Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s poetry continues to inspire and enthral contemporary readers. The Best of Faiz consists of Shiv K. Kumar’s translations of Faiz’s most popular Urdu poems into English. The collected poems include ‘Mujh Se Pehli Si’, ‘Subhe Azadi’, ‘Sochne Do’ and ‘Bol’. This edition also includes a translator’s foreword and the original poems in nastaliq and devanagari scripts.
Faiz Ahmen Faiz is looked on as the most important Urdu poet in both India and Pakistan. This collection of his poems is representative of the best in contemporary Urdu writing. The Urdu text is presented with English translations.
Twenty-five years after his death, the poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz continues to be as relevant as ever; in fact, the revolutionary and seductive appeal of his poetry has only increased with time. He is no longer just a Pakistani poet, nor just a poet from the Indian subcontinent, but belongs to the whole world. The year 2012 is Faiz’s hundredth birth anniversary, and on this occasion, this book is the fondest tribute that could have been put together - for it is from the poet’s family itself. The book has pictures from Faiz’s family album, a biography by his grandson, Ali Madeeh Hashmi, and translations of fifty-two of Faiz’s poems by noted Pakistani writer, Shoaib Hashmi. The book also has extracts from Faiz’s handwritten letters and poems, and clippings of his interviews. A collector’s delight!
Faiz Ahmed Faiz (1911-1984) Was One Of The Leading, If Not The Foremost, Poet Of The Indian Subcontinent During The Greater Part Of The Last Century. Listed Four Times For The Nobel Prize Of Poetry, He Was Often Compared To His Friend Pablo Neruda, Revolutionary Poet And Nobel Prize Winner, Of Chile. Of Faiz'S Multifaceted Personality, Which Led Him To Become, Amongst Other Things, An Activist For Human Rights And Liberties, A Famous Journalist And Editor Of Liter. Ary Magazines (Urdu & Others), Trade Unionist, And Film Songwriter, It Is His Poetry Which Will, No Doubt, Best Survive The Test Of Time. His Very Firit Volume Of Poetry, Published In 1941 From Lucknow, Brought Him Instant Celebrity. Naqsh- E-Faryadi Or Imprints Has Since Haunted More Than One Generation Of Urdu Lovers. Its Combi- Nation Of Classical And Elegant Indo-Persian Dic- Tion With Modern Sentiment And Sensibility Still Touches The Heart Of The Reader. Apart From Inventing The Modern Urdu Love Poem, Faiz Revolutionised The Classical Form Of Urdu Poetry, The Ghazal, Giving It A Powerful Socio-Political Resonance. He Used Ancient Forms Of Poetry, Such As The Qawwali And The Geet, To Convey His Message Of Humanism Without Reference To Caste, Colour Or Creed. He Suffered Prison And Exile For This In His Homeland Of Pakistan, Where He Was, For Long Years, Denied Access To The Media. The Musicality Of His Verse Has Continued To Haunt Many A Younger Poet, Even Though It Is Difficult To Attain His Unforgettable Summits. The Chronological Presentation, Herein, Of 60 Poems, 10 Quatrains And No Less Than 30 Ghazals, Some Never Translated Into English Before, Will Enable The Reader To Follow The Development Of The Young And Romantic Poet Into The Foremost Leader Of The Literary Opposition To Those Who Tr.Unple On Human Rights, And The Defender Of The Lowly And The Mute. A Transcription Into Roman Script (With A Glossary In Roman) Has Been Added For Those Who Can Understand, But May Not Be Able To Read, Urdu.
Faiz Ahmed Faiz is widely regarded as the greatest Urdu poet of the twentieth century, and the iconic voice of a generation. Although he is best remembered for his revolutionary verses that decried tyranny and called for justice, his oeuvre also extended to scintillating, soulful poems of love. In this remarkable selection of Faiz’s most memorable poems and ghazals, readers will be able to experience a new dimension of the great poet’s genius. Along with popular favourites like ‘Subh-e Azadi’, with its anguished evocation of the horror and pain of the Partition, The Colours of My Heart also introduces readers to little-known gems that display Faiz’s extraordinary flair for tender hope and quiet longing. A rich cornucopia of delights, The Colours of My Heart celebrates Faiz’s greatest work. Baran Farooqi’s superb translation is accompanied by an illuminating introduction to Faiz’s incredible life and enduring legacy.
Love and Revolution is the first comprehensive biography of the best-known Urdu poet of recent times, a portrait of the man behind the poetry activist, revolutionary, family man, connoisseur of life and a reading of his poetry in the context of his life and times. Living through the holocaust of partition, Faiz tried to make sense of it through his poetry. In the new nation of Pakistan, he played a prominent role not just as a cultural ambassador but also as a journalist, an important voice of dissent that refused to be stifled, a builder of enduring cultural institutions and an educationist. Awarded the Nishan-e-Imtiaz, Pakistan's highest civilian honour after his death, Faiz served prison terms and faced the threat of execution during his lifetime for his left leanings and outspoken criticism of the authoritarian regime. Written by Faiz's grandson, this book grants the reader privileged access to the poet through the memories of friends and family members as well as rare letters, documents and photos.
Debunking conventional narratives of Afghanistan as a perennial war zone and the rule of law as a secular-liberal monopoly, Faiz Ahmed presents a vibrant account of the first Muslim-majority country to gain independence, codify its own laws, and ratify a constitution after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. Afghanistan Rising illustrates how turn-of-the-twentieth-century Kabul--far from being a landlocked wilderness or remote frontier--became a magnet for itinerant scholars and statesmen shuttling between Ottoman and British imperial domains. Tracing the country's longstanding but often ignored scholarly and educational ties to Baghdad, Damascus, and Istanbul as well as greater Delhi and Lahore, Ahmed explains how the court of Kabul attracted thinkers eager to craft a modern state within the interpretive traditions of Islamic law and ethics, or shariʿa, and international norms of legality. From Turkish lawyers and Arab officers to Pashtun clerics and Indian bureaucrats, this rich narrative focuses on encounters between divergent streams of modern Muslim thought and politics, beginning with the Sublime Porte's first mission to Afghanistan in 1877 and concluding with the collapse of Ottoman rule after World War I. By unearthing a lost history behind Afghanistan's founding national charter, Ahmed shows how debates today on Islam, governance, and the rule of law have deep roots in a beleaguered land. Based on archival research in six countries and as many languages, Afghanistan Rising rediscovers a time when Kabul stood proudly as a center of constitutional politics, Muslim cosmopolitanism, and contested visions of reform in the greater Islamicate world.
In this bilingual edition of Faiz Ahmed Faiz's mature work, Naomi Lazard captures his universal appeal: a voice of great pathos, charm, and authenticity that has until now been little known in the English-speaking world. Originally published in 1987. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
