ISLAMABAD: A book titled entitled “Faiz Saddi: Muntakhib Mazameen” (Selected essays on Faiz), was launched at National Language Authority (NLA) on Thursday marking the 100th birth anniversary of Faiz Ahmed Faiz.As 2011 has officially been declared the Faiz Centenary Year, renowned poets and scholars Professor Yousaf Hasan and Dr Rawish Nadeem compiled the book and NLA published it. The book launching ceremony was organized by Progressive Writer’s Association, Islamabad-Rawalpindi branch, and attended by a large number of scholarly figures of the country who, paid tribute to the renowned Pakistani poet, Faiz Ahmed Faiz.International Islamic University (IIU) Rector Professor Fateh Mohammad Malik chaired the ceremony while Prof Yousaf Hasan and Dr Rawish Nadeem were chief guests at the occasion. Renowned writers and scholars Iftikhar Arif, NLA Chairman Agha Nasir, Kishwar Naheed, Ashfaq Saleem Mirza and Dr Salahuddin Derwaish spoke on the occasion discussing the contents of the book on Faiz, his poetry and personality. Reciting one of the poems of Fiaz “Siyaasi Leader Ke Naam”, Professor Malik, a literary critic said that in order to comprehend the real message of Faiz.
“we should not only read Faiz’s poems in literary context but also in the socio-political context by discovering the background of the poem.”NLA Chairman Iftikhar Arif said that the book was an extraordinary work on the literary figure in Urdu, who ignited the movement for the rights of the marginalized people in the country. He said Faiz was on the leading front of the progressive writers’ movement with all his scorching poetry, as well as dialogues from different platforms.“It is the first ever book on Faiz in relation to his centenary celebrations that contains even those articles in which he had been criticized by his contemporary writers and critics”, claimed Arif.Prof Yousaf Hasan, a literary critic and compiler of the book, narrated the evolution of Progressive Writer’s Association as Faiz started a branch of Progressive Writers’ Movement in Punjab in 1936. Yousaf speculated that the centenary celebrations of Faiz would only remain confined to the personality of Faiz or would extend to expand the message of progressive writers in the society.Dr Rawish Nadeem said the compilation of book provided him a wonderful opportunity to reread Faiz’s poetry and comprehend it in a better manner. Ashfaq Saleem Mirza recited “Meray Dil, Meray Musafir” by Faiz and discussed few passages from the book.Agha Nasir, one of the companions of Faiz, congratulated Iftikhar Arif on publishing the book and he also recited few passages from it. Kishwar Naheed believed that it was a useful reference book for literati as it “compiles diverse aspects of Faiz,” which were never compiled before. The ‘Faiz Sadd:i Muntakhib Mazameen’ explores various aspects of the life and work of Faiz Ahmad Faiz in different periods of time – Dailymailnews
