Qasmi was born on November 20, 1916, in the village of
Anga in
Khushab,
Punjab,
British India, into an
Awan family. He belongs to a family of
Sufi pirs or spiritual saints. He graduated from a high school in
Campbellpur in 1931, (now renamed
Attock city in
Pakistan), around the time when he wrote his first poem, he studied at government college Attock. Later he studied at
Sadiq Egerton College in
Bahawalpur. He graduated from the
University of Punjab, Lahore in 1935. In 1939 he began to work as sub-inspector in the excise department but resigned in 1942 as it didn't fit with his temperament. Active in the
Pakistan Movement, he joined the
Punjab Muslim League. He became an active member of the
Progressive Writers' Movement as a secretary and was arrested many times during the 1950s and 1970s. ==Death==