Controversial former Auburn deputy mayor Salim Mehajer has lost a Federal Court bid to delay his bankruptcy while he fights to have the orders overturned, with his bankruptcy trustee describing him as displaying "extreme optimism" in the face of adversity.

The Federal Court heard an urgent application by Mehajer on Thursday for temporary orders to halt or stay his bankruptcy, pending the hearing of an application to cancel the orders permanently.

Salim Mehajer and his lawyer Zali Burrows outside the Federal Court in Sydney on Thursday. Credit:AAP

Roger Marshall, SC, acting for Mehajer's trustee in bankruptcy, told the court the property developer exhibited a "Panglossian" view of his circumstances, meaning he displayed "extreme optimism in circumstances of unrelieved adversity".

Federal Court Justice Michael Lee agreed this "may be an apposite description".