Intikhab-e-Kalam: Fani Badayuni

This is a representative selection of Fani Badayuni's poetry. Hailing from the UP, he migrated to Hyderabad, Deccan, when the Nizam's Diwan, Maharaja Kishan Prasad 'Shad', who was himself was an Urdu enthusiast and poet, got Fani appointed in the state's department of Education. Fani started composing poetry around twenty years of age. He translated the works of Shakespeare and Milton into Urdu. Fani belonged to the Ghalib tradition of Urdu poetry. He can also be in the category of what is known in Urdu as Sahib-e-Gham because he was a poet of pathos. This tradition in Urdu poetry originates with Mir Taqi Mir, hence Fani belongs to Mir's tradition as well. Fani was a highly emotional poet and he loved Hyderabad and the society and lived there till his death in 1941. His total works Kulliyat e Fani was published in 1992.