Born Shaukat Ali Khan, he initially wrote under the pen-name Shaukat, and then settled on Fani. His father's name was Muhammad Shujaat Ali Khan who was the chief of Badaun and held the post of police inspector. Fani was born on September 13, 1879 in Badaun, Islamnagar. Fani's ancestors were from Kabul. Fani's grandfather Basharat Khan came to India and settled in Akbarabad. Later, he became the governor of Badaun. His property consisted of 184 mawazats. However, nothing was left after the treason of 1857. Everything turned into ruins. As per the custom of that time, Fani studied Arabic and Persian until the age of thirteen. He then entered Government High School in 1893. Passed the matriculation examination in 1895. Passed the entrance examination in 1897. He then enrolled in Bareilly College. In 1901, he obtained his BA degree from the same college and got a job as a teacher in Wazirabad High School. After that he was promoted to Inspector of Schools and posted in Gonda. In 1907, Fani obtained his LLB degree from Aligarh University and started practicing law in Lucknow in 1908. But he had no interest in advocacy. Not only did he pass the bar exam at the behest of his father and he also started practicing law. He returned to Badaun in 1913 and settled there. After that a magazine "Tasneem" was issued from Agra. He moved to Hyderabad in 1932 but returned due to ill health. After recovering, he stayed in Agra for a few days and then moved to Hyderabad. He became the headmaster of a high school there. His wife died at the same time. Then, in 1933, his young daughter died. These traumas made Fani very upset and sad. His whole life was spent in distress, financial and economic hardship. He was not at ease, that is why he became a figure of sorrow and despair. The last part of his life was spent in great failures and disappointments. He died on August 27, 1941, in a state of extreme despair.