Maulana Hasrat Mohani was born in 1875 at Mohan in Unnao district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. As a very intelligent student he stood first in the Urdu Middle Examination of Uttar Pradesh. He passed matriculation examination from Government High School, Fatehpur and earned scholarship. He completed his graduation from The Anglo-Muhammadan College with distinction.
Later, Maulana Hasrat Mohani was educated at Aligarh Muslim University. At that time some famous persons like Molana Mohammad Ali Johar, Molana Shaukat Ali were his friends. Maulana Hasrat Mohani was taught poetry by Tasleem Lucknawi and Naseem Dehlvi in this University. From his college days he started writing poetry. His famous books are Kulliyat-e-Hasrat Mohani, Sharh-e-Kalam-e-Ghalib, Nukaat-e-Sukhan.Harsat Mohani also wrote some Ghazals .His famous ghazal Chupke Chupke raat din was sung by Ghulam Ali. He received several accolades for his poems. Harsat Mohani, along with Jigar and Asghar, brought several changes and developments in poems in the first half of 20th century.
Maulana Hasrat Mohani joined All India Muslim League and took part in the Indian Freedom Struggle. He was arrested and was imprisoned several times by British Government. In 1921 as a president of All India Muslim League he demanded `Complete Independence` for the first time in the Indian Freedom Movement. Maulana Hasrat Mohani was the follower of communist ideology and one of the founders of "The Communist" in India.
For publishing anti-British articles in his magazine - "Urdu-e-Mualla" he was incarcerated by the British rulers. After independence he remained in India to fight for the Indian Muslims. He was selected as the member of the constituent and played active role in drafting the Constitution of India. Maulana Hasrat Mohani did not sign in the constitution because he thought that there were some discriminatory lines for the Muslims in the constitution. Maulana Hasrat Mohani died on 13th May, 1951 in Lucknow in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
After his death Hasrat Mohani Memorial Society was established by Maulana Nusrat Mohani. A Memorial Hall and Library were founded by Hasrat Mohani Memorial Society in Karachi.