Mumbai, May 28: Celebrated Urdu poet and Padma Shri awardee Bashir Badr died Thursday at the age of 91 after a prolonged illness.

Veteran lyricist and screenwriter Javed Akhtar used social media to pay a heartfelt tribute and express his grief over the passing of the renowned poet.

He took to his official X (Formerly known as Twitter) handle and wrote in Urdu, "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 (sic)."

Talking about this work, Bashir Badr penned the famous couplet "Dushmani jam kar karo lekin ye gunjaish rahe, jab kabhi hum dost ho jayein to sharminda na hon", during the 1972 Shimla Agreement between India and Pakistan.

In addition to this, he is also remembered for his other work that includes "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,", naming only a few.

Bashir Badr was born on February 15, 1935, in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. He received his higher education at Aligarh Muslim University, where he also got his PhD.

The acclaimed writer even served as a professor of Urdu at the prestigious Aligarh Muslim University, contributing towards shaping the young literary minds of the time.

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He also became the Head of the Urdu Department at Meerut College, where he taught for almost 17 years.

Bashir Badr, known for writing about love and human relationships, faced a major tragedy during the 1987 communal riots. His house was set on fire, destroying many of his priceless unpublished manuscripts and writings.

Devastated by the incident, he went on to live in Bhopal, where he ended up spending the rest of his days.

(IANS)