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    My favorite artworks from European Museums

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    Gandhara Art in Humboldt Forum: Life of Lord Buddha

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    Jewish Heroes Square in Krakow, Poland

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    Block no. 4 in Auschwitz concentration camp

    Ottoman tent in Princess Czartoryski Museum in Krakow, Poland

    Ottoman tent in Princess Czartoryski Museum in Krakow, Poland

    The Steam Engine Building, Potsdam, Germany

    The Steam Engine Building, Potsdam, Germany

    Assyrian human-headed winged bull from Nimrud; 9th cent. BCE; Pergamon Museum, Berlin

    Assyrian human-headed winged bull from Nimrud; 9th cent. BCE; Pergamon Museum, Berlin

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    Catacombs in St Peter’s Abbey Salzburg, Austria

    St Nicholas Church in #Leipzeg, #Germany

    St Nicholas Church in #Leipzeg, #Germany

    Gloriette, Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna,Austria

    Gloriette, Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna,Austria

    Matthias Church on Buda Castle Hill, Budapest

    Matthias Church on Buda Castle Hill, Budapest

    The Neptune fountain in Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna, Austria

    The Neptune fountain in Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna, Austria

    The Dohany Street synagogue in Budapest

    St Peter’s Abbey Church in Salzburg, Austria

    St Peter’s Abbey Church in Salzburg, Austria

    The Residence Fountain in Salzburg: Oundof Music

    The Residence Fountain in Salzburg: Oundof Music

    Sultana Daku and Raj Bhawan of Nainital

    Sultana Daku and Raj Bhawan of Nainital

    Sultana Daku and Raj Bhawan of Nainital

    Sultana Daku and Raj Bhawan of Nainital

    Jahan koshan cannon, Murshidabad

    Jahan koshan cannon, Murshidabad

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    Takht-e Marar, Golestan Palance, Teheran, Iran

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      My favorite artworks from European Museums

      My favorite artworks from European Museums

      Gandhara Art in Humboldt Forum: Life of Lord Buddha

      Gandhara Art in Humboldt Forum: Life of Lord Buddha

      Jewish Heroes Square in Krakow, Poland

      Jewish Heroes Square in Krakow, Poland

      Block no. 4 in Auschwitz concentration camp

      Block no. 4 in Auschwitz concentration camp

      Ottoman tent in Princess Czartoryski Museum in Krakow, Poland

      Ottoman tent in Princess Czartoryski Museum in Krakow, Poland

      The Steam Engine Building, Potsdam, Germany

      The Steam Engine Building, Potsdam, Germany

      Assyrian human-headed winged bull from Nimrud; 9th cent. BCE; Pergamon Museum, Berlin

      Assyrian human-headed winged bull from Nimrud; 9th cent. BCE; Pergamon Museum, Berlin

      Catacombs in St Peter’s Abbey Salzburg, Austria

      Catacombs in St Peter’s Abbey Salzburg, Austria

      St Nicholas Church in #Leipzeg, #Germany

      St Nicholas Church in #Leipzeg, #Germany

      Gloriette, Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna,Austria

      Gloriette, Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna,Austria

      Matthias Church on Buda Castle Hill, Budapest

      Matthias Church on Buda Castle Hill, Budapest

      The Neptune fountain in Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna, Austria

      The Neptune fountain in Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna, Austria

      The Dohany Street synagogue in Budapest

      St Peter’s Abbey Church in Salzburg, Austria

      St Peter’s Abbey Church in Salzburg, Austria

      The Residence Fountain in Salzburg: Oundof Music

      The Residence Fountain in Salzburg: Oundof Music

      Sultana Daku and Raj Bhawan of Nainital

      Sultana Daku and Raj Bhawan of Nainital

      Sultana Daku and Raj Bhawan of Nainital

      Sultana Daku and Raj Bhawan of Nainital

      Jahan koshan cannon, Murshidabad

      Jahan koshan cannon, Murshidabad

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      Takht-e Marar, Golestan Palance, Teheran, Iran

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      The Relevance Of Faiz’s Poetry In Today’s World

      Faiz's poetry depicted revolution, resistance, and change.

      inBook and Publication
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      Faiz Ahmed Faiz, one of the most celebrated Urdu poets, was born in 1911 in Sialkot in undivided India. As his grandson, Ali Madeeh Hashmi (son of Muneeza Hashmi) says, “Faiz is gone but his voice is still with us in his poetry, and so are those things in the world that so rankled and infuriated him: exploitation, injustice, tyranny, oppression.”

      He was a part of the Progressive Writer’s Movement (PWA) and a member of the Communist Party. His poetry depicted revolution, resistance, and change, which is known in Urdu asgham e daura’n(sorrows of the material world) and notgham e jaana’n(sorrows of the beloved). Like other progressive poets — Sahir Ludhianvi, Ali Sardar Jafri, Josh Malihabadi, Majaz and Kaifi Azmi — Faiz’s verses were meant to invoke passion for social justice, change and revolutionary spirit. That is why this period saw the blossoming of thenazm(rhymed or free verse) rather than theghazalthat was more suitable for the poetry of love because of its restrictions of composition.

      1. It was no surprise that in the wake of the bloody riots that accompanied the partition of India and independence of India and Pakistan, instead of rejoicing he wrote thenazm, Subah e Azaadi on 14th August 1947:

      Ye dagh dagh ujala ye shab-gazida sahar

      Wo intizar tha jis ka ye wo sahar to nahin

      Ye wo sahar to nahin jis ki aarzu le kar

      Chale the yaar ki mil jayegi kahin na kahin

      These scarred rays of light, this wounded dawn

      This is not the dawn for which we yearned

      This is not the dawn, longing for which

      We set out in hope of surely finding it out there

      2. In 1951, Faiz, Sajjad Zaheer, along with some army officers was arrested in the Rawalpindi Conspiracy case which was an alleged attempted coup d’etat against the government of Liaqat Ali Khan. Faiz was in jail till 1955 and this was the period that saw his best writing. He was denied a pen and paper during his solitary confinement in Sargodha and Lyallpur. He smuggled his poems out through the kind offices of the jailors and jail personnel. It was here he wrote:

      Mataa-e lauh-o qalam chhin gayi to kya gham hai

      Ke khoon-e dil mein dubo li hain ungliya’n main ne

      Zabaan pe mohr lagi hai to kya, ke rakh di hai

      Har ek halqa-e zanjeer mein zabaan main ne

      So what slate and pen have been snatched away from me?

      For I have dipped my fingers in my heart’s blood

      So what if seals have been put on my tongue?

      For I have turned every link of my chain into a tongue!

      3. In jail, he wrote Zindan ki ek sham (An evening in Prison)

      Dil se paiham khayal kahta hai

      Itni shirin hai zindagi is pal

      Zulm ka zahr gholne wale

      Kaamran ho sakenge aaj na kal

      Jalwa-gah-e-visal ki shaame’n

      Wo bujha bhi chuke agar to kya

      Chand ko gul kare’n to hum jaane’n

      The heart keeps thinking

      So sweet is life at this moment

      Those who prepare the poison of oppression

      Will succeed neither today nor tomorrow

      They may snuff out the light

      In the lovers room

      I dare them to snuff out the moon!

      4. In 1959, he was jailed again under Ayub Khan’s martial law. Once he was taken to a dentist from Lahore jail in a horse cart (tonga). He was in his shackles. The streets of Lahore were familiar to him and people recognised him and started following his tonga. It was then that he wrote:

      Chashm-nam jaan-e-shorida kafi nahin

      Tohmat-e-ishq-e-poshida kafi nahin

      Aaj bazar mein pa-ba-jaulan chalo

      Dast-afshan chalo mast o raqsan chalo

      Khak-bar-sar chalo Khoon-ba-daman chalo

      Raah takta hai sab shahr-e-jaanan chalo

      Damp eyes, frenzied soul is not enough

      The accusation of hidden love isn’t enough

      Walk in the bazar in shackles today

      Walk with stars in your hands, a dance in your step

      Walk with dust in your head and blood on your clothes

      The people of your beloved city await you, walk

      5. Despite his stints in jail, exile, and the restrictions on personal freedoms he never gave up hope.

      Maana ke yeh sunsaan ghadi, sakht badi hai,

      Lekin mere dil, yeh toh faqatek ghadi hai,

      Himmat karo, jeene ko abhi umr padi hai.

      I agree that this lonely moment is very tough

      But my heart, stay calm, it is just one moment

      Stay strong, there is a life ahead of you

      6. In 1979, under the dictatorship of Zia-ul Haq, Faiz wrote the iconic“Hum Dekhenge”(We shall see).

      At a time when religion was being enforced on the people of Pakistan, Faiz wrote anazm, which was laden with Islamic imagery and symbols as a critical commentary on Zia’s forced Islamisation of Pakistan. On the first death anniversary of Faiz in 1985, at a time when wearing sarees was banned for ladies, Iqbal Bano, the famous Pakistani singer, came dressed in a black saree and sangHum Dekhengeto a packed Lahore stadium.

      Hum dekhenge,

      Laazim hai ke hum bhii dekhe’nge

      Hum dekhenge

      Wo din ke jis kaa waada hai

      Jo lauh-e-azal pe likhaa hai

      Hum dekhenge

      Jab zulm-o-sitam ke koh-e-giraan

      Rooii kii tarah ud jaayenge

      Hum mahkoomo’n ke paao’n tale

      Jab dhartii dhaR dhaR dhaRkegii

      Aur ahl-e-hakam ke sar oopar

      Jab bijlii kaR kaR karkegii

      Hum dekhenge

      We shall see

      Definitely, we shall also see

      We shall see

      That day, which was promised

      Which was written on the slate of eternity

      We shall see

      When the huge mountains of tyranny

      Will blow in the wind, like wool

      The ground will tremble with a deafening sound

      Under the feet of the oppressed

      And lightening will strike

      Over the heads of the oppressors

      We shall see

      7. The iconicBol(Speak) that is an anthem for everyone challengingdictatorship

      Bol ki lab aazad hain tere

      Bol zaban ab tak teri hai

      Tera sutwan jism hai tera

      Bol ki jaan ab tak teri hai

      Speak for your lips are free

      Speak for your tongue is still yours

      Your body is frail but it is still yours

      Speak for you still have life in you

      8. This famous, challenging injustice and ruler’s apathy to problems of the people, is from aghazalwritten in Lahore Jail,December 31, 1958

      Mit jayegi makhluq to insaaf karoge?

      Munsif ho to ab hashr uTha kyun nahin dete

      Will you dispense justice when your creation has been annihilated?

      If you are a judge why don’t you raise a tumult, now

      9. Some verses from anotherghazal,asking people to get together:

      Jis noor se hai shahr ki deewar darakhshan

      Ye Khoon-e-shahida’n hai ki zar-Khana-e-Jam hai

      Halqa kiye baithe raho ek shamma ko yaaro

      Kuchh raushni baqi to hai har-chand ki kam hai

      The light whose reflection has made the city walls replescendent

      Is it the blood of martyrs or the treasury of Jamshed?

      Make a circle around a candle, friends

      Some light still remains, even though it is less

      10. And finally some lines from my favourite nazm, which epitomises poetry with a social conscience. It was written in 1936-37 and was a part of Naqsh e Fariyadi published in 1941.

      Faizstartedthis poem with a line from the famous Persian poet, Nizami:“Dil-e-bufro-khatm, jaan-e-khareedun”( “I have sold my heart and bought a soul”)

      Aur bhi dukh hain zamaane mein mohabbat ke siwa

      Rahatein aur bhi hain wasl ki raahat ke siwa

      Mujhse pehli si mohabbat mere mehboob na maang

      More suffering in the world than love, exists

      More joy than the joy of union, exist

      My love, don’t ask me for that love we shared once

       

      Like Faiz, we all need to buy a soul and develop a social conscience.

      Published on NewsCentral24x7

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      Come, explore and fall in love the Beauties of Delhi (Dilli ki Ranaiya’n) and the World with me, Rana Safvi

      I have a masters in medieval history from the prestigious Centre for Advanced Studies, Dept. of History, AMU. A firm believer in our Ganga Jamuni Tehzeeb, I am passionate about gaining and sharing knowledge and these days I am doing it via the social media platform.

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