aatā huuñ maiñ zamāne kī āñkhoñ meñ raat din
lekin ḳhud apnī nazroñ se ab tak nihāñ huuñ maiñ
aata hun main zamane ki aankhon mein raat din
lekin KHud apni nazron se ab tak nihan hun main
Ameeq Hanfi, born Abdul Aziz Hanfi, earned his reputation as a major modern poet. He was born at Indore on 03 November 1928. He was educated at Mhow in the state of Madhya Prasdesh. He passed his matriculation examination in 1946 and got his double M. A. in Political science and History in 1952 and 1954 respectively. Apart from his education in social sciences, he also nourished a critical taste for music and philosophy. He worked for All India Radio and retired from a high position.
Hanfi acquired a taste for poetry during his stay in Mhow. He published his first poetry collection Sung Pairahan in 1958 which showed the impact of Progressive poetics. He grew later as a modernist of great promise and fulfillment. This is well borne out by his later collections of poems Shajar-e-Sada, Shab Gasht, and his long poem Salsat-ul-Jaras. He also wrote critical books on Amir Khusro and poetry and poetics called Sher Cheeze Deegar Ast which takes into account a whole range of Eastern and Western poetics.