Mirza Farhatullah Beg (1883-1947) of Delhi was a distinguished humourist. His essays are marked by their richness of imagination and informality of style. His pen-portraits are lively and sharp in characterisation. His language represents one of the best specimens of Urdu as spoken in Dehli.
Mohammed Zakir was born in 1932 in Delhi and educated at St. Stephens’s College, Sri Ram College of Commerce and Delhi College, now known as Zakir Husain College, Delhi University. He retired as Professor of Urdu after four decades of teaching at the Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi. His main interests have been translation, literary criticism and Urdu linguistics. He lives in Delhi.