Shamsur Rahman Faruqi Born on 30 September 1935, Faruqi obtained an MA in English from the University of Allahabad in 1955. He entered the Indian Postal Service in 1958 and retired in 1994 after many senior positions in the Post Office and the Government of India. Faruqi is a critic, poet, fiction writer, and translator and is also known for his learned and impartial reviews. His novel Ka'i Chad They Sar-e-Asman has been acclaimed widely in India and Pakistan and has been described by Aslam Farrukhi as the 'greatest Urdu novel'. 

His stories, "Safar Aur Dusre Afsane" have also been praised everywhere. He is generally regarded as the leader of Urdu modernism (jadidiyat). He has also done much to reinterpret the classical poets, especially Mir Taqi Mir on whom his four-volume study has won universal praise and the prestigious Saraswati Samman. His English book "Early Urdu Literature and History", published by Oxford University Press is acknowledged as a path-breaking work in the field of literary history of Urdu. His study of the Dastan of Amir Hamza, of which three volumes have come out and the fourth is under preparation is regarded by all lovers of literature as a seminal work and has helped, with his efforts, to revive 'dastan-goi' in India. Faruqi has won many awards and honours for poetry and prose and has travelled to many countries for delivering lectures or teaching courses.