ISLAMABAD, Feb 18: Faiz Ahmad Faiz was called a symbol of Pakistan’s cultural identity, as glowing tributes were paid to the great poet at a conference jointly organized by the National Institute of Pakistan Studies, Quaid-i-Azam University, Daira, and Majlis-i-Faiz Ahmad Faiz to celebrate his birth anniversary.

Faiznama, a biographical account of the great poet written by Dr Ayub Mirza, was the main focus on the occasion.

The function was held at the university campus, and despite the continuing downpour, a large number of admirers of the poet travelled to the outskirts of Islamabad to pay homage to what was described as “the greatest Urdu poet of the second half of the last century and one the greatest of the 20th century” by Dr Ejaz Hussain, Dean Faculty of Social Sciences. He congratulated Dr Ayub Mirza for his book on the great poet.

The function was presided over by the Chinese ambassador, Zhang Chunxiang, who also paid rich tributes to the poet in chaste Urdu. The ambassador said he had lived in Pakistan for a total of 20 years during his five stints here.

Dr Mohammad Mehdi Tavassoli, an Iranian Professor, serving as director of the Pakistan Iran Institute of Persian Studies in Pakistan, said Faiz’s poetry introduced the culture of Pakistan to the world, and Iranian scholars had greatly leant from him. “They have great respect for the poet,” he said.

Dr Haider Sindhi, the director of the NIPS, said it was a great honour for his institute to hold the first such literary conference on Faiz. He said Faiz occupied a very important place in the studies in the department because he represented Pakistan through his ideology, which awakened the people.

Jalil Aali called the poetry of Faiz a continuation of the diction of the great literary and social tradition of Urdu poetry that had not only made him immortal but also won over his critics, who would recite his couplets to emphasize their arguments on various subjects. He said people like Iqbal and Faiz were opposed by critics in the beginning (so much so that, according to Dr Mirza’s research, there was even talk of banning Iqbal in one of the sessions of the Anjuman-i-Tarraqi Pasand Mussanafin, from which Faiz walked out in protest). Faiz loved Iqbal, and paid homage to him in his poetry.

Dr Ghazanfar Mehdi recalled that the function that was organized by his association in the great poet’s honour at a local hotel in Islamabad at a time when it was considered, a “crime” to meet Faiz.

Begum Sarfaraz Iqbal, the chairperson of Majlis-i-Faiz Ahmad Faiz, said the love for Faiz was evident from the fact that so many people had come to hear about him despite such inclement whether.

Dr Rashid Nisar lauding the effort of Dr Mirza in writing the book on the great poet drew the attention to publication of two volumes by Dr Mirza on well-known personality of Potohar, Dada Amir Haider. He said in a situation when people write about the pedigree of dogs of their rulers, writing about the history of the poor was certainly a great achievement.

Prof Dr Saeed A. Durrani, the chairman of Iqbal Academy UK and the Unesco visiting professor at QAU recalled the function at Birmingham in honour of Faiz held in the city in 1976. Ehsan Kibria from AJK also spoke on the occasion, while Mohammad Hasan Tasbeehi, an Iranian scholar living in Pakistan, recited his poetic tribute.

Dr Ayub Mirza paid a friend’s tributes to the poet in his emotional speech, choked with tears. He drew upon the couplets of the poet. Dr Ayub Mirza’s Faiznama is a compendium on Faiz comprising 588 pages in Urdu, and 38 pages of annexure in English, which also includes an unpublished interview of the poet given to Prof Mohammad Hasan. Dr Ayub Mirza has written another book on the poet earlier, HHumkay tehray ajnabi(title taken from one of the lines from Faiz which he wrote after his visit to Bangladesh). — Mufti Jamiluddin Ahmad