takhallus A takhallus ( ur, , fa, تخلّص, hi, तख़ल्लुस), is a pen-name. Pen names were widely adopted by Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi and Persian poets.
''Takhallus'' is an Arabic word which means, literally, "to get liberated" or "become s ...
(nom de plume) of Mas'hafi (مصحفی ''maṣḥafi''), was an
ghazal
The ''ghazal'' ( ar, غَزَل, bn, গজল, Hindi-Urdu: /, fa, غزل, az, qəzəl, tr, gazel, tm, gazal, uz, gʻazal, gu, ગઝલ) is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry. A ghazal may be understood as a ...
poet.
Works
Before his time, the language known as Hindi, Hindavi, Dehlavi, Dakhini, Lahori or Rekhta was commonly known as the ''Zaban-i-Ordu'', and commonly in local literature and speech, ''Lashkari Zaban'' or Lashkari. Mashafi was the first person to simply shorten the latter name to ''
Lucknow
Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...
during the reign of
Asaf-ud-Daula
Mirza Asaf-ud-Daula (23 September 1748 – 21 September 1797) was the Nawab wazir of Oudh ratified by Shah Alam II, from 26 January 1775 to 21 September 1797, and the son of Shuja-ud-Dowlah. His mother and grandmother were the Begums of Oudh.
...
. According to one source, his ghazals are full of pathos.
He wrote ''Tazkira E Hindi'' in
Persian language
Persian (), also known by its endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken and ...
which demonstrates his skill in that tongue. He also wrote in Hindavi aka.
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
poetry:
There are ten extant collections of his poems, but it is believed that he allowed others for a fee to publish his poems under their own authorship. His personal life lacked discipline and his poetry reflects a level of sensuality. He excelled in lyrics but also composed odes and romances.
Rekhta
''Rekhta'' ( ur, ; hi, रेख़्ता ) was the Hindustani language as its dialectal basis shifted to the Delhi dialect. This style evolved in both the Perso-Arabic and Devanagari scripts and is considered an early form of Urdu and H ...
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Ghazal
The ''ghazal'' ( ar, غَزَل, bn, গজল, Hindi-Urdu: /, fa, غزل, az, qəzəl, tr, gazel, tm, gazal, uz, gʻazal, gu, ગઝલ) is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry. A ghazal may be understood as a ...