Faraz, Ahmad

Ahmad Faraz was born in Kohat, at that time part of the Northwest Frontier Province of British India . He was the son of Saeed Muhammad Shah Bark. The poet’s brother was a Pakistani politician Said Masoud Kausar . After the birth of Faraz, his family moved to Peshawar.

After completing his education at Evwards College, he defended his master's degree in literature in Urdu and Farsi at the University of Peshawar ^[6] . Later, an ethnic Pashtun, Faraz taught Urdu and Farsi in alma mater.

During his student years he met and made friends with progressive poets Faiz Ahmad Faiz and Ali Sardar Jafri, who influenced his poetic language. The verses of Faraz were compared with the poetry of older comrades. Despite some influence, his poetic language is unique. The poet's style is subtle and simple at the same time.

He wrote not only lyric poems. During the reign of Ziya-ul-Haq, Faraz was arrested for poems that criticized the military leaders of Pakistan. After this arrest, the poet went into exile. He lived in Britain and Canada for six years before being able to return to Pakistan. In exile, he wrote the best poems in the spirit of “poetry of resistance”, the most famous of which was the poem “Mahasar”.

Upon returning to his homeland, Faraz was appointed chairman of the Pakistan Academy of Writers, and then chairman of the National Book Fund in Islamabad. He has been awarded numerous national and international awards. In 2006, the poet returned the Hilal-i-Imtiaz Award, which he received in 2004 ^[6] , in protest.

Faraz died of kidney failure at a hospital in Islamabad on August 25, 2008. His funeral took place on the evening of August 26 at the H-8 cemetery in Islamabad . Numerous fans and government officials of Pakistan came to say goodbye to the poet ^{[7] [8]} .