Ustad Khalilullah Khalili was born in Kabul, Afghanistan in 1907. He was the last of the great classical Persian poets and among the first to introduce modern Persian poetry and Nimai style to Afghanistan. He had also expertise in Khorasani style and was a follower of Farrukhi Sistani.
Khalili was a lecturer, writer, diplomat, and an excellent poet. His poems are widely read by Afghans, and many see him as the greatest contemporary poet of the Persian language. He is also known for his historical biography of Habibullah Kalakani. Khalili died in 1987 in Pakistan, and was buried there.