Takhallus


In Persian, Turkic, Hindustani and Punjabi, the word takhallus means a pen name. Pen names were widely adopted by Persian, Turkic, Urdu and Punjabi poets.
The takhallus is often included in the maqta', the last couplet of a ghazal.

History

While ghazal originated in Arabia evolving from qasida, some of the common features of contemporary ghazal, such as including the takhallus in the maqta, the concept of matla', etc., did not exist in Arabic ghazal. It was Persian ghazal which added these features.

Common ''takhallus''es

List of takhalluses of some Persian poets:SumanHafezJami
  • "Khamushn" Sadi
  • "Ashfaq Attari"
List of takhalluses of some Urdu poets:Faiz – Faiz Ahmed FaizFani — Fani Badayuni, Shaukat Ali KhanGhalib – Mirza Asadullah Baig KhanHali – Altaf Hussain Hali, Altaf HussainJigar - Jigar Moradabadi, Sikander Ali MoradabadiKaki - Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki, Khwaja Qutbuddin BakhtiarMir - Mir Taqi Mir, Mir Muhammad TaqiZafar - Bahadur Shah Zafar, Bahadur Shah II