Faiz Ahmed Faiz (Punjabi, Urdu: فيض احمد فيض; born 1911, died 1984) was a South Asian poet considered to be one of the most famous modern Urdu poets, though he also wrote in Punjabi. He was born in
Sialkot, in the Punjab during British rule (now
Pakistan). After the independence in 1947, he decided to live in
Pakistan, and died in
Lahore.
Faiz was a member of the
Anjuman Tarraqi Pasand Mussanafin-e-Hind (Progressive Writers' Movement), and an avowed Marxist. In 1962 he was awarded the
Lenin Peace Prize by the
Soviet Union.
In a certain period of his life,
Faiz was a communist and was associated with the
Communist Party of Pakistan.
Faiz spent much of the 1950s and 1960s promoting the cause of communism in
Pakistan. During the time when
Faiz was editor of
The Pakistan Times, one of the leading newspapers of 50s, he lent editorial support to CP. He was also involved in the circle lending support to military personnel (e.g.
Major General Akbar Khan. This involvement with CP and
Major General Akbar Khan's coup plan lead to his imprisonment later.
Faiz was charged with complicity in a failed coup attempt known as the
Rawalpindi Conspiracy Case and was sentenced to four years' imprisonment in 1951. The jail term gave him a first-hand experience of the harsh realities of life, and provided him with the much-needed solitude to think and write poetry. Two of his greatest works
Dast-e-Saba and
Zindan-Nama were products of this period of imprisonment.
Faiz was the first Asian poet to be awarded the
Lenin Peace Prize, the Soviet Union's equivalent to the
Nobel Prize in 1963. Other notable recipients include
Pablo Neruda, Nelson Mandela, W. E. B. Du Bois, Bertolt Brecht, Fidel Castro and Nobel Prize winning Chemist Linus Pauling. The real award for a poet is the love and appreciation of his fans and
Faiz enjoyed both for most of his life. He recorded for the Library of Congress in 1977 which has fifty two works by him.
Before his death in 1984 he was also nominated for the
Nobel Prize.
