Abdur Rehman Rahi (6 May 1925, Srinagar – 9 January 2023) was a Kashmiri poet, translator and critic.
.png)
He was awarded the Indian Sahitya Akademi Award in 1961 for his poetry collection Nawroz-i-Saba, the Padma Shri in 2000,
He is the first Kashmiri writerto be awarded the Jnanpith, India's highest literary award for his poetic collection Siyah Rood Jaeren Manz (In Black Drizzle ).
Rahi's major works include:
- Sana-Wani Saaz (poems) (1952)
- Sukhok Soda (poems)
- Kalam-e-Rahi (poems)
- Nawroz-i-Saba (poems) (1958)
- Kahwat (literary criticism)
- Kashir Shara Sombran
- Azich Kashir Shayiri
- Kashir Naghmati Shayiri
- Baba Fareed (translation)
- Saba Moallaqat
- Farmove Zartushtadia
Rehman Rahi (1925-) began his career as a clerk in the Public Works Department of the Government for few months in 1948 and was associated with the Progressive Writers' Association, of which he became the General Secretary.
He also edited a few issues of Kwang Posh, the literary journal of the Progressive Writer's Association. He was later a sub-editor in the Urdu daily Khidmat. He did an M.A. in Persian (1952) and in English (1962) from Jammu and Kashmir University where he taught Persian. He was on the editorial board of the Urdu daily Aajkal in Delhi from 1953 to 1955
He was also associated with the Cultural wing of communist Party of Kashmir during his student days. As translator he did excellent translation of Baba Farid's Sufi poetry to Kashmiri from Original Punjabi. Camus and Sartre are some visible effects on his poems while Dina nath Naadim's influence on his poetry is also visible especially in earlier works.