Faiz Ahmed Faiz

Faiz Ahmed Faiz (فیض احمد فیض), Pakistan’s most influential and inspiring poet, was born on 13th February, 1911, in Sialkot, which was then a part of India. Born to the wealthy family of landowners, he enjoyed a privileged childhood as the son of an influential lawyer, Sultan Muhammad Khan. His family frequented the elite literary circles of their time, which allowed Faiz to benefit from the enlightened guidance of Allama Iqbal.

 

 

Faiz Ahmed Faiz Pics

 

Faiz Ahmed Faiz Biography

Faiz began attending the famous Moulvi Ibrahim Sialkoti in 1916, and later one, he attended the Skotch Mission High School. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Arabic and a master’s degree in English from Government College Lahore, and later, he earned another master’s degree in Arabic from the Oriental College in Lahore. In 1935, Faiz was appointed a teacher at the M.A.O College in Amritsar, and later, he taught at the Hailey College of Commerce in Lahore.

 

About Faiz Ahmad Faiz Poet and Poetry

The earliest poems of Faiz Ahmed Faiz are marked by a light-heated romance, the conventional ethics of love and a treatise on beauty. But the poems written during his life in Lahore seem to have a strong political voice, a sense of communal injustice and a fundamental deprivation of right, which can be spotted throughout his poetic career and personal life.

Faiz’s Spouse

Faiz tied the knot with the beautiful Alys George, a British expatriate who accepted Islam and gave him two lovely daughters. The year 1942 saw Faiz joining the British Indian Army to serve during the World War II, for which he was granted a British Empire Medal.

After the creation of Pakistan in 1947, Faiz became the editor of the socialist English newspaper, The Pakistan Times. Soon, Faiz became an influential and inspiring political activist who protested against the fundamental brutality of corrupt politicians with his blood-curdling poetry.

Faiz Poetry Books

His beautiful poetry collections, Dast-e-Saba and Zindan Namah highlighted the life in prison, which according to him, gave him a broader and newer outlook on the world.

After his release, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s government appointed him on the National Council of Arts, and his poetry was translated into countless languages, including Russian, which won him the Lenin Peace Prize.

In 1964, Faiz moved to Karachi and became the principal of Abdullah Haroon College, along with serving as the editor of several prolific magazines. During the 1965 war, his poetry focused on the tragic bloodshed that ensued between the Indian and Pakistani forces.

Faiz Last Days

When Zia Ul-Haq came to power, Faiz was sent to exile in Beirut, Lebanon, where he became the editor of Lotus magazine, and continued penning down Urdu poems. He passed away in 1984, in his beloved city Lahore, and shortly after, he was nominated for the Nobel Prize. He was one of the few iconic personalities that never fails to impress and inspire us with his glorious collection of poems and ghazals.