ISLAMABAD, Feb 20: Those who love Urdu poetry continue to cherish the legacy of poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz (1911-1984). This sentiment echoed in a meeting organized by the Pakistan Academy of Letters here on Monday to celebrate the 95th birthday of the great poet.

Three companions of Faiz shared their memories of the poet at the meeting.

Veteran journalist and columnist Hameed Akhtar, 82, who had worked with him in the daily Imroze, said what distinguished Faiz from his contemporaries was “his enormous capacity to suffer hardships for the sake of others”.

In fact, he said he was one of the two persons inadvertently responsible for Faiz’s return to Lahore from London and into the jail during the difficult years of Ayub Khan’s rule.

Faiz, he said, had gone to live in London after receiving Lenin Peace Prize for which won him ire in the military-ruled Pakistan. The poet was pining to return to his native Lahore but Hameed Akhtar kept advising him against it for the fear that he would be arrested if he did.

But a history student’s article in a periodical that Faiz’s poetry was alien to the traditions of Pakistani poets altered the situation.

Hameed Akhtar had it copied and sent it to Faiz with the remarks that the bad news was that he had been assessed as a poet not belonging to the national stream and the good news that his poem Guloun main rang bhare bad-i-naubahar chaley was the rage in the famous bazaar next to the Badshahi mosque.

Faiz immediately rushed to Lahore where he was arrested the next day despite assurance from the then foreign minister Manzur Qadir.

Hameed Akhtar said he was responsible for Faiz’s arrest on this occasion although he had been arrested on many occasions for expressing unfashionable views.

Human rights activist and journalist I.A. Rehman described Faiz as a staunch trade unionist. He was the vice-president of the first trade union movement in Pakistan and also the author of the manifesto of two political parties — the Azad Pakistan Party which he founded and another one which never got off the ground.

Faiz, he said, believed in the spirit and freedom of the arts and his own poetry became beautiful because he transmuted these feelings in enchanting musical verses.

Mr Rehman suggested that instead of holding dilettante meetings Faiz’s admirers should implement his lofty ideals of lightening the burdens weighing down the poor class — “the wretched of the earth” as he preferred to call them.

Prof Khwaja Masud, also a chief guest at the literary gathering, said that so great was the poet that “we must only celebrate his birthdays, because the poet continued to inspire the coming generation to go in quest for the quintessential beauty”.

Iftikhar Arif, the PAL chairman, said in his address of welcome that the personality of Faiz was the greatest poet in the Progressive Movement who profoundly influenced the contemporary Urdu literature.

Faiz has inspired a large body of introspective literature, which has been surpassed only by writings done on the national poet Iqbal, he said.

Poet Jalil Aali said that every word that Faiz used “advanced with its volition, and was full of expression of love for humankind”.