Syed Azam Hussain belonged to a distinguished family of landlords, whose members had made their mark as prominent figures in the literary circles of Urdu and Persian. Shamim Karhani, an eminent and esteemed poet was his younger brother; Ali Abbas Hussaini, a prolific short story writer and critic was his uncle. After completing his schooling from Faizabad, he went to Lucknow for higher studies and where he spent the rest of his life. In Lucknow, he would often indulge in literary discussions with Safi Lucknowi and consult him in poetry. After his passing away he became close to Aarzoo Lucknowi and would seek his advice in matters of poetry. In 1923, at the age of 18, he formally began his journey as a poet of Urdu. Since the beginning of his enterprise as a poet, he explored many forms of Urdu poetry namely, ghazal, nazm, geet, masnavi, qasida, salaam, noha, marsiya, manqabat, rubai, qataat etc. In praise of Azam’s poetry, Ali Jawad Zaidi said: “ Azam’s style of poetry is deeply rooted in simplicity and lyricism.”