Sahir Hoshiarpuri (1913–1994),[1][2] (urdu:ساحر ہوشیارپوری )( hindi: साहिर होशियारपुर ) born Ram Parkash (urdu: رام پرکاش )( hindi: राम प्रकाश ), was a renowned Urdu poet who mainly wrote ghazals that have been sung by many leading singers including Jagjit Singh. He was a disciple of Josh Malsiani who belonged to the Daagh School of Urdu Poetry.
Sahir Hoshiarpuri was born and brought up in Hoshiarpur, Punjab where he studied in Govt. College [3] and earned his M.A.Degree in Persian in the year 1935. It was during his college days that he came into contact with Mehr Lal Soni Zia Fatehabadi (1913–1986) who was then studying in Forman Christian College in nearby Lahore; their friendship lasted a life time. They were both residing in Kanpur when Sahir Hoshiarpuri along with Naresh Kumar Shad (1927–1969)[1] edited and published the Urdu Journal Chandan.[4] The qataa e tareekh, a difficult format to master, composed by Sahir Hoshiarpuri [5] in August, 1986 to commemorate the demise of his friend, Mehr Lal Soni Zia Fatehabadi, was published in the October 1986 issue of the Monthly Biswin Sadi, New Delhi (whose publication was started by Khushtar Girami (1902–1988) in 1937 from Lahore).[6]
There now exist three published collections of Sahir’s poems – Jal Tarang, Sehr e nagma and Sehr e ghazal besides his other work Nuqoosh e Dagh.[7] In 1989 he was given the Ghalib Award by the Ghalib Institute in recognition of his literary services.[8] His is the lyrical Romantic Poetry couched in simple words that has made his writings popular.