[8] Kar chale hum fida jan-o-tan sathion ab tumhare hawale watan sathio zinda rahne ki mausam bahut hai magar jan dene ki rut roz ati nahi husn aur ishq dono ko ruswa kare wo jawani jo khu me nahati nahi aaj dharti bani hai dulhan sathio Kar Chale hum Fida Jaan-o-Tan Sathio I sacrifice now, this life and body, o friends... the nation is in your hands now, o friends... so many seasons are there to live, but... the season to give up one's life doesn't come often, ... leaving behind both, the beauty & the love, of what value is that youth, which doesn't bathe in blood... today the earth has become my bride, o friends I sacrifice now, this body and life, o friends... Like most of the Urdu poets, Azmi began as a ghazal writer, cramming his poetry with the repeated themes of love and romance in a style that was replete with clichés and metaphors.

However, his association with the Progressive Writers' Movement and Communist Party made him embark on the path of socially conscious poetry.

In his poetry, he highlights the exploitation of the subaltern masses and through them he conveys a message of the creation of a just social order by dismantling the existing one.

It has its own merits; intensity of emotions, in particular, and the spirit of sympathy and compassion towards the disadvantaged section of society, are the hallmark of his poetry.

[14] His lyrics titled "Kar chale hum fida" featured in the soundtrack of the 1964 Hindi film Haqeeqat.

Azmi wrote his first lyrics for the film Buzdil, directed by Shaheed Latif and music by SD Burman, released in 1951.

His early work as a writer was mainly for Nanubhai Vakil's films like Yahudi Ki Beti (1956), Parvin (1957), Miss Punjab Mail (1958) and Id Ka Chand (1964).

While directors like Khwaja Ahmad Abbas and Bimal Roy strove to create the "New Cinema", writers like Sahir Ludhianvi, Jan Nisar Akhtar, Majrooh Sultanpuri, and Kaifi changed the tenor and vocabulary of the Hindi film song, creating a fresh new wave in Hindi film lyrics that lasted many years.

[17] His greatest feat as a writer was Chetan Anand's Heer Raanjha (1970) wherein the entire dialogue of the film was in verse.

Some notables films for which he wrote lyrics include Kohra (1964), Anupama (1966), Uski Kahani (1966), Saat Hindustani (1969), Shola Aur Shabnam, Parwana (1971), Bawarchi (1972), Pakeezah (1972), Hanste Zakhm (1973), Arth (1982) and Razia Sultan (1983).

[18] Azmi wrote the lyrics for Bible Ki Kahaniyan, the first Christian mythological television show broadcast in India.

[20] Another play, directed by Rani Balbir, Waqt Ne Kiya Kya Hasin Sitam, based on Kaifi Azmi's life and writings was staged in 2005, and received rave reviews.

[23][2][7] Kaifi Azmi returned his Padma Shri in the 1980s after the then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Vir Bahadur Singh remarked that those speaking Urdu as a second language should be made to sit on a donkey and paraded.

According to his daughter Shabana Azmi, her father replied that he had written in Urdu all his life, and if his State's Chief Minister held such views on the language, he, as a writer, must stand up for himself.

[25] Google commented: "With work ranging from passionate love poems and activist verses to Bollywood songs lyrics and screenplays, Azmi has become one of the most renowned poets of the 20th century in India, and his humanitarian efforts continue to impact people's lives today.