and the freedom to speak up against injustice has been snatched
away in this world, the poetry by Faiz is relevant and hence needed to be read
more than ever before.
