Ameer Minai or Amir Meenai (; 1829 — 13 October 1900) was a 19th-century Indian Urdu poet. He was respected by several contemporary poets including Ghalib and Daagh Dehalvi and by Muhammad Iqbal.Amir Meenai, an Eminent Urdu Poet on urduadab.com website Published 8 August 2011, Retrieved 18 May 2018 He wrote in Urdu, Persian and Arabic.
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.
Work In the British attack on Lucknow in 1856 and the subsequent 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, where he found favor at the court of the ruler, Nawab of Rampur Yusef Ali Khan Bahadur.
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.
Poetry
In poetry, Meenai is best known for his ghazals, and for the na`at genre—poems in praise of Muhammad, which he helped popularize in Urdu poetry.Eulogies on Prophet Muhammad: Selections from Armoghan-e-Naat, compiled and edited by Shafiq Barelvi, published by Royal Book Company in 1987A history of Urdu literature by Ram Babu Saksena published by Ram Narain lal, Allahabad, in 1940 ps.139&182
Legacy
Mutaala'-e Ameer by Abu Muhammad Sahar, published in Lucknow in 1963, analyses Meenai's life and literary work.The Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature (Vol.One) by Amresh Datta.p.152. https://books.google.com/books?isbn=8126018038
Popular naat poetry Meenai was considered a pioneer of naat poetry. , Sung by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, naat lyrics by Amir MeenaiAmir Meenai's naat qawwali on dailymotion.com website Retrieved 19 May 2018 Naat qawwali by Amir Meenai, sung by Qawwal Bahauddin Khan Naat lyrics by Amir Meenai, sung by Umme Habiba Naat qawwali written by Amir Meenai, sung by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Popular ghazal songs '' 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.Amir Meenai's ghazal song sung by Jagjit Singh on rediff.com website Published 10 October 2011, Retrieved 19 May 2018 '', sung by K.L. Saigal, Ghulam Ali, M. Kalim and othersPoetry of Amir Meenai on rekhta.org website Retrieved 19 May 2018 '', sung by Ustad Barkat Ali Khan '', sung by Farida Khanum , sung by Kavita Seth in A Suitable Boy
Bibliography Amir Meenai wrote over 40 books in his lifetime, some of which are unpublished. Subah-e-Azal Shaam-e-Awadh Divan-e-Farsi (Persian poetry), edited by Tehseen Firaqi, published in 2016 Miraat-ul-ghaib Sanam khana-i-ishq Khayaban-i-Aafrinish (Prophet Muhammad's life in easy prose)
References
External links
Poetry of Amir Meenai on YouTube