He is the first Kashmiri writer to be awarded the Jnanpith, India's highest literary award for his poetic collection Siyah Rood Jaeren Manz (In Black Drizzle).

[2] Born in 1925, Rehman Rahi began his career as a clerk in the Public Works Department of the Government for few months in 1948 and was associated with the Progressive Writers' Association, of which he became the General Secretary.

[3] He also edited a few issues of Kwang Posh, the literary journal of the Progressive Writer's Association.

He was on the editorial board of the Urdu daily Aajkal in Delhi from 1953 to 1955.

[citation needed] He was also associated with the Cultural wing of the communist Party of Kashmir during his student days.