Shaykh Imam Baksh Nasikh was one of the founders of the Lucknow School of Urdu poetry. He had many pupils among the younger generation of Urdu poets. His detractors accused him of composing poetry devoid of feeling. This is an exaggeration. Nasikh had devised rules to polish diction, and his rules were used to better advantage by other poets. The poetry of Nasikh marks a watershed in the development of Urdu poetry, and hence it is a compulsory component of graduate courses on Urdu literature.