Syed Ahmed Shah (Urdu: احمد فراز), better known by his pen name Ahmed Faraz, (Urdu: سید احمد شاہ; 12 January 1931 – 25 August 2008) was a Pakistani Urdu poet. Faraz was his pen name, (in Urdu takhalus تخلص). 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.[1] 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.
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.
Ahmad Faraz | |
| Native name |
احمد فراز
|
|---|---|
| Born | Syed Ahmad Shah Ali 12 January 1931 Kohat, NWFP, British India (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan) |
| Died | 25 August 2008 (aged 77) Islamabad, Islamabad Capital Territory, Pakistan |
| Pen name | Faraz Urdu: فراز |
| Occupation | Urdu poet, lecturer |
| Nationality | Pakistani |
| Citizenship | Pakistani |
| Education | MA degrees in Urdu and Persian languages |
| Alma mater | Edwardes College, University of Peshawar |
| Period | 1950–2008 |
| Genre | Urdu Ghazal |
| Subject | Romance, political resistance |
| Literary movement | Democratic Movement |
| Notable awards | Sitara-i-Imtiaz Hilal-e-Imtiaz Hilal-e-Pakistan Nigar Awards |
| Children | Saadi, Shibli Faraz and Sarmad Faraz |
0 Comments
Do not Comment and any spam text