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Sirajuddin Bahadur Shah 'Zafar' was the last emperor of India. Accused of complicity and 
treason in the Sepoy mutiny of 1857, he was banished to Rangoon where he died in 1862, a 
broken and unhappy man.

Zafar came to the throne of Delhi at a time when Urdu poetry was at its peak. In such 
circumstances, it was but natural for Zafar's flair for poetry to be fanned to its fullest. 

There are many who allege that much of Bahadur Shah Zafar's work was actually the work of 
Zauq, who generously allowed his royal pupil to pass off his work as his own. However, I feel 
this distracts from Zafar's own capabilities as a poet. I think he had enough talent of his own not 
to need to stoop to such means to gain a reputation in the world of Urdu poetry.


khulataa nahii.n hai haal kisii par kahe baGair
par dil kii jaan lete hai.n dilabar kahe baGair

mai.n kyuu.Nkar kahuu.N tum aao ki dil kii kashish se vah
aaye.Nge dau.De aap mere ghar kahe baGair

kyaa taab kyaa majaal hamaarii ki bosaa le.n
lab ko tumhaare lab se milaakar kahe baGair

[bosaa = kiss]

bedard tuu sune naa sune lek dard-e-dil
rahataa nahii.n hai aashiq-e-muzatar kahe baGair

[lek = but (lekin); muzatar = anxious]

taqdiir ke sivaa nahii.n milataa kahii.n se bhii
dilavaataa ai 'Zafar' hai muqaddar kahe baGair