Akbar Allahabadi: A famous Urdu Poet and Writer

Akbar Allahabadi (November 16, 1846–1921) was an Indian Urdu poet. He was born as Syed Akbar Hussain Rizvi at Allahabad , India. Though initially educated only in madrasas (religious school), he later studied law and finally retired as a session judge in Allahabad High Court. He belonged to a Sunni muslim family.He lived through tumultuous times, which is evident in his poetry, witnessing the first war of independence in 1857, first world war and even the initial part of Gandhi's peaceful movement. He died in 1921 in Allahabad, the city of his birth.

Akbar's ustad was Waheed, who was the shagird of Aatish. Akbar is the pioneer in the field of humour and sarcasm; before him there were only serious poets who occasionally had one or two ash'ar of that kind in their ghazals. For Akbar humour was not only a style but an instrument to clearly understand the social change. He conveys his message in his own original style without losing the humorous feel. Like Iqbal he was also a poet of the mind, they both used their poetry to awaken the sleeping masses, but there is a sharp contrast in their styles. Underneath the wave of humour, we find the poet's pain - pain that this society is changing for the worst, pain that Muslims are forgetting their true values. Whereas Iqbal went on the define the causes and the solutions to those problems, Akbar style went more on defining the causes.

More at :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akbar_Allahabadi