Pas-e-Andaz Mausam by
Ahmed Faraz
Brief Introduction
Syed Ahmed Shah better known by his pen
name Ahmed Faraz, 12 January 1931 – 25 August 2008 was a Pakistani Urdu
poet. Faraz was his pen name. He died in Islamabad on 25 August 2008. He was
awarded the Sitara-i-Imtiaz, Hilal-e-Imtiaz and posthumously the
Hilal-e-Pakistan by the Government of Pakistan.
Early life
Faraz was
of Hindkowan background. His brother is Syed Masood Kausar. He moved to
Peshawar with his family. He studied at Edwardes College, Peshawar and received
his Master's degree in Urdu and Persian from Peshawar University.
During his
college life, the progressive poets Faiz Ahmad Faiz and Ali Sardar Jafri were
his best friends, who impressed him and became his role models.
Career
Ahmad
Faraz's poetry was highly popular among the general public in Pakistan, India
as well as among the subcontinent's immigrant populations overseas. He was a
poet in high demand at social gatherings (mushairas) where he would recite his
poetry in his own voice. Ahmad Faraz was often compared to Muhammad Iqbal and
Faiz Ahmed Faiz.
Singers
like Mehdi Hasan, Ghulam Ali, Jagjit Singh and Runa Laila greatly popularized
his poetry by singing his ghazals in films and in concerts.
Ahmad Faraz
served as Chairman of the National Book Foundation in Islamabad, Pakistan.
Literary work
Faraz has
been compared to Faiz Ahmad Faiz.
Political activity
Faraz was
arrested for writing poems that criticised military rulers in Pakistan during
the reign of General Zia-ul-Haq . Following that arrest, he went into a
self-imposed exile. He stayed for 6 years in Britain, Canada and Europe before
returning to Pakistan, where he was initially appointed as Chairman of the
Pakistan Academy of Letters and later chairperson of the Islamabad-based
National Book Foundation for several years. He has been awarded with numerous
national and international awards. In 2006, he returned the Hilal-e-Imtiaz
award he was given in 2004.
Death and legacy
Earlier in
2008, after a fall in Baltimore, Maryland, there were false rumors of his death
while he was being treated in a Chicago hospital. But he was able to return to
his homeland, Pakistan. Then later, Ahmad Faraz died of kidney failure,
confirmed by his son Shibli Faraz, in a private hospital in Islamabad on 25
August 2008. His funeral was held on the evening of 26 August, among many
admirers and government officials at H-8 Graveyard, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Ahmad Faraz
is highly regarded among the long list of revolutionary poets of Urdu language.
Source: Wikipedia
No comments:
Post a Comment