Amir Meenai

Amir Meenai Biography

Amir Meenai was an Indian Urdu poet and scholar from Lucknow, who lived in the 19^th century. He was a contemporary of great Urdu poets like Mirza Ghalib and Daagh Dehlvi, who appreciated his works as well. Apart from Urdu, he also wrote in Persian and Arabic languages. Love, philosophy and mysticism are the main subjects he dealt with. He was also known as a lexicographer and linguist. Many of his ghazals are immensely popular till now. Popular ghazals - 'Sarakatee jaayey hai rukh se naqab aahista’, 'Zaahir mein ham faryfta husn-e butaan ke haen’, ‘Jab se bulbul tu ne do tinkay liye’ and 'Naavak-e naaz se mushkil hae bachaana dil kaa’ were penned by him.

His full name is Ameer Ahmad Minai. He was born in Lucknow in 1829 into a family of religious scholars, and descendants of Makhdoom Shah Mina. The family lived in the same location for many centuries where Makhdoom Shah Mina’s tomb is located. His father, Karam Muhammad Minai, was a religious scholar in Lucknow. Meenai worked in the royal court of Nawab of Awadh in the judiciary sector. However following the invasion of the princely state by British and with the outbreak of first war of Indian independence in 1857, his family was destroyed and they were forced to leave Lucknow.

First they moved to Kakori town and later settled at Rampur. He served in the judiciary of Nawab of Rampur Yusef Ali Khan Bahadur. Later he succeeded Great Ghalib as the official poetic mentor and served in the court till 1900. Thus he lived most of his time in Rampur. After that he moved to Hyderabad in the aim to publish his Urdu dictionary, "Ameer-ul-Lughaat". Unfortunately he died soon after he reached Hyderabad.

Published: February 18, 2019

Updated: February 18, 2019