Evergreen Urdu Poets You Must Read

Urdu is one of the most sophisticated, royal and beautiful languages in the world. The language was developed in the Indian subcontinent during the rule of the Delhi Sultanate. Urdu is also known as “Kohinoor”. This “Kohinoor” is the 20th most populous spoken language in the world. The words of Urdu are weaved into beautiful poetry. Listening to this makes us swing and fall in love. Urdu has given us many fascinating poems and legendary poets. Through these, language has entered our lives. Whether it’s a love quote for our beloved or a revolutionary poem or lines to quotes on life Urdu is our favourite. Many poets have won our hearts several times and there will be many who will continue to do so. Here are some of the poets whose work will always touch hearts and keep on inspiring people.

Mirza Ghalib

Born in Agra, Uttar Pradesh the man was known as the most influential poet of the Mughal Era. He wrote in Urdu and Persian and today he is well known to Urdu admirers all over the world. He was bestowed with numerous titles by the Sultans. Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib wrote under his pen names Ghalib and Asad and started writing at the age of 11. Diwan-e- Ghalib is one of the famous books of the evergreen Urdu poet. 

Faiz Ahmed Faiz

Do you remember the song “Hum Dekhenge” in the news a few years back? The poem was written down by the beloved and evergreen Urdu poet Faiz. Faiz is a Pakistani poet who wrote in Urdu and Punjabi. He was not only a poet but was also a teacher, a soldier, a journalist and what not. His writings surpassed religious differences and were quite revolutionary. His progressive writings were quite popular during the partition and his works have been inspirations of the struggling class.

Jaun Elia

Syed Hussain Jaun Ashgar Naqvi or popularly known as Jaun Eliya was a child prodigy. His poetry has touched the very untouched topics and new subjects. His poems were full of sadness and suffering. Sadly all his masterpieces became popular after his death. While he started writing at the age of 9 but published his work at 60.

Parveen Shakir

A Pakistani civil servant, a teacher and an evergreen Urdu poet wrote about women and their experience. She was a feminist and wrote extensively on sexuality, love, pregnancy, struggles, and issues that women faced. She published her first book “Khusboo” at the age of 24. Unfortunately Urdu lost a beautiful poet only at the age of 42 by an accident. 

Kaifi Azmi

The 20th-century poet was part of India’s freedom struggle. He was an activist and worked on various developmental activities of society. He was also a part of newspapers and wrote lyrics and films for Bollywood. He is also the recipient of the Padma Shri award and various other awards.”

Shahir Ludhianvi

Abdul Hayee writes under the pen name Shahir Ludhianvi. He is quite popular because of his mysterious love story with the Punjabi poet Amrita. He was a secularist and wrote inclusive bhajans. He was quite a well-known lyricist of Bollywood. His first publication was Talkhiyan. We can hear his poetry often from the voice of Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeskar.

There were many other Urdu Poets whose poetry have won hearts and left impressions on various lives. Amir Khusro, Firaq Gorakhpuri, Gulzar, Mir Taqi Mir, Ameer Minai and Ahmad Allahbadi, Javed Akhtar and lots more.

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