When writing about a great poet like Faiz Ahmad Faiz, it is difficult to resist the urge to quote a few of one's favourite lines from his poems. In fact, for lovers of poetry, great poets are as diverse and unique as their poems. When we remember Faiz, we cherish everything about him – his rich and varied life, his struggles and the molten gold of the shayari which flowed from his pen, shayari which is as moving and fresh in the Internet age as it was in the years of writing by hand or with typewriters. It should be a matter of considerable pride to our generation to have seen the great man and to have heard him recite his poetry in his baritone voice.
I had the good fortune in the late 1970s to have some contact, albeit indirect, with Faiz. I was then working in the Indian foreign office, on the Middle East desk. At the time Faiz was living in Beirut. Our envoy in Beirut, also a lover of Urdu poetry, often spent time with Faiz and would share the invaluable experience with me. Faiz's book Mere Dil Mere Musafir (My Heart, My Traveller), published some time later, contained poems written in and about Lebanon. The title poem talks of the acute melancholy of living in a strange land, describing the plight of those who, like Faiz, have been uprooted from their homes and compelled to live in strange lands.
Sar-e-kuu-e na-aashana
Hamein din se raat karna
In this land of unknown people
We have been ordained to spend our days and nights.