Qateel Shifai's Ghazal Collection."Qateel Shifai's first ghazal was printed in the Lahore weekly 'Star', whose editor was Qamar Jalalabadi. In January 1947, a Lahore based film producer asked Qateel to pen the songs for his forthcoming film. His first film as a lyricist was "Teri Yaad". Since then he has won numerous awards as a lyricist. He has had quite a few of his poem collections published, one of which being "Mutriba" which was awarded the highest literary award in Pakistan.Qateel's primary contribution to Urdu poetry has been to raise the standards of ghazals in films. Though this work was started by Tanvir Alvi and Sahir Ludhianvi, it has been brought to its natural conclusion by Qateel Shifai. His work brought a certain standard to ghazals in films and gave them a certain respectability.

"As a poet, Faiz began writing on the conventional themes of love and beauty, but soon these conventional themes get submerged in the larger social and political issues of the day. The traditional griefs of love get fused with the travails of the afflicted humanity, and Faiz uses his poetry to champion the cause of socialistic humanism. Consequently, the familiar imagery of a love-poet acquires new meanings in the hands of Faiz...This turning away from romance to realism is beautifully suggested in his poem (a nazm), "mujh se pehli si mohabbat meri mahboob na maang."In the matter of diction and style, Faiz may be called the inheritor of the tradition of Ghalib. His admiration for Ghalib is also reflected in the title of his first published work, 'Naqsh-e-Faryadi', which comes straight from the opening line of the first ghazal of Diwan-e-Ghalib.Although he has written poems in a simple, conversational style, he has a marked preference for polished, Persianised diction, the diction of the elite rather than of the commoners. But because of the universality of his thought and sympathetic vision, and because of his perfect handling of the ghazal, his poetry is read and admired in both parts of the Indian sub-continent.Faiz is a "committed" poet who regards poetry as a vehicle of serious thought, and not a mere pleasurable pastime. He does not accept the maxim of "art for art's sake". An admirer of Karl Marx and a poet of the people, Faiz was honoured by Soviet Russia with the prestigious Lenin Award for Peace and his poems have been translated into the Russian language. His poetical collections include Naqsh-e-Faryadi (1943), Dast-e-Saba (1952), Zindan-Nama (1956) and Dast-e-Tah-e-Sang (1965)." - www.msci.memphis.eduThe above mentioned works of Faiz, namely; Naqsh-e-Faryadi (1943), Dast-e-Saba (1952), Zindan-Nama (1956) and Dast-e-Tah-e-Sang (1965) and others are part of this collection.

Selected Urdu poetry from the Diwan of Ghalib.