Ahmed Faraz, Outspoken Urdu Poet, Dies at 77

THE NEW YORK TIMES
September 1, 2008
Ahmed Faraz, Outspoken Urdu Poet, Dies at 77
By HARESH PANDYA

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/01/books/01faraz.htm

The revolutionary Pakistani poet Ahmed Faraz, whose name is
synonymous in South Asia with modern Urdu poetry, died Aug. 25 in
Islamabad. He was 77.

The cause was kidney failure, said his son Shibli Faraz.

He was earlier reported to have died while being treated in a Chicago
hospital after a fall in Baltimore, but he returned to his homeland,
where he died.

Popular among both the cognoscenti and the general public, he was one
of the few poets from the subcontinent whose verses were read as well
as sung. He was in great demand at the mushaira, social gatherings —
usually after dusk — at which Urdu poets recite their poems.

Often compared to legends of the past like Mohammad Iqbal and Faiz
Ahmed Faiz, Mr. Faraz was as popular in India as he was in his own country.

He enjoyed a near cult status in the pantheon of revolutionary poets.
In India and other countries outside Pakistan, he was best known for
his ghazals — poems expressing the writer's feelings, especially
about love — which were popularized by leading singers like Ghulam
Ali, Mehdi Hasan, Runa Laila and Jagjit Singh.

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.

"That was the worst phase for our country's writers," he once said
of
the general's rule. "Yet it also provided ample food for thought for
the poet and made protest poetry so popular in Pakistan."

Mr. Faraz, who was also closely associated with Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
and his Pakistan People's Party, wrote some of his best poetry in
exile, including "Dekhtay Hain" ("Let Us Gaze") and "Mohasara"
("The
Siege"). In all, he had written 13 volumes of Urdu poetry.

Ahmed Faraz was the pseudonym of Syed Ahmad Shah, who was born in
Nowshera village near Kohat in Pakistan on Jan. 14, 1931. His father,
Agha Syed Muhammad Shah Bark Kohati, was a leading traditional poet.

He studied at Edwards College in Peshawar and was greatly influenced
by progressive poets like Faiz and Ali Sardar Jafri. They became his
role models. He obtained his master's degree in Urdu and Persian from
Peshawar University. He subsequently taught the two languages there,
though he began his career as a scriptwriter with Radio Pakistan.

Mr. Faraz's first volume of poetry, "Tanha Tanha," was published in
the late 1950s, when he was an undergraduate student, and became a
huge, instant hit. He had a tendency to create controversies about
himself or about various issues. He spoke against marriage, saying it
was "a sort of prostitution through a contract on paper." He also
said Urdu was "a dying language," prompting outrage among Urdu speakers.

In 1976 Mr. Faraz became the founding director general of the
Pakistan Academy of Letters. He was its chairman in 1989 and 1990.
His last official job was as the chairman of National Book Foundation
based in Islamabad.

Mr. Faraz advocated peace between India and Pakistan and emphasized
personal bonds over geographic boundaries. He is survived by his wife
and three sons.

Awarded one of Pakistan's greatest civilian honors, the
Hilal-e-Imtiaz, in 2004 for his literary achievements, he returned it
in 2006 after becoming disillusioned with President Pervez
Musharraf's government.

"My conscience will not forgive me if I remained a silent spectator
of the sad happenings around us," he said at the time. "The least I
can do is to let the dictatorship know where it stands in the eyes of
the concerned citizens, whose fundamental rights have been usurped."



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WALTER LIPPMANN
Los Angeles, California
Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
"Cuba - Un Paraíso bajo el bloqueo"