Two Loves: Faiz’s Letters From Jail

“Two Loves” – The title of the book comes from Faiz’s famous poem “2 Ishq” which is my personal favourite. When Faiz’s centennial took place and publish the letters which were in English, written in the original English, to his wife. In 2011, the family decided that they should try from prison. The actual letters had actually been eaten by termite when he was, when they were, both living in Beirut in exile in the 70s and early 80s. They were found after Alys passed away in a very very decrepit sort of state. They were restored and we decided to publish them as they were in Faiz’s own handwriting as facsimiles and then the text next to it. We also decided to pay a visit to the cells where he was incarcerated from 1951 to 1955. And this wonderful volume is a record of his letters. It’s also filled with photographs of the spaces in which he paced during those years when he was in prison and also the garden which he laid out in what is now Sahiwal jail and which carries a tablet outside which says “Ahata e Faiz Ahmad Faiz”. So it’s a documentation of very difficult years. It has photographs that were with him, of his children, the drawings sent by his children to him, the letters, the telegrams, some of the record of the Rawalpindi conspiracy case, which is what kept him in prison. It is a very rare volume put together with great love and great care.