Born in the Rangar village of Chadoora in Budgam district, Azad is considered to be the first revolutionary poet and is credited with laying the foundations of literary criticism in Kashmiri literature.
Azad passed Munshi Alim exam from University of the Punjab and was appointed by Dogra government as a primary school teacher in Zowhama, where he taught Arabic; he was later transferred to Tral.
[3] The three volume book, Kashmiri Zaban aur Sayiri, was edited by Mohammad Yusuf Teng and was posthumously published by Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages in Urdu, in 1959, 1962 and 1963, respectively.
[11][6] Azad initially wrote prose in Urdu but was later inspired to write in Kashmiri after Mahjoor founded the journal, Kong Pos.
Prem Nath Bazaz argues that shift happened because Azad drew inspiration from Mahjoor's poetry on nature.
This, according to Prem Nath Bazaz, led to the "unfolding of all his latent capacities" and "raising of banner of revolt against the extant social order.
"[10] Together with Mahjoor and Zinda Kaul, Azad is considered one of the key figures in the modernist movement in Kashmiri literature.
[3] His poetry, influenced by Marxist worldview, expresses a desire for social emancipation by giving voice to the voiceless elements of society.
His poetry reveals a devotion to the birth of a new, progressive society in which the structures of exploitation and inequality collapse, as Marx predicted in his philosophy.
[4] Azad was the first Kashmiri poet to include new themes like war and religious fanaticism and champion the cause of peace and universal brotherhood.
As a result, he made a name for himself as the first Kashmiri poet, prominently expressing three different and unifying themes in his poetry: action advocacy, egalitarianism, and social equality.
Referring to societal inequality, the River sings: I shall not rest till the world is rid Of the embankments that divide, Of ditch and hollow that deform Its smooth and lovely face.
[6] Hafsa Kanjwal, in her book, Colonizing Kashmir: State-building Under Indian Occupation, writes, "he (Azad) identified as a Marxist and his poetry directly addressed themes of social change and justice.
[10] When Sheikh Abdullah was appointed as the head of emergency administration in October 1947, an organisation called Cultural Front was founded, with notable faces such as Mahjoor, Rahi, Nadim, Kamil and Sadiq as its members.