Abid Ali Abid was born on 17 September, 1906 at Dera Ismail Khan. He graduated in law and joined bar but his literary inclination brought him to Lahore where he studied Persian for his M. A. degree and started teaching Persian at Dayal Singh College, Lahore.  

Son of an army personnel, Abid Ali Abid belongs to the category of those critics who developed a larger perspective on social, cultural, and literary issues in their critical writings. With a keen understanding of Persian and English languages and their literatures, he developed a broader perspective in his critical writings. He thus created a discourse that was new to Urdu criticism.

Abid Ali Abid also wrote poetry but it was his criticism that earned him a place of distinction. His works include Usool-e-Inteqaad, Adab Ke Asloob, Shama, Yad-e-Baiza, Suhaag, Talmihaat-e-Iqbal, Tilasmaat, Main Kabhi Ghazal Na Kehta, Baresham Ood, and Inteqaad.

He died on 20 January, 1971 in Lahore.