One of the most prominent poets of Urdu Amir Meenai's diction is as immaculate as is characteristics of Lucknow poets to the extent that even Ghalib eulogised him. Now a new edition of Meenai's first diwan titled 'Miratul Ghaib' has made it possible for the new generation of Urdu poetry readers to study Amir Meenai's poetry. In time Meenai emerged as a highly gifted poet of delicate sensibility. One of his poems 'Kabutar Nama' impressed Wajid Ali Shah. After the annexation of Oudh by East India Company, Amir Meenai had to move to Rampur amidst a large number of Lucknow poets over there. It was during Meenai's Rampur sojourn and subsequently his stay in Hyderabad Deccan that his poetry gained popularity - a phenomenon that saw the whole of the subcontinent's poets appear as divided into Amir Meenai and Dagh Dehalvi camps of followers. Amir Meenai is credited with 14 collections of poetry including 'Diwan-e-Naatia Kalam' and 'Sanam Khana-e-Ishq'. Seven of his collections of different genres of poetry are still lying unpublished apart from volumes of 'Amir-ul-Lughat' a unique work of lexicography. Being a Sufi poet - having ishq (love) as his central theme - his collection 'Mahamid-e-Khatim-ul-Nabian' has immortalised Meenai in his genre of poetry. Amir Ahmad Meenai was born in Lucknow. He was drawn to poetry and became a disciple of Syed Muzaffar Ali Asir, who was private secretary of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah and himself an eminent poet of his times.