Faiz Al-Najdi

Saudi Gazette

RIYADH — The Pakistan Embassy in Riyadh honored noted Qur’an teacher and reciter Qari Syed Sadaqat Ali at a colorful ceremony on Friday.



Pakistan Ambassador Muhammad Naeem Khan was the chief guest.



Khayyam Akbar, deputy head of mission, conducted the event that was attended by a large gathering of men and women from Riyadh and adjoining cities.



Some of the participants even arrived from the Eastern Province.



Introducing Qari Syed, Khayyam said he was a student and a disciple of the renowned Egyptian reciter Sheikh Abdulbasit Abdulsamad.



“He has won numerous awards for his outstanding recitation, including the coveted Pride of Performance awarded to him by the president of Pakistan,” Khayyam said.



Qari Syed has been associated with Radio Pakistan and Pakistan Television (PTV) where he has been conducting a program on Qur’an teaching for years.



“Qari Syed has traveled widely and has performed worldwide, bagging many prizes,” Khayyam said.



Then the man himself appeared on stage with a mesmerizing recital.



For the next 30 minutes he held the audience spellbound with his unique Qur’an recital of Surah Ar-Rahman.



In a later session, Khayyam invited Qari Syed to present his naat renderings.



Naat is poetry written in reverence of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).



Qari Syed began with a famous Urdu naat by Poet Muzaffar Warsi that translates as follows: “There is a power that is commanding the entire universe, and that is what God is.”



Qari Syed also recited naats from Baba Bhulle Shah, the spiritual poet of Punjabi and Seraiki.



Some famous naats by noted poet and reciter Azam Chishty were also presented.



He then rendered one famous naat in Arabic.



Qari Muhammad Asif, who had especially flown in from Jeddah for the event, shared the stage with Qari Syed.



Noted naat renderer from Riyadh Muhammad Asghar Chishty presented some of his famous numbers.



Intizam-ul-Haq Thanvi, son of Islamic scholar Ehtesham-ul-Thanvi; and Abbas Sarwar Qureshi, head of the chancery and passport section at the embassy, also impressed the audience with their melodious naat renderings.



Khan, who was accompanied by his wife Anila, earlier paid rich tributes to Qari Syed for his contributions in Qur’an recitation and teaching.



He said the event was an extension of the initiatives his embassy has been taking to showcase Pakistani culture.



“We will continue to invite top men and women personalities – those from art and literature and Islamic scholars – to project our rich cultural heritage to the outside world,” Khan said.



Qari Syed concluded the event with a dua (supplication) for the peace and prosperity for Pakistan and its people.