Ahsan Farooqi was born on November 24, 1913 in Lucknow. His father's name was Muhammad Hassan Khan. He passed matriculation from Lucknow in 1929 after his primary education. He did his FA from Christian College and his BA in 1933 from Lucknow University. He received his MA in English in 1935. After that he also passed MA in Philosophy. He received his PhD in English in 1964. Dr. Ahsan Farooqi was considered to be fluent in Urdu, Persian, English, French and German. He was also well-versed in Arabic.

Ahsan Farooqi came to Karachi in 1956 and remained associated with various universities, especially in Karachi and Sindh. He was also the President of the English Department of Sukkur Islamia College and held the same position at the University of Baluchistan. Farooqi is known for a number of things. He has also written novels, historical critiques of the novel, as well as some poetry and genres. Most of his articles were published in the journal “Siip”, Karachi.

Farooqi has been associated with the task of teaching and training all his life but has always taken a keen interest in writing and composing. He has written over fifty books. He was also involved in journalism and for a while he was associated with the editorial department of "Naya Daur" Karachi. He wrote a memorable essay on Anis’ art of Marsiya-composition in 1938, and it was this article that led to his acclaim in literary circles. The same year his novel "Sham-e-Awadh" was published which was very well received. Soon another of his works followed, “Urdu Novel Ki Tanqidi Tareekh”, which is still considered invaluable.

Ahsan Farooqi paid special attention to Qurratulain Haider, his article on her novel "Aag Ka Dariya" is very important and sheds light on many aspects of it. Ahsan Farooqi died on February 28, 1978