Faiz Ahmed Faiz

Faiz Ahmed Faiz...(one of the most famous poets of the Urdu language)

I am not sure as of how many people know this man... I came to know about him in one of the articles by Khushwant Singh and was fascinated by the living style, daredevilry and larger than life attitude of this ...though being of a short stature with a dark brown complexion which looked as if it had been massaged with oil...

He was a man of few words, soft spoken and impassive... His poetry made him the centre of attraction at every party...He regarded poetry as a vehicle of serious thought, and not a mere pleasurable pastime...

He was 2 years elder than Khushwant Singh and was studying for Masters degree in English n Arabic. He had been composing poetry since he was 16.... His very first public appearance at a “mushaira” in Murray college( Sialkot) included the following couplet:

Lab band hain saaqi, meri ankhon ko pila..

Woh jaam jo minaatkash-e-sebha nahin hota...

which means... My lips are sealed Saaqi... let these eyes of mine take a sip...without drawing to ask for wine...

He was jailed and then, once he said, it was like falling in love again:

Bujha jo rauzan-e-zindaan to dil ye samjha hai ..

ke teri maang sitaaron se bhar gyi hogi ...

Chamak uthe hain silasil, to humne ye jaana hai ...

ke a sahar tere rukh par bikhar gyi hogi..

[ When the light in my prison window fades and comes the night,

I think of your dark tresses, with stars shining down on the parting

When chains that bind me sparkle in the light,

I see your visage lit up with the morning glow ]

There was an event mentioned in the article, where Faiz and Khushwant took rooms opposite to each others, so they could have their meals together...

When Khushwant went to his room in the morning, he was drinking... after Khushwant's appointment, when he returned at noon, he was drinking... In the evening Khushwant finally joined him for evening drinks and had his dinner... Faiz was still drinking... His "mehfil" went on till the early hours of the morning... A rude piece of doggerel went as follows ( It is a bit non-veg kind of couplet.. but it shows the zest of living in this man ):

Faiz Ahmed Faiz se barh kar koi shayar nhi..

Jo chaman mein reh kar roz maare veeraane ki gaand...

This means... There is no better poet than Faiz Ahmed Faiz today, who lives in a garden, but buggers wilderness day after day...

Just before his death, he wrote the following lines, which makes me shiver to the core:

Ajal key haath koi aa rahaa hai parwaana

Na jaane aaj ki fehrist mein raqam kya hai

This means... Death has some ordinance in its hand,

I know not whose names are in its list today

One of the most influential pieces written by him goes as follows... I simply love this:

bol ki lab aazaad hain tere

bol zabaan ab tak teri hai

tera sutawaan jism hai tera

bol ki jaan ab tak teri hai

[ Speak, your lips are free.
Speak, it is your own tongue.
Speak, it is your own body.
Speak, your life is still yours. ]


dekh ke aahangar ki dukaan mein

tund hain shole surKh hai aahan

khulane lage quffalon ke dahaane

phailaa har ek zanjiir kaa daaman

[ See how in the blacksmith's shop,
The flame is burning wild, the iron is glowing red;
Jaws of the locks have started to open,
Every chain is begining to break. ]


bol ye thodaa waqt bahot hai

jism-o-zabaan ki maut se pehle

bol ki sach zindaa hai ab tak

bol jo kuchh kehena hai kehle

[ Speak, this brief hour is long enough
Before the death of body and tongue
Speak, 'cause the truth is not dead yet,
Speak, speak, whatever you must speak ]

In the wiki article they say: In the 1930s Faiz Ahmed Faiz had sex with a Britsh Gipsy and after some while they decided to marry. He named her Alys Faiz, a British Gipsy… However, the internal story.. as mentioned by Khushwant says that Alys came to India to marry Harkirat Singh to whom she had been engaged while he was a cadet at Sandhurst… By then Harkirat had been married off to a sikh girl..Alys was heart broken… On rebound she married Faiz and bore him two daughters: Saleema and Muneeza…