In Persian, Turkic, Hindustani and Punjabi, the word takhallus (from Arabic , ; ; ; ; , ) 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 (bayt) of a ghazal.
In classical Arabic literature and rhetoric, the term takhallus (Arabic: êîÃÂõ, lit. 'freeing oneself' or 'transition') originally refers to the seamless thematic transition from the opening prelude (nasëb) of a qasida (ode) to its primary subject, typically praise (madëḥ). The masterful execution of this transition is highly regarded in Arabic prosody and is termed ḥusn al-takhalluá¹£ (good transition).
When the ghazal later evolved into a fully independent poetic form, Persian and subsequently Urdu authors adopted and redefined the term. In the Persianate tradition, takhallus evolved to mean the poet's adopted pen name. It became a formalized structural convention for the poet to weave this pen name into the maqta (the concluding couplet) of the poem.
(Note that many of the following poets wrote in multiple languages, and not exclusively in the language they are categorised under.)
Examples of takhallus and laqab used by some notable Arabic poets:
Examples of takhallus used by some notable Persian and Azeri poets:
Examples of takhallus used by some notable Urdu poets, and other Islamicate poets of the Subcontinent:
Examples of takhallus used by some notable Turkish poets:
Among Hindustani and Urdu poets, "Hasrat" is a particularly common takhallus. In Hindi and Urdu, the word Hasrat meaning "wish" or "desire,", deriving from the Arabic hasra (ÃÂóñé). It is also the Persian and Hindustani pronunciation of the Islamic honorific hadra (Arabic: ÃÂöñé).