A poet who started to express himself through the conventional themes of love and beauty, but soon saw his work submerged into larger social and political issues of the day, with sheer brilliance. I am referring to the one of the best modern post-independence poet that Pakistan had, Faiz Ahmed Faiz.
I was pondering over the thought whether the works of Faiz were inspired by Ghalib or not. Could Faiz be called an inheritor of Ghalib? The title of his first major work ‘Naqsh-e-Faryadi’ also comes out of Deewan-e-Ghalib. Its not very clear if it was really a tribute to the legend or not.
I was interested in knowing what some of you Urdu poetry students and readers thought about this comparison?
I am not very knowledgeable here but ghalib would be one of the inspirations to all budding poets, at one time or another. I gues sin Faiz's case his poetry tooka different route later in life and became much more of a social commentary.
Inheritor could be used had he stayed in the same realm, but i think from a pure poetic impact sense, defintely yes, but from a subject matter and style purpose probably not.
I think Faiz was inspired by his times.. don't we take away from Faiz's originality if we try to find Ghalib' style or impression in Faiz's own writing?
All poets are mainly poets of their own age & their poetry is expression of their time in one way or another.
Ghalib didn't quiet went into politics though you can certainly find traces of it in his poetry. Mainly dominated by human feelings & paradoxes, his poetry touches people on a more personal level.
I think Faiz got his inspiration from Allama Iqbal…
Although Allama’s poetry was geared towards the Ummah and especially the youth of the sub-cubcontinent, Faiz sahib’s poetry was geared towards the youth of Pakistan and not religiously inclined at all although we see traces and mention of divinity but all very discreet…
Being a self confessed Communist, he took children and their plight the foremost in his poetry and specially political revival…
His extreme love for the future of children and his desire to nurture their minds and spirits is evident in the poem ‘Gar Mujhe Iska Yaqeen Ho’…
He remains my favorite poet after Iqbal…But even Iqbal and Ghalib could not portray sadness and melancholy as beautifully as Faiz sahib…
I believe he is extremely underrated by those that don’t understand his background…
Few poets even come close to expression as Faiz sahib…:k: