Faiz’s mother was Sultan Fatima. Faiz’s father died in Sialkot in 1913. Faiz’s father was a learned man and enjoyed the company of well-known literary persons. Wrote the biography of Amir Abdur Rehman. Faiz was therefore, born in a respectable and literary environment and was a very promising student with a religious background. Started memorizing the Holy Quran at the age of four and in 1916 started his formal education in the famous school of Moulvi Ibrahim Sialkoti, and learnt Urdu, Persian and Arabic. Was admitted to the Scotch Mission High School in 1921 in Class IV. Passed his Matriculation Examination in the 1st Division from Murray College, Sialkot and during this period learnt Persian and Arabic from Allama Iqbal’s teacher, Shamsul Ullama Moulvi Syed Meer Hasan.
Faiz started a branch of Progressive Writers’ Movement in Punjab in 1936. Also he was a Member and Secretary of this branch. Faiz was also an Editor of Mahanama (Monthly) Adab-e-Lateef (1938-1942 AD). Faiz became a lecturer in English at M. A. O. College, Amritsar in 1935 and then at Hailey College of Commerce, Lahore. He briefly joined the British Indian Army and was promoted to the rank of Lieut. Colonel in 1944. He resigned from the Army in 1947 and returned to Lahore to become the first editor in chief of the Pakistan Times, a paper started by Mian Iftikharuddin. In 1959 he was appointed as Secretary, Pakistan Arts Council and worked in that capacity till 1962.
Returning from London in 1964 he settled down in Karachi and was appointed as Principal at Abdullah Haroon College. He was editor of the monthly magazine Adabe-Latif from 1947 to 1958. Faiz distinguished himself as a journalist and was editor of the Pakistan Times, the Urdu newspaper Imroze and the weekly Lail-o-Nihar. In the 1965 war between India & Pakistan he worked in an honorary capacity in the Department of Information. In exile he acted as Editor of the magazine Lotus in Moscow, London and Beirut. Faiz wrote poems that opposed the bloodshed occurring in what became Bangladesh during the conflict with Pakistan.
In a certain period of his life, Faiz was a communist and was associated with the Communist Party of Pakistan. Faiz spent much of the 1950s and 1960s promoting the cause of communism in Pakistan. During the time when Faiz was editor of The Pakistan Times, one of the leading newspapers of 50s, he lent editorial support to CP. He was also involved in the circle lending support to military personnel (e.g. Major General Akbar Khan. This involvement with CP and Major General Akbar Khan’s coup plan lead to his imprisonment later.
When Faiz was asked if he was a communist he replied in his usual nonchalant manner “No. I am not, a communist is a person who is a card carrying member of the Worst party ever made. The party is banned in our country. So how can I be a communist?”Faiz was an avowed supporter of Sufism. He has close relations with several Sufi saints of his time. He was all time favourite of Baba Malang Sahib, a Sufi of Lahore. Once when he was asked how can he compares Sufis with socialist comrades, he replied, “These Sufi men are the real comrades”.
He is also credited for coining the term Ana al-Haqq in political sense. Faiz was charged with complicity in a failed coup attempt known as the Rawalpindi Conspiracy Case and was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment in 1951. The jail term gave him a first-hand experience of the harsh realities of life, and provided him with the much-needed solitude to think and write poetry. Two of his greatest works Dast-e-Saba and Zindan-Nama were products of this period of imprisonment.
Lecturer in English at M. A. O. College, Amritsar in 1935 and then at Hailey College of Commerce, Lahore. Joined the Army as Captain in 1942 and worked in the department of Public Relations in Delhi. Was promoted to the rank of Major in 1943, and Lieut. Colonel in 1944. Resigned from The Army in 1947 and returned to Lahore, where, in 1959 appointed as Secretary, Pakistan Arts Council and worked in that capacity till 1962. Returning from London in 1964 he settled down in Karachi and was appointed as Principal, Abdullah Haroon College , Karachi.
Editorship of the monthly magazine Adabe-Latif from 1947 to 1958. Worked as Editor under the Progressive Papers Ltd, of the Pakistan Times, the Urdu newspaper Imroze and the weekly Lailo-Nihar. In the 1965 war between India & Pakistan he worked in an honorary capacity in the Department of Information. Acted as Editor of the magazine Lotus in Moscow, London and Beirut.In March 9th, arrested under Safety Act and charged in the Rawalpindi Conspiracy case, and having borne the hardships of imprisonment for four years and one month in the jails of Sargodha, Montgomery (now Sahiwal) Hyderabad and Karachi, was released on April 2nd, 1955.