Naat (; Punjabi and ) is poetry in praise of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad. The practice is popular in South Asia (Bangladesh, Pakistan and India), commonly in Bengali, Punjabi or Urdu. People who recite Naat are known as Naat Khawan or sanaa-khuaan. Exclusive "Praise to Allah" and Allah alone is called Hamd, not to be confused with 'Na'at'. In Arab countries, lyrics and praises said for Muhammad are called Madih nabawi. History It is difficult to trace the history of Naat khawani since no authenticated record of when it was initiated can be found. One early author, Hassan, was known as Shair-e Darbaar-e Risalat. Even before accepting Islam he was a poet, but after embracing Islam he gave a new turn to his poetry and started writing Na'ats in honor of Muhammad. He was famous for his poetry that defended Muhammad in response to rival poets who attacked him and his religion. Therefore, Hassan is known as the first sana-khawaan (naat reciter) of that time. After that many a poet followed this trend and totally dedicated themselves towards writing of naats. Tala al Badru Alayna, is a traditional Islamic poem known as nasheed recited to Muhammad during his completion of migration to Medina in 622 CE, is believed to be one of the earliest naats. Language Commonly the term naʽat shareef (exalted poetry) is reserved for poetry in the praise of Muhammad. In Arabic, na'at is usually called madih (praise) or nasheed (poetry), although the latter can describe any type of religious poetry. Urdu Na'at Anthologies Hadaiqe Bakshish by Ahmad Raza Khan Wasail e Bakhsish by Muhammad Ilyas Qadri Farsh Par Arsh, 2009 () by Abūlḥāmid Muḥammad Tajalliyāt, by Syed Waheed Ashraf First Ed.(1996), Second Ed.(2018) , Maktaba Jamia Ltd, Shamshad Market, Aligarh 202002, India Urdū zabān men̲ naʻt goʼī kā fann aur tajallīyāt, 2001 () by Syed Waheed Ashraf safeena e bakhshish by Akhtar Raza Khan (Azhari Miya) Notable Na'at Khawans Urdu Na'at poets Ahmed Raza Khan Mustafa Raza Khan Muhammad Ilyas Qadri Mushtaq Qadri Syed Waheed Ashraf Amir Khusro Muzaffar Warsi Akhtar Raza Khan Muhammad Iqbal Behzad Lucknavi Urdu Na'at Reciters Sabihuddin Rehmani Junaid Jamshed Abrar ul Haq Syed Fasihuddin Soharwardy Siddiq Ismail Khursheed Ahmad Abdul Rauf Rufi Qari Waheed Zafar Qasmi Bekal Utsahi Ajmal Sultanpuri Hassan ibn Thabit Mushtaq Qadri See also Hamd Islam in South Asia References Cultural depictions of Muhammad Islamic worship Islamic poetry Islamic