The 28th death anniversary of revolutionary Urdu poet and one of the few legendary figures of Pakistan Faiz Ahmad Faiz will be observed tomorrow (Tuesday).
One of the most prolific poets of the 20th century‚ Faiz was known to have reached out‚ through his work‚ to the wealthy and to those less fortunate alike. Dubbed the ‘voice of a revolution’‚ he extended an asylum of sorts to the masses in a period where freedom of speech was crushed to a bare minimum.
The poet graduated from Government College University in Lahore‚ where he obtained a degree in English Literature‚ and went on to pursue another master’s degree in Arabic at the Oriental College‚ also located in Lahore. His tenure boasts several accomplishments including the publication of two books‚ Mairay Dil Mairay Musafir and Ghubar-e-Ayyam‚ which have since been translated into several other languages earning him international recognition for his works. He wrote several inspirational pieces in both poetry and prose‚ and became the first Asian poet to be awarded the Lenin Peace Prize in 1963‚ and was nominated for the Nobel Prize.
His open expression of revolutionary ideas‚ however‚ was not without its share of consequences. Although Faiz was imprisoned several times‚ he spent his life fighting for the cause of truth.
