Ijaz Allahabadi was born in the village of Chak Hidayatullah near Prayagraj (formerly Allahabad). According to his school certificate, his date of birth is recorded as 1 January 1936. Chak Hidayatullah, named after his ancestor Qazi Hidayatullah, is a small village located about fifteen kilometers southeast of Allahabad. His father, Ashfaq Ahmad, passed away when Ijaz was only four years old. After his father’s death, the responsibility for his upbringing and education was taken up by his grandfather Maulvi Iftikhar Ahmad and his uncles Maulvi Mushtaq Ahmad and Irshad Sahib, who raised him with great care and affection.

His grandfather was a pious and learned man who was spiritually affiliated with Ashraf Ali Thanwi. He possessed deep knowledge of Persian and was also a poet, though he mostly composed devotional poetry. Under his guidance, Ijaz Allahabadi received his early education at home. After learning the Qur’an and basic Urdu texts, he was introduced to Persian literature and studied classical works such as Gulzar-e-Dabistan, Khaliq Bari, Aamad Nama, Gulistan, and Bostan. This early education formed the intellectual foundation that later benefited him in his literary pursuits.

Later he moved to Allahabad city and enrolled at Islamia College, where Persian remained his optional subject during the seventh and eighth grades. His interest in poetry began in childhood, but he composed his first complete ghazal in 1955 at the encouragement of his uncle during a literary gathering. That ghazal was later included in his poetry collection. In Allahabad he also participated in literary gatherings attended by scholars such as Suhail Ahmad Zaidi, which further nurtured his poetic talent.

One of his ghazals written in the poetic meter of Mirza Ghalib was published in the Islamia College magazine in 1959. Later, due to professional responsibilities and employment in different places, his literary activities slowed for some time.

Eventually he was appointed as a mathematics instructor at the Industrial Training Institute in Jabalpur. The city offered a vibrant literary environment, and he began participating in mushairas and literary gatherings organized under the patronage of local literary circles. During this time he also became associated with literary organizations and continued writing poetry. His ghazals reflect simplicity of expression, classical poetic tradition, and deep personal experience.