Ahmed Faraz – Remembering The Romantic Rebel

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ab ke ham biichRe to shayad kabhii KhvaaboN meN mileN
jis tarah suukhe hu’e phuul kitaaboN meN mileN

This time when we part, may be we will meet in dreams.
Like dried out flowers in books.

Ahmed Faraz passed away at the age of 77 in Islamabad after months of ailment on 25th August 2008. He was taken ill on his recent visit to USA and was hospitalized Chicago for weeks before making a short recovery.

Ahmed Faraz was born in Nowshera (Pakistan) on January 14, 1931. One of the leading contemporary poets, Ahmed Faraz has a simple style of writing with which the common man can identify with. Ethnically a Pathan, Ahmed Faraz studied Persian and Urdu at the Peshawar University.

Outspoken about politics, he went into self-imposed exile during the Zia-ul-Haq regime after he was arrested for reciting certain poems at a mushaira. He stayed for three years in Britain, Canada and Europe before returning to Pakistan where he remained chairperson of the Islamabad-based Pakistan Book Foundation for several years. Maintaining a tradition established by his mentor, the revolutionary Faiz, he wrote some of his best poetry during those days in exile. [Ahmed Faraz]

With the passing of Faraz, yet another torchbearer of Faiz’a legacy is gone. I was introduced to Ahmed Faraz’s poetry through his beautiful musalsal (continuous) Ghazal, “sunaa hai log use aaNkh bhar ke dekhte haiN.” Like Faiz, Faraz not only wrote elegant Ghazals but powerful nazms as well speaking against injustice and oppression.

A passionate voice for change and progress, Mr. Faraz was usually at his best when writing the poetry of love and protest. His romantic poetry made him particularly beloved by the young; the establishment was not so fond of his verses mocking and at times exposing the authorities.

An advocate for the poor and downtrodden, Mr. Faraz raised his voice against capitalists, usurpers and dictators. In the 1980s he went into a six-year self-imposed exile in Canada and Europe during the era of Gen. Mohammad Zia ul-Haq, whose military rule of Pakistan he had condemned at a mushaira and whose power seemed to drive him to heights of inspiration. [New York Times]

His Ghazals have been popularized amongst the masses by Indian and Pakistani Ghazal singers – Mehdi Hassan ( ranjish hi sahi dil hii dukhaane ke liye aa, ab ke ham bicchRe to shaayad kabhii KhvaaboN meN mileN), Ghulam Ali (hu’ii hai shaam to aaNkhoN meN bas gayaa tuu, ab ke tajdiide-e-vafaa kaa nahiiN imkaaN jaanaaN), Jagjit Singh (phir usii raahguzar par shaayad).

Always a difficult thing to do but let me try to compile my fave 10 couplets of Ahmed Faraz.

1.) shiddat-e-tishnagii meN bhii Ghairat-e-maikashii rahi
usne jo pher lii nazar, hamne bhii jaam rakh diyaa

(shiddat : intensity; tishnagii : thirst; Gharat-e-maikashii : respect for the etiquettes of drinking)

2.) aaj tak apnii be-kalii kaa sabab
Khud bhii jaanaa nahiiN ke tujhse kaheN

(be-kalii : restlessness)

3.) muntazir jin ke ham rahe un ko
mil gaye aur ham-safar shaayad

(muntazir : waiting)

4.) tamaam umr kahaaN ko’ii saath detaa hai
maiN jaantaa huuN magar thoRii duur saath chalo

(tamaam umr: whole life)

5.) raftaa raftaa yahii zindaaN meN badal jaate haiN
ab kisii shah’r kii bunyaad na daalii jaaye

(raftaa raftaa : slowly; zindaaN : prisons; bunyaad : foundations)

6.) kis kis ko bataayeNge judaa’ii kaa sabab ham
tuu mujh se Khafaa hai to zamaane ke liye aa

(sabab : reason)

7.) mujhko acchaa nahiiN lagtaa ko’ii hamnaam teraa
ko’ii tujhsaa ho to phir naam bhii tujhsaa rakhe

(hamnaam : having same name)

8.) yuuN hii mausam kii adaa dekh ke yaad aayaa hai
kis qadar jald badal jaate haiN insaaN jaanaaN

(jaanaaN : beloved)

9.) dil bhii bujhaa ho shaam kii parchhaaiiaaN bhii hoN
mar jaaiye jo aise meN tanhaaiiaaN bhii hoN

(parchhaaiiaaN : shadows; tanhaaii : loneliness)

10.) shikvaa-e-zulmat-e-shab se to kahiiN behtar thaa
apne hisse kii ko’ii shammaa jalaate jaate

(shikvaa-e-zulmat-e-shab : lamenting about the darkness of the night)

Ahmed Faraz Photo: Karachi Photo Blog

Tagged as: Ahmed Faraz, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Ghazal, Ghulam Ali, Jagjit Singh, Mehdi-Hassan, Mushaira, Nazm, urdu, Urdu-Poetry