aaj ik aur baras biit gayā us ke baġhair
jis ke hote hue hote the zamāne mere
Known as the Raj Kavi of Punjab, Arsh Malsiyani is a prominent Urdu poet. His father, Josh Malsiyani, was also a very celebrated poet and is known to be a disciple of the iconic poet, Dagh Dehlavi. He was named Balmukund at his birth on 20 September 1908 in a small place called Malsiyan in Punjab.
Arsh got his early education under the guardianship of his father. He was an overseer by profession and worked for the Irrigation department of Punjab. Later, he taught at the Government Industrial School at Ludhiana for about fifteen years. During this period, he also acquired the degrees of F. A. and B. A. He shifted to Delhi in 1932 and joined the Publications Division of the Government of India and worked as the Assistant Editor of Aajkal (Urdu) and worked with Josh Malihabadi for about seven years. After Josh left for Pakistan, he was appointed as the editor of Aajkal.
Arsh Malsiyani combined the multiple qualities of a poet, translator, prose writer, and editor. He also wrote humorous prose pieces. His poems are collected in Haft Rang and Chang-o-Aahang. He also published his translations of Umar Khayyam in an anthology called Hast-o-Bood. He also put together his humorous writing in a volume entitled Post-mortem. He died on 15 December, 1979, in Delhi.