A shayar is a poet who composes sher or couplet in Urdu poetry (Urdu shayari). A shayar is someone who writes ghazals, nazms using the Urdu, Hindi & Bangla language.^[1]

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Amir Khusro (1253–1325) composed the first ghazal in Urdu, titled ze-hāl-e-miskīñ.^[2] He wrote in Persian and Rekhta (initial form of Urdu). Mirza Ghalib is considered one of the leading literary authority on Urdu poetry.^[3] He lived in Delhi^[4] and died in 1869.

The literal meaning of shayar (shaa'ir) is poet.^[5] There are more than 30 types of Urdu poetry, also known as shayari. Examples of shayari are ghazal, sher, nazm, marsiya, qita and many more.^[6] Traditionally, that this form of poetry is often read to an audience in a special setting called mehfil. Although there are many professional shayars, who write shayari^[7] for their livelihood, it is an immensely popular form of poetry for younger generation. The inspiration for them to write shayari is largely romance and beauty. ^[8] However, professional shayars tend to write more on social issues that is more popular for a larger section of society.