UpdateBot at 09:31, 29 May 2022

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{{Use Indian English|date=August 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{Infobox writer 
| name = '''Ameer Mina Lucknowi'''
| image = AmeerMinai.jpg
| caption =
| pseudonym = ''Ameer''
| birth_date = 1829<ref name=Dawn1/>
| birth_place = [[Lucknow]], [[Oudh State|Awadh State]], [[Company rule in India|Company India]] <br /> {{small|(present-day [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[India]])}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1900|10|13|1828|| df=yes}}<ref name=Dawn1/>
| death_place = [[Hyderabad]], [[Hyderabad State]], [[British Raj|British India]]<ref name=Dawn1/> <br /> {{small|(present-day [[Telangana]], India)}}
| occupation = [[Poet]], [[writer]], [[lexicographer]] and [[linguist]]<ref name=Dawn1/>
| period = Post-Mughal era
| genre = [[Ghazal]], [[Nazm]], [[Na`at]], [[Hamd]]
| subject = [[Love]], [[philosophy]], [[mysticism]]
| signature =
| website =
}}

'''Ameer Minai''' or '''Amir Meenai''' ({{lang-ur|{{nq|امیر مینا ئی}}}}; 1829 — 13 October 1900) was a 19th-century Indian [[poet]].<ref name=Dawn1/> He was respected by several contemporary poets including [[Ghalib]] and [[Daagh|Daagh Dehalvi]] and by [[Muhammad Iqbal]].<ref name=urduadab>[http://urduadab4u.blogspot.com/2011/08/ameer-meenai-eminent-urdu-poet.html Amir Meenai, an Eminent Urdu Poet on urduadab.com website] Published 8 August 2011, Retrieved 18 May 2018</ref><ref name=Dawn1/> He wrote in [[Urdu]], [[Persian language|Persian]] and [[Arabic]].<ref name=Dawn>{{cite web|last=Parekh|first=Rauf|title=Poetry in Persian|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1281983/poetry-in-persian|publisher=Dawn (newspaper)|date=4 September 2016|accessdate=18 May 2018}}</ref><ref name=Dawn1/>

==Early life==
The Minai family had lived in Lucknow for centuries in the area around Shah Mina's tomb, known as "Mina Bazaar" or "Mohalla-e Minaian" (The Quarter of the Minais). Ameer was educated at Farangi Mahal, Lucknow's primary educational institute.<ref name=Dawn1/>

==Work==
In the British attack on Lucknow in 1856 and the subsequent [[Indian Rebellion of 1857|First war of independence]] in 1857, the family's homes were all destroyed and Meenai was forced to flee with his family, first to the nearby town of Kakori where he found refuge with the poet Mohsin Kakorvi, and eventually to the state of [[Rampur, Uttar Pradesh|Rampur]], where he found favor at the court of the ruler, [[Nawab of Rampur]] [[Yusef Ali Khan Bahadur]].<ref name=Dawn1/>

He served in the judiciary, was appointed head of Rampur's magnificent library, and became the official poetic mentor (ustad) of the ruler, succeeding the great Urdu poet, [[Ghalib]], in this position. Meenai lived in Rampur until 1900 when he decided to go to [[Hyderabad]] Deccan to seek financial support for the publication of his Urdu dictionary, "Ameer-ul-Lughaat" – but that was not to be, and he died there on 13 October 1900, barely a month after his arrival. He is buried in Hyderabad, India.<ref name=Dawn1/><ref name=urduadab/>

==Poetry==

In poetry, Meenai is best known for his ghazals, and for the [[na`at]] genre—poems in praise of the Prophet [[Muhammad]], which he helped popularize in Urdu poetry.<ref>Eulogies on Prophet Muhammad: Selections from ''Armoghan-e-Naat'', compiled and edited by Shafiq Barelvi, published by Royal Book Company in 1987</ref><ref>A history of Urdu literature by Ram Babu Saksena published by Ram Narain lal, Allahabad, in 1940 ps.139&182</ref>

==Legacy==

''Mutaala'-e Ameer'' by Abu Muhammad Sahar, published in [[Lucknow]] in 1963, analyses Meenai's life and literary work.<ref>The Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature (Vol.One) by Amresh Datta.p.152. https://books.google.com/books?isbn=8126018038</ref>

==Popular naat poetry==
Meenai was considered a pioneer of [[naat]] poetry.<ref name=Dawn1/>
*''Halke Mein Rasoolon ke Woh Mahay Madani Hai, Sung by [[Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan]], naat lyrics by Amir Meenai<ref>[http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2a2tyj Amir Meenai's naat qawwali on dailymotion.com website] Retrieved 19 May 2018</ref>
*''Tera karam jo shah-e-zee-vaqaar ho jaaye'' Naat qawwali by Amir Meenai, sung by [[Qawwal Bahauddin Khan]]
*''Tum par mein laakh jaan se qurbaan Ya Rasool'' Naat lyrics by Amir Meenai, sung by Umme Habiba
*''Uss karam ka karun shukr kaisay ada, jo karam mujh pe meray Nabi kar diyya'' Naat qawwali written by Amir Meenai, sung by [[Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan]]

==Popular ghazal songs==
* 'Sarakatee jaayey hai rukh se naqab aahista, aahista...' Lyrics by Amir Meenai, sung and popularised by ghazal maestro [[Jagjit Singh]] and later also featured in a film starring [[Rishi Kapoor]] and [[Tina Munim]].<ref name=urduadab/><ref>[http://www.rediff.com/movies/report/slide-show-1-revisiting-the-maestro-the-best-of-jagjit-singh/20111010.htm Amir Meenai's ghazal song sung by Jagjit Singh on rediff.com website] Published 10 October 2011, Retrieved 19 May 2018</ref>
*'Jab se bulbul too ne do tinkay liye / loTtee haeN bijliyaaN in kay liye', sung by [[K.L. Saigal]], [[Ghulam Ali (Ghazal singer)|Ghulam Ali]], M. Kalim and others<ref>[https://rekhta.org/poets/ameer-minai Poetry of Amir Meenai on rekhta.org website] Retrieved 19 May 2018</ref>
*'Naavak-e naaz se mushkil hae bachaana dil kaa / dard uTh uTh ke bataataa nae Thikaana dil kaa', sung by Ustad [[Barkat Ali Khan]]
*'Zaahir meiN ham faryfta husn-e butaaN ke haeN / par kyaa kahayN nigaah meN jalvay kahaaN ke haeN', sung by [[Farida Khanum]]
* Mehfil Barkhast Hui, sung by [[Kavita Seth]] in [[A Suitable Boy (TV series)|A Suitable Boy]]

==Bibliography==
Amir Meenai wrote over 40 books in his lifetime, some of which are unpublished.<ref name=Dawn1/>
* ''Subah-e-Azal''
* ''Shaam-e-Awadh''
* ''Divan-e-Farsi'' (Persian poetry), edited by Tehseen Firaqi, published in 2016<ref name=Dawn/>
* ''Miraat-ul-ghaib''<ref name=Dawn1/>
* ''Sanam khana-i-ishq''<ref name=Dawn1/><ref name=urduadab/>
* ''Khayaban-i-Aafrinish'' (Prophet Muhammad's life in easy prose)<ref name=Dawn1>{{cite web|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/920123 |author=Rauf Parekh|publisher=Dawn (newspaper)|title=Amir Meenai and naat poetry in Urdu (article includes his profile)|date=11 October 2010|accessdate=18 May 2018}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Commonscatinline}}
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=It94grrWnHU Poetry of Amir Meenai on YouTube]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amir Meenai}}
[[Category:Urdu-language poets from India]]
[[Category:1829 births]]
[[Category:1900 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian Muslims]]
[[Category:Writers from Lucknow]]
[[Category:Muslim poets]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian poets]]
[[Category:Poets from Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:Urdu-language writers]]
[[Category:Linguists from India]]

Amir Meenai - Revision history

UpdateBot at 09:31, 29 May 2022