A shayar is a poet who composes sher in the Urdu language. They are not restricted to writing only in Urdu, but can write in Hindi, Urdu and Persian. Commonly, a shayar is someone who writes ghazals, nazms using the Urdu language. One does not need to know how to write in Urdu in order to write a ghazal.
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History
Amir Khusro (1253-1325) is considered to be one of the foremost shayars of the world; he wrote in Persian. Mirza Ghalib is considered the ultimate authority on Urdu poetry. He lived in Delhi and died in 1869.
Shayars create a form of poetry that is called shayari. It traditional that this form of poetry is often read to an audience in a special setting called mehfil. Although there are many professional shayars, who create shayari for their livelihood, it is an immensely popular form of poetry for amateurs. The inspiration for amateur shayari is still largely romance and beauty. However, professional shayars tend to write more on social issues that is more popular for a larger section of society.