‘The only one worthy of my reverence
Is the one, self-aware, who illuminates God with his own light.’
(Allama Iqbal, Payaam-e-Mashriq)
There are some who attribute Faiz’s popularity over his contemporaries to ‘lady luck’. While there may be some truth to this, Faiz was, by all accounts, someone who worked extremely hard all his life to actualise his God-given talents. Sigmund Freud once said that everywhere he went (in his scientific research), a poet had been there before him. It has been a tradition, especially in our Indo-Pak subcontinent that poets, these prophet-like beings, who are credited with the ability to see into the hidden realities of life, stay unheard, unheeded and unappreciated during their lifetimes. Faiz always claimed that in his case, the opposite was true. Not only did he receive more than his fair share of fame, adulation and appreciation, he always felt that he had never done enough in his work to justify the love heaped on him. In this regard, Faiz was much more fortunate than several of his very talented country-men. He was attentively heard and respected, even revered, and reached the status of a legend early in his life.
However, the skies above his head were not always clear. Dark clouds and lightning thundered over him, storms of ill-will and the harsh winds of criticism frequently battered him and, sometimes, even put his life in danger. Fortunately for us and generations to come, Faiz turned all this adversity into the wind under his wings, subservient to his will power and poetic genius. It can be stated quite confidently that Faiz inherited his good fortune from his father Sultan Muhammad Khan, a lawyer from Sialkot, an extraordinary person, whose life reminds one of a fairy tale rather than the usual life story of a provincial lawyer. As a matter of fact, Lillias Hamilton wrote a novel based on the true life story of Sultan Muhammad (A Vizier’s Daughter), published in London in 1900.
Without a doubt, the events of Faiz’s life could provide abundant material for scores of novels and books. His time as a student and teacher, his marriage and life with Alys, his role in the Progressive Writers Association, his service in the army, his contribution as a journalist and editor of a national newspaper and an international magazine, his arrest and imprisonment, his efforts to revive art and culture in his homeland and several other aspects of his life and personality would require volumes of description. But Faiz was, foremost, a great poet and humanitarian. His poetry is rooted in progressive thought, optimism and hope. The inherent tinge of pain and gloom in it is a reflection of Ghalib’s ‘Gham-e Hasti’, the agony of being. Its harmony and musicality lies in the beautifully and delicately woven verses which are the artistic expression of the eternal fountain of love for humanity, the constant source of inspiration for Faiz and his poetry.
This love for humanity, compassion, optimism and encouragement are characteristic of Faiz’s poetry. These qualities guarantee its necessity and popularity for ages to come. Faiz’s trust in the nobler values of life and his belief in the possibilities of human effort remained unshaken throughout his life, even in his last years which were not particularly happy ones. During these last years, his confidence in and love for the Soviet Union was beginning to change as he observed the corruption and incompetence of the Soviet bureaucracy first hand. His years with the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) in Beirut also ended sadly when Faiz and the PLO were hounded out of Beirut by the invading Israeli army. However, even in the poetry of his last years, notes of love, compassion and hope are clearly heard. These will surely be understood and cherished by all future generations, no matter what country they belong to.
The writer is training to be a psychiatrist. He can be reached at [email protected]