Quote by Amir Khusrow: “Of all the languages of the world, Hindi is the best because it belongs to my homeland.”

Language is never just a communication tool — it carries home, identity, and belonging. Khusrow, who wrote brilliantly in Persian, is here making a declaration of love for the vernacular language of his birthplace, arguing that belonging creates a unique form of beauty.

Khusrow wrote during a period when Persian was the prestige language of the Delhi Sultanate's court and administration. By championing Hindavi — the vernacular that would develop into modern Hindi and Urdu — he was staking a claim for the cultural dignity of the subcontinent's indigenous languages.

Indian Sufi musician, poet, and scholar born in 1253 in Patiali in present-day Uttar Pradesh, considered the father of qawwali music and one of the most important figures in the development of the Hindustani classical tradition. He wrote in both Persian and Hindi and is regarded as one of the greatest poets of the Delhi Sultanate period.