Meeting Poet Ahmad Faraz

Ras Sahib, any particular reason you did not present this to us as an interview,with his actual words?It would have been more enjoyable.
Thanks,anyway.

First of all, CHOWK Editors could we fix the photograph?

#1 Farzana: I guess that I am getting old too. The Jazbaat too are getting rusty!

#2 Rozaiba: Faraz is indeed a jewel of Urdu literature. Coming back to Sac?

#3 Goonga: I will try to find a link. The best one is on You Tube (Search).

#4 Rahul_Capri: I would have to have a better command of Urdu to let Faraz Sahib
speak for himself in this article. Your point is well taken, so I invite other writers
to make that attempt here on CHOWK. Faraz is best understood in the language
that he writes in, so this article would have to be written in Urdu.

Re: # 5
Thanks a lot Ras, I had tried earlier but same ever problem of urdu titles in english, ``mahaasra`` or ``mahasra`` found required results!

Its really very imaginative for my generation deprived such a event seen in video.

k raat jab kissi khursheed ko shaheed karti hey
tou subho ik naya sooraj tarash laati hey


just great....

it also reminds


Jehan main ehla-e-eeman soorat-e-khursheed jeetay hain
idher doobey, udher nik`ley, udher doobey, idher nik^ley


thanks indeed!

Thanks for the write up. I met him a couple of times during his attendence at Toronto mushairas. This is going back a few years. `raNjish hii sahii..` had continued to be audience favorite but Faraaz sahib naturally wanted to present his newer work. At one of these mushaairas, a lady insisted that he recired `raNjish hii sahii...` to which Faraaz sahib responded with a winning smile, `yeh to ab aap Mehdi Hassan sahib se hii suniie` (this one you should now hear only from Mehdi Hassan sahib):-)

I have a lot of his books, (including Kulliaat-e-Faraaz) and frequently resort to reading him, at random, and feel my faith in humanity returning!

shikva-e-zulmat-e-shab se to kahiiN accha thaa
apne hisse kii koii shamma jalaate jaate!

Re: # 5
Ras Sahib, The way I would like it is the original transcript in Urdu and the accompanying translation.The translation should not be difficult.Dictionaries are available online.But thats just me.Other people may have other ideas.
Farzana,
The ``even`` in the first line sticks out like a sore thumb.Faraz meant that ``ujRe hue log`` are the best place to look for ``wafaa kay motii``; your translation makes it look like they are the last resort.As in ``Dhoondh ujade hue logon mein bhii vafaa ke moti ``.Drop the ``even`` and it is okay. Just my 2 cents.

Rahul:

The `even` was in fact an afterthought; I felt the `mumkin` in the next line talked about possibility, therefore there was no certitude.

But thanks for the ``2 cents``. Urdu ke muamle mein, among other things, hum muflis hi hai...learning...

Ras:

The jazbaat should get rusty when you are SURE you are getting old; ab tau sirf guesswork chal raha hai! And, as Noorjehan sang in `Jawaan hai mohabbat`...``Abhi tak humein yaad hai woh kahani``.

Be well...

I used to like Faraz until I found him to be a liar. In a recent TV interview with Shehryar he claimed that the plot where Lal masjid is located was originally alloted to him during Zia era but then it was occupied (Qabza) by Moulvis. The fact of the matter is that Lal Masjid compound including where Jamiah Hafsa is was allocated to Moulana Abdullah (the father of Ghazi berethern) by Ayub Khan at the requiest of Allama Shabir Ahmad Usmani in 60s. Lal Masjid was an epicenter during the Tehrik-e-Nizam-e-Mustafa during 1977, which was raided several times by police and army during agitations agaisnt Bhutto. I think Faraz should be ashamed of himself for perpetrating such lie. That is the reason that commies and socialists failed in Pakistan - lies and hypocrisy.

Re: # 7
Apologies for following up on my own post but I should have written:

....kahiiN `behtar` thaa,
apne hisse kii koii...

and `recired` is of course `recited`. I could have let the second correction go but the first one is `sacrelegious and had to be corrected.

Indeed,

Yeh Alaa`m Shau`q Kaa Dekhaa` Naa` Jayae`

:)

Re: # 9
``I felt the `mumkin` in the next line talked about possibility, therefore there was no certitude. ``
Indeed.In fact, there is a very slim chance of success.It should be read in that light.:)

You write beautifully, it is a joy to read your writings, thanks a bunch!

I Wrote this quite a while ago........



(Dedicated to the living legend of the Urdu language)


To Poet Ahmed Faraz


To this weaver of Urdu words like fine Persian Carpets
A writer in English and a weak mother tongue pays homage
As the often controversial originator of many ageless poems
Startles us all by passing the age of sixty-five
But when did this happen, a generation asks?

Armed with the ammunition of words he battled
Against tyrants who held the power of guns and jails
But defiant the poet inside strengthened by a conscience
Behind bars, solitary confinement and then exile
Into the homes and hearts of many, yet still
The poet never forgot his country and its people


That Faraz is still with us now, we are lucky
Old tyrants are gone but new critics emerge to accuse
Writers who hold the basic rights of god’s humans
Close to their work, in their self as a sacred trust, this liberty
For which they are wrongly branded as atheists and traitors
But people know the strength and feel of truth

The keepers of the literary traditions of Urdu today welcome
Faraz as one of their greatest living craftsmen of verse
This Shayir-Poet has risen to the defense of many causes
Some popular, others not, and some now necessary
Like the recent deadly embrace of atomics in South Asia
Faraz and his pen now face the prospect of a Hiroshima
In a land where he continues to offer peace and
sincere friendship
As an alternative to the new nuclear madness
Started by those who claim to be the inheritors of
Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violence.


Ras H. Siddiqui 7-24-98


A special thanks to Nora Boustany who was able to
remind this writer about the importance of Faraz in the Washington Post
(July 1, 1998) in an article titled “Roses Are Red, Bombs Leave You
Dead”

Can anyone post a link to Faraz` famous poem ``Pak afwaj kay naam``? I heard it once; it is a masterpiece.