Noted poet Bashir Badr passes away

Lucknow ( Raghwendra Pratap Singh) : Legendary poet Bashir Badr, a Padma Shri awardee who wrote famous couplets like "Ujale apni yaadon ke hamare saath rehne do", passed away in Bhopal on Thursday (May 28, 2026), at the age of 91, after a prolonged illness, family sources said. The veteran poet breathed his last at his home in Bhopal, a family member said.

Born in Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh) on February 15, 1935, poet Bashir Badr was renowned for his mastery of the Urdu language, especially in ghazals, and was also well versed in Persian, Hindi and English.

During the Shimla Agreement between India and Pakistan in 1972, Badr wrote the famous couplet "Dushmani jam kar karo lekin ye gunjaish rahe, jab kabhi hum dost ho jayein to sharminda na hon".

His other famous couplets are "Kuch to majbooriyaan rahi hongi, yun hi koi bewafa nahi hota", "Ujale apni yaadon ke hamare saath rehne do, na jaane kis gali me zindagi ki shaam ho jaye", and "Log toot jaate hain ek ghar banane mein, tum taras nahi khate bastiyan jalane mein".

Noted lyricist Javed Akhtar expressed grief over Badr's demise. “Today, our language Urdu has become a little poorer. Bashir Badr, an extremely melodious poet, has departed from our gathering forever. This poet and his poetry will live on in our memories forever,” he posted on X.

Believed to have started writing poetry at an early age of 7, he was a pioneer in melting the soft tenderness of Urdu communication into the English diction in many of his lyrics, as per a website dedicated to Badr. He brought out more than seven collections of poems in Urdu and one in Hindi. He has to his credit several ghazal collections - 'Ikai', 'Image', 'Aamad', 'Aahat', 'Kulliyate Bashir Badr'. He also penned two books of literary criticism: 'Azadi Ke Bad Urdu Ghazals Ka Tanqidi Mutala' and 'Biswin Sadi Mein Ghazal'. He also brought out a collection of Urdu ghazals in the Devnagari script, titled 'Ujjale Apni Yadon ke'. His works have also been published in Gujarati and translated into English and French.