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Today's ghazal is by Faiz Ahmed Faiz - perhaps one of the most 
well-known modern Urdu poets. Born in 1911 in Sialkot, Faiz Ahmed Faiz 
had a chequered career from a lecturer of English to a Lt.Col in the 
army to the editorship of Pakistan Times where he distinguished himself. 
A four year imprisonment in 1951 gave him the much needed solitude to 
put his thoughts on paper in the form of poetry.

Though Faiz started off as a conventional poet, writing on love and 
beauty, he soon turned to more socio-political issues and used the same 
metaphors which were common in Urdu poetry to champion the cause of 
society at large. An admirer of Karl Marx, Faiz was awarded the 
prestigious Lenin Award for peace, and his poetry translated into 
Russian. 

His collection of poems were printed under the following names:
Naqsh-e-fariyadi (1943), Dast-e-Saba (1952), ZindaaN-Nama (1956) and 
Dast-e-Tah-e-Sang (1965). Dast-e-Saba and ZindaaN-Nama were written 
during his imprisonment.

kab tak dil kii Khair manaaye.n, kab tak raah dikhaaoge
kab tak chain kii mohalat doge, kab tak yaad na aaoge

biitaa diid ummiid kaa mausam, Khaak u.Datii hai aa.Nkho.n me.n
kab bhejoge dard kaa baadal, kab barkhaa barasaaoge

ahad-e-vafaa aur tark-e-muhabbat jo chaaho so aap karo
apane bas kii baat hii kyaa hai, hamase kyaa manavaaoge

kisane vasl kaa suuraj dekhaa, kis par hijr kii raat Dhalii
gesuo.n vaale kaun the, kyaa the, un ko kyaa jatalaaoge

'Faiz' dilo.n ke bhaag me.n hai ghar basanaa bhii luT jaanaa bhii
tum us husn ke lutf-o-karam par kitane din itaraaoge


One of Faiz's outstanding qualities as a poet is the use of simple words 
to convey this thoughts. Though he was fond of polished Persanized 
diction, he understood the importance of using easy-to-understand words 
to be able to reach the masses.