جان گلکرسٹ نے جب فورٹ ولیم کالج کا افتتاح کیا تو اس نے بڑے پیمانے پر ترجمے کا کام شروع کرایا۔ جس کے نتیجے میں سید حیدر بخش حیدری نے حاتم طائی کا قصہ جو کہ اصلا فارسی زبان میں تھا کو "آرائش محفل" کے نام سے اردو زبان میں (1801) ترجمہ کیا اور نہ صرف ترجمہ کیا بلکہ اپنی طرف سے بھی اس میں کمی و بیشی کی۔ داستان میں شہزادی کے ذریعے کئے گئے سات سوالات کے جوابات ہیں۔ جن کو حاتم طائی نے پورا کرنے کے لئے دور دراز کا سفر کیا۔ سوالات یہ تھے (1) ایک بار دیکھا ہے دوسری دفعہ کی ہوس ہے (2)نیکی کر اور دریا میں ڈال (3) کسی سے بدی نہ کر اگر کریگا تو وہی پاویگا (4)سچ کہنے والے کو ہمیشہ راحت ہے(5) کوہ ندا کی خبر لاوے(6)وہ موتی جو مرغابی کے انڈے برابر بالفعل موجود ہے اسکی جوڑی پیدا کرے (7) حمام بادگرد کی خبر لاوے۔ داستان اخلاقی مطالب سے پر اور نیکی کے لئے تشویق دلاتی ہے اس کی عبارت سلیس اور داستانی ہے، واقعات میں بہت زیادہ الجھاؤ نہیں ہے۔ داستان اپنے وقت کی تہذیب و ثقافت گفتار و رفتار اوراپنے عہد کی عکاسی کرتی ہوئی نظر آتی ہے اردو زبان کے شائقین کے لئے آج بھی یہ کتاب افادہ و استفادہ سے خالی نہیں ہے۔

Born  Haider Bakhsh, he wrote under the pen-name Haidri. He was the son of Syed Abul Hassan and lived in Delhi. Haider Bakhsh had not yet grown beyond his childhood when his father faced such financial difficulties that he was forced to leave his residence in Delhi and move to Banaras with his family. Here Nawab Ibrahim Khan was the Nazim of the court. He arranged Haider Bakhsh's education. He studied in the famous madrassas of Banaras and after graduating he joined the court office.

Along with his job, he continued to study, write and compose. Haideri wrote a story called Qissa Mahrumah and took it to Calcutta in the late eighteenth century. There he succeeded in the service of Gilchrist and presented his book which he liked very much and enrolled him in the staff of Haideri College. Haideri is the author and translator of most of the books at Fort William College. As well as being a prose writer, he is also a poet, but his fame is based on prose writings. While there, he wrote and translated many books. Eventually, he retired and returned to Banaras. He died there in 1823.

Apart from poetry, the books he wrote are important. Qissa Mehromah, Laila Majnoon, Haft Pekar, Tarikh-e-Nadri, Gulshan-e-Hind, Tota Kahani, Araish-e-Mehfil and Gul Maghfarat. The last three of these books became very popular.

Tota Kahaani is a translation of a Persian book by Syed Muhammad Qadri. An old Sanskrit book was translated into Persian by Maulana Zia-ud-Din Bakhshi. Qadri summed it up. Haidari translated this summary into Urdu. The book became very popular and was translated into various languages. 

About Araish-e-Mehfil, it’s a translation and summary of the Persian story of Hatim Tai. A translation of Mullah Hussain Waiz Kashifi's book Roza-e-Shuhada was done by Fazli under the name of Karbal Katha. Mir Aman was more inclined towards spoken language and Hindi. On the contrary, Haidari's inclination is towards Persian.