Fani Badayuni

Fani Badayuni Biography

Fani Badayuni was an Urdu poet who lived in Badaun, United Provinces of British India. Shaukat Ali Khan is his real name. Badayuni started composing poetry around twenty years of age, and translated the works of Shakespeare and Milton to Urdu. He practiced law in Bareilly and Lucknow and later at Civil courts in Agra, but later fully concentrated on to his literal career. His first collection of poems was published in 1917 from Badaun by Naqib Press. His other works include - Baqiyat-e-Fani (1926), Irfaniyat-e-Fani (1938), Fani ki nadir tahriren: Havashi, tasrihat aur tanqidi ja'ize ke sath (1968), Intikhab-i Fani, Irfaniyat-i-Fani, Taraqqi Urdu and Kulliyat-i Fani (1992).

Fani badayuni was born as Shaukat Ali Khan in 1879, Badaun. Islamnagar is his hometown. His father Shujath Ali Khan was a Zamindar. He graduated from Barreilly College in 1901 and took LLB from Aligarh Muslim University in 1906. He started writing poetry at the age of around 20, and began with some translation works of world classics. Though he practised law for some time, he couldn’t earn success in this field. He started an Urdu magazine but closed it in 1931.

His life witnessed a change when The Nizam's Diwan Maharaja Kishan Prasad 'Shad' appointed him in the department of Education. Diwan was a patron of literature and poems and on his insistence Fani moved to Hyderabad Deccan. He was initially offered to join as a munsif which he didn’t accept. He later accepted the post of a school head master in Hyderabad. He worked at school in day time and attended Moazzam Jah's court at late evening hours. He passed away on 27 August 1961 aged 82.

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Updated: June 07, 2018