Poet, journalist, translator, film-maker, broadcaster, Marxist activist and recipient of the Lenin Peace Prize, Faiz Ahmed Faiz grew into a legend in his lifetime. With his death in 1984, his admirers all over the world felt as if a literary era had come to an end. According to Edward Said, a celebrated orientalist, Faiz is ‘the greatest of contemporary Urdu poets’. Being a liberal humanist, Faiz’s poetic vision recognized no national barriers. His poetry, musical and multiversant, has lent itself readily to such renowned ghazal singers as Begum Akhtar, Mehdi Hasan, Iqbal Bano and Noor Jehan. In The Best of Faiz, Kumar has presented an English translation of the best of his poems, with parallel Roman script, to enable even non-Urdu readers to enjoy poetry that articulates the entire range of human emotions. Here is a book for all lovers of poetry to read and preserve.