A Na`at (Persian: نعت) is a poetry that specifically praises the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Many of the famous scholars in the earlier days of Islam wrote Naat. People who recite Naat are known as Naat-Khuwan or Sana-Khuwan.

History

It is difficult to trace the history of Naat Khawani since no authenticated record of when it actually got initiated can be found. Though on a more regularized basis Prophet Muhammad's companion Hassan ibn Thabit started this work. He was also 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 Naats in honor of Prophet Muhammad. He was famous for his poetry that defended Muhammad in response to rival poets that attacked him and his religion. Therefore Hassan is known as the first Sana-Khawaan (Naat reciter) of that time. After that many a poets followed this trend who totally dedicated themselves for writing Naats.

Islamic poetry is rich in the praise of Prophet Muhammad. Rarely is there any Muslim poet who is without any piece written on him. This is mainly inspired from the Islamic traditions that each act of veneration would result in ten times the blessing of God on the praiser.
Language

Commonly the term Naat-Shareef (Exalted Poetry) is reserved and used for the poetry in the praise of Muhammad written in Urdu, Persian, and Arabic.

In the Arabic language, Naat is usually referred as Madih (praise), or simply as Nasheed (poetry) or Anasheed (plural). The latter two terms can describe any type of religious poetry.

Anasheed or Naat usually is not accompanied by musical instruments. However some scholars have allowed the use of daf (small drum). Usually poetry that is accompanied with musical instruments are called Ghinaa (music).