Akhtar Sheerani (born Muhammad Dawood Khan; 4 May 1905 – 9 September 1948), also spelled as Shirani or Sherani, was a renowned romantic poet of Urdu literature.
Akhtar Sheerani was born on 4 May 1905 as Muhammad Dawood Khan into a family belonging to the Pashtun Sherani tribe.
The Sherani tribe had migrated to India with Sultan Mahmood Ghaznavi and later settled in Tonk, Rajasthan.
[3] His best-known collections of poetry include Akhtaristan, Nigarshat-e-Akhtar, Lala-e-toor, Tayyur-e-Aawara, Naghma-e-Haram, Subh-e bahaar, and Shahnaz.
"Chandra Wati", the first afsana (short story) of Qudratullah Shahab, was published in Romaan, Sheerani’s magazine.
His son, Professor Mehmood Sheerani, who teaches in Government College University, has written a book on his life titled Kahan Se Laaoon Unhain (Where can I Find Him?).
His close friend Mirza Shuja Khan committed suicide, and his son-in-law Naziruddin Shirani was accidentally drowned.
On his physical and mental condition, Agha Shorish Kashmiri, who was a well known literary, political, and social figure of Lahore, Pakistan at that time, wrote that one was better-off not to see him, since one would be so depressed after seeing him.