Takhallus

In Persian, Turkic, Hindustani and Punjabi, the word takhallus (from Arabic تخلّص, lit. 'to get liberated or to become secure';  ; təxəllüs; taxallus; تخلّص, तख़ल्लुस) 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.

History
While ghazal originated in Arabia evolving from qasida, some of the common features of contemporary ghazal, such as including the takhallus in the maqta, the concept of matla, etc., did not exist in Arabic ghazal. It was Persian ghazal which added these features.

Common takhalluses
List of takhalluses of some Persian poets:
 * Suman
 * Hafez
 * Jami
 * "Khamushn" (Rumi)
 * 'Sadi''
 * "Ashfaq Attari" (Fani Badayuni)

List of takhalluses of some Urdu poets:
 * Faiz – Faiz Ahmed Faiz
 * Fani — Fani Badayuni, Shaukat Ali Khan
 * Ghalib – Mirza Asadullah Baig Khan
 * Hali – Altaf Hussain Hali, Altaf Hussain
 * Jigar - Jigar Moradabadi, Sikander Ali Moradabadi
 * Kaki - Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki, Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiar
 * Mir - Mir Taqi Mir, Mir Muhammad Taqi
 * Zafar - Bahadur Shah Zafar, Bahadur Shah II