Faiz Ahmed Faiz

During World War II, Faiz left his post teaching English at a college in Amritsar to join the army, attaining the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, and receiving an M.B.E. for his wartime services.  After Partition in 1947, he became the editor of the English-language daily The Pakistan Times. In 1954, Faiz was jailed on a false conspiracy charge for his open criticisms of the Govermnet of Pakistan.  Later, he settled in Lebanon, in self-imposed exile, and edited Lotus, an international leftist magazine.  He later returned to Pakistan, where he has been actively involved in the Progressive Writers Movement.  Russia awarded him the Lenin Peace Prize in 1962.

Between 1941 and 1981 Faiz published seven collections of verse and six works in Urdu prose.  Faiz is the best-selling modern Urdu poet both in India and Pakistan.  He died in Lahore in 1984.

	Alys Faiz, (Faiz's Widow) signing her book for Afroz
Alys Faiz with Afroz and Faiz's photo	Faiz's Tomb, with Afroz and John

Click here to hear MP3 of this ghazal sung by Mehdi Hassan.
Click here to hear MP3 of another one of Faiz's famous poems: "Mujhse pehli se muhabbat" sung by Noor Jahan.