Faiz Ahmad Faiz

Faiz Ahmad Faiz was a Pakistani poet and author of Punjabi and Urdu literature. He was one of the most celebrated, popular, and influential Urdu writers of his time and his works and ideas remain widely influential today in Pakistan and beyond. He was also a teacher, military officer, trade unionist, and broadcaster. He was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize in 1962 and the Nishan-e-Imtiaz in 1990. He was also nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature four times. He was involved in the Progressive Writers' Movement and the Rawalpindi Conspiracy Case, for which he was imprisoned for four years. He wrote several collections of poetry, such as Naqsh-e-Faryadi, Dast-e-Saba, Zindan-nama, and Nuskha-hai-Wafa. His poems expressed his love for humanity, his longing for freedom, his critique of oppression, and his hope for a better future. He also translated works of other poets, such as Mirza Ghalib, Pablo Neruda, and Bertolt Brecht. He died of a heart attack in Lahore in 1984.