Renowned Urdu poet Munawwar Rana died on Sunday after suffering a cardiac arrest. He was 71.

Rana breathed his last at Lucknow’s PGI Hospital, where he was undergoing treatment for Kidney and heart ailments.

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Born on November 26, 1952, in Uttar Pradesh’s Raebareli, Rana was one of India’s most celebrated Urdu poet.

Reacting to the news of his death, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Samajwadi Party boss Akhilesh Yadav said that he was “extremely heartbroken.”

“The demise of the country’s renowned poet Munnavar Rana ji is extremely heartbreaking. Wishing peace to the departed soul. Heartfelt tribute,” Yadav wrote on ‘X’ in Hindi.

Munawwar Rana’s daughter Sumaiya Rana is the national spokesperson of Samajwadi Party.

In 2014, Rana was given the Sahitya Akademi Award for ‘Shahdaba’, an Urdu poem written by him.

One of his best shayaris (Urdu poetry) was -“Maine rote huye Pouchhe the kisi din aasu… muddaton maa ne nahi dhoya dupatta apna (I wiped away my tears once, and mother didn’t wash that scarf for years).”