Sohaib Farooqi was born on September 16, 1969 in his hometown of Ettawah (Uttar Pradesh). His father was an engineer in the Irrigation Department of the then undivided Uttar Pradesh. And that’s why Sohaib grew up in the different cities of the then united Uttar Pradesh. Although his ancestral home is 'Umri-Kalan' (Moradabad), his schooling took place in Etah, Dehradun and Sewhara districts of Bijnor and his higher education was from Hindu College, Moradabad. After completing B.Sc, B.Ed, his job search brought him to the capital of India, Delhi. He became a teacher in the primary school of the Municipal Corporation in the year 1993. In the year 1990, he was recruited as a sub-inspector in the Delhi Police department. He has been with the Delhi Police since then and was promoted to Inspector in August 2010.

Sohaib Farooqui grew up in and around the Urdu language. Magazines, newspapers, and more Urdu papers surrounded him as a child. Books were carried down by one generation o the other, and it was somewhere then that young Sohaib picked up his interest in reading.

Farooqi reminisces the occasion of Muharram, when the condolence processions and mourning ceremonies and lamentations were held in which the elders, who were fond of Naa’ts, used to participate in large numbers and compete in reciting new poems. His mother herself used to recite Naat Sharif. We mention this detail because it hints towards the penchant Sohaib had for literature from very early on. Among the many engagements and occupations of life, every man seeks a respite, for Sohaib that respite came in the refuge of literature.

Many refined poets do not even recognize him as a poet, as the late Dr. Rahat Andoori, a leading contemporary poet in a great poem, said after reading him, "When a policeman writes poetry, By God, it seems like Satan is reciting the Qur'an." This remark may be laughed off, but Sohaib Farooqi is proud of this sentence because even Satan was the greatest scholar and pious before denial.

Sohaib literally means rose in Arabic and that too red rose. Interestingly, on his birth, Sohaib’s was named Aqeel Ahmed, rhyming with his father's name Shakeel Ahmed. But according to Sohaib Farooqi's elder sister, this name did not have a literary punch So his mother named him Sohaib despite his strong protests. Sohaib was quite taken aback with this change, since he literally considered himself Aqeel, that is wise for many years