KARACHI, Feb 14: Speakers shed light on the various aspects of the life and works of Raghib Muradabadi, a versatile poet, at a condolence reference organised to pay homage to him at the Arts Council on Monday.

Poet Sarshar Siddiqui in his intense speech lamented that Raghib Muradabadi (who passed away on Jan 19) and his such contemporaries as Tabish Dehlvi, Shaer Lakhnavi and Adeeb Saharanpuri weren't remembered the way they deserved, primarily because of the domination over the literary scene of a certain part of Pakistan. He said it was not enough to arrange a small literary reference for Raghib sahib and a programme befitting his stature was required. Criticising the thin attendance at the reference, he said if those whom Raghib sahib had taught the finer points of poetry (and for some wrote their entire collections) had come to the event, the venue would've been brimming with people.

Prof Sahar Ansari said in the beginning of his address that meeting Raghib sahib was an extraordinary experience. He said the poet had tremendous patience and tolerance.

To make his point he narrated an incident when Raghib sahib's young son died. It was Eid-ul-Azha, and the poet's friends went to meet him to extend their condolences. Raghib sahib showed enormous endurance on the occasion saying that death was an inescapable phenomenon.

He said the poet would go an extra mile to help people out, and like Raees Amrohvi wrote many qitaat and couplets as recommendation letters for people. He said Raghib sahib had acquired such mastery over the art of writing rubaiyat (quatrains) that even his day-to-day conversation had begun sounding like a rubaiyee. He told the audience that the late poet had been noting down his everyday experiences in a diary since the age of 18, and if that could be selected and put together it might prove a great historic treasure. He said Raghib sahib had command over the Urdu language and was in the habit of telling friends and even scholars about the correct pronunciation of certain words. He also gave a few interesting examples of Raghib sahib's remarkable ability to create extempore or impromptu couplets.

Azhar Abbas Hashmi talked about the humane side to the poet's personality and recounted the time when he along with some poets (including Raghib sahib) went to perform Umrah. He said there he fell ill and Raghib sahib took great care of him.

He informed the gathering about the books that the poet had written on subjects as varied as naat, death, his association with Josh, etc. He even wrote a book on the topic of earthquake.

Poet Naqqash Kazmi spoke on the subject of pronunciation and enunciation of Urdu words and Raghib sahib's grasp on them. He opined that in the four provinces of Pakistan the issue of talaffuz might never be solved.

Rehana Roohi, Prof Ejaz Farooqui, Mehmood Ahmed Khan, Abdul Aziz (Raghib's grandson), Saadat Jaffery, Rana Ashfaq Rasool, Tanvir Kazmi, Adil Ibrahim and Mazhar Hani also spoke. The event was conducted by Rashid Noor.