Meer Taqi Meer

Syed Amanullah Meer Taqi was the only son of a Sufi saint, Meer Muttaqi. When Meer was a little child, his father looking at his face used to say which is this fire burning within your heart that is reflecting on your face. Living in an atmosphere of Sufism at a very young age had profound effect on Meer. He did not have much desire for worldly things. This is a philosophy reflected by Meer in most of his works.

After his father's death, at the age of 11 years, the people in whose care he had been left abandoned him. Meer left Agra for Delhi in search of livelihood. Samsamudaula gave him a scholarship of one rupee per day, but this did not continue for long because in 1739, Nadir Shah attacked Delhi in which Samsamudaula was killed. Soon Meer was homeless, jobless, and roaming in the streets aimlessly.

After Nadir Shah's carnage there was no charm left in Delhi for the poets, many of them moved to Lucknow. Meer came to Lucknow in 1783; Nawab Asafaddaula fixed him Rs. 200 a month stipend. His early experiences in life and shortness of money though had made a permanent change in his nature and even in the peaceful atmosphere of Lucknow he lived a terrible life. Simple things used to make him upset, many times he walked out of the Nawab's court. In 1810 he died in Lucknow.