Sahir's real name was Abdul Hayi. He  was the only son of a rich landlord. His mother separated with her husband and Sahir chose to stay with his mother leaving luxurious life under his father. 
His mother and his uncle ( mother's brother) cared for him. 

Education...

His early education was in Khalsa High School, Ludhiana. Then Government College Ludhiana. In the college also he was quite famous because of his revolutionary nazms. 

LIfe...

His life was full of tragedy; seeing his mother suffer while his father lived a comfortable life.  He failed in love many times. Since he did not had any one to share his sorrows , he shared that with all of us through his poetry

halaat se laRhna mushkil tha
halaat se rishta jorh liya
jis raat ki koi subah na thi
uss raat se rishta jorh liya

Poetry...

His style is simple and direct. He was one of the big names of the  Progressive Writers Movement. Even though he was never a member of the Communist Party, his poetry clearly suggests his socialist leaning. But in his poetry you don't find the propaganda of the revolution, but he presents in such a way that you had to agree with him. 
His takhallus sahir means magician, and he was a magician with words. 

He was the editor for Adab Lateef  and Savera published from Lahore. After that he came to Delhi and worked for the magazine Shahraah. After Partition he moved to Bombay and started writing songs for Movies. His style brought a revolution in song writing for movies and his style is still being copied by the younger generation of poets.

Books...

He was made famous by his collection of poems Talkhiaan  published in 1943. His long nazm parchhaiyaan was published as a booklet in  1955.  Another collection Tanhaiaan  was published. The collected work has been published as Aao koi khwaab bune, and movie songs as gaata jaaye banjara. 

Nazms...

parchhaiyaaN, taj-mahal, gurez, kabhi-kabhi, kisi ko udaas dekh kar, chakley are his most popular nazms. 

A few months before his death , he penned these lines for a song.

maiN pal do pal ka shayar hooN
pal do pal meri kahaani hai

kal aur aayenge nagHmoN ki khilti kaliyaaN chun ne waale
mujh se behtar kahne waale tum se behtar sun ne waale

Sahir @ net...

Ghalib continues to be the most popular poet of all times, but Sahir has made a mark for himself on the internet. Sahir FANatics had made him one of the most popular shayar on the internet. There were numerioous well written articles on Sahir and his poetry posted on differnet newsgroups (some of these articles are linked on the right side). 

The most insulting for Sahir FANatics is when someone compares him with Gulzar. 

Sahir vs. Gulzar War I

Sahir vs. Gulzar War II

and when Gulzar becomes Ludhianvi 

for more posts go to Abhay's web site 
 
 

[ photo stolen from Sami's web site]

Sahir : facts and fiction

best lines from Sahir's songs. 

songs written by Sahir

Sahir : by Nita

Sahir : by Tabassum

Sahir : by Saleem 

umeed : nazm 

ai shareef insaano : nazm