The maternal grandson of Meer Babar Ali Anis, Rasheed Lakhnavi was born Syed Mohammad Mustafa Mirza on March 05, 1847. He was lovingly called Pyare Sahib. He hailed from a family with a taste for poetry. His father, Mirza Sabir, was also a poet and his uncle, Ishq Lakhnavi, too was considered to be a poet of merit. His familial heritage helped him write poetry and emerge as a poet of distinction.

Rasheed Lakhnavi distinguished himself as a poet of marsiya, ghazal, and rubai. Although Rasheed had a healthy tradition of marsiya behind him but he approached it afresh with respect to language, description, and subject matter. His rubais, written in a serial, on the theme of youth and old age have no parallel in Urdu poetry. He was an expert reciter of marsiya and was invited to render them verbally in different corners of the country. He passed away in 1918.