KARACHI, Aug 15: Literary critics on Thursday heaped accolades upon Munawwar Badayuni, who excelled in the art of composing naat.

At a function organized on the premises of the Arts Council, critic Dr Aslam Farrukhi spoke at length about the men of letters and scholars who had hailed from Badayun. “Apart from historian Mulla Abdul Qadir Badayuni, who ably exposed the atheism of Mughal emperor Akbar in the garb of religious innovation, Badayun is known for the literary stalwarts who burst onto the literary scene one by one,” he said.

Mr Farrukhi recalled that from Qamar Badayuni and Mehshar Badayuni to Shakeel Badayuni, Ada Jaffery and Zahrah Nigah, there was a long list of literary stars from Badayun. He added that Munawwar Badayuni was one of the most sparkling stars of that firmament.

He explained that Munawwar Badayuni belonged to that school of thought whose principal attributes had been embodied by poet Ameer Minai. “Ameer Minai’s poetry is a happy combination of romanticism and mysticism. He was probably one of the first poets of Urdu literature to bring out an anthology of naat.”

Mr Farrukhi reminisced that once at a Dow Medical College mushaira, Munawwar Badayuni had been invited to recite his poems after Ahmed Faraz. “There was a lot of apprehension among his admirers that his poetry, insightful as it was, might be out of the ken of the audience. We were pleasantly surprised by the fact that Munawwar Badayuni’s poems were well received by the audience. In fact, he garnered more daad than Ahmed Faraz.”

Literary critic Jamil Jalibi observed that a greater effort should be made to preserve the poetic heritage left by Munawwar Badayuni. “Munawwar Badayuni added a new dimension to the genre of naat. The reason why his naat became so effective was that it sprang from unaffected spiritual experiences,” he explained.

Prof Akhlaque Akhtar Hameedi, Iqbal Haider, Zakir Ali Khan and Saifur Rehman Grami also spoke on the occasion. The programme was compered by Tajdar Adil. Azhar Abbas Hashmi read out a letter sent by Sulaiman Minai.

An anthology of naat, ghazal and naghmat by Munawwar Badayuni was also distributed.