Bangalore: Noted Kannada, Beary Scholar Ahmed Noori No More
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore
Bangalore, Sep 3: Ahmed Noori, a renowned scholar, linguist, journalist and a flagbearer of Kannada and Beary cultures, who first translated the entire Quran into Kannada, passed away in a private hospital here on Sunday September 2. He was 92.
Born and brought up in Mangalore, he had settled in Bangalore with his daughter and son-in-law. He leaves behind three daughters, two sons and scores of well-wishers and fans.
In 1978, as part of a six-member team, Noori translated the Quran into Kannada under the title 'Divya Quran'. He put in seven years of work into this accomplishment. He also authored 'Maikala', a documentary on the history of Beary community in Dakshina Kannada till 1960. The book has been cataloged by the Library of Congress at Washington, D C, USA, which is the largest library in the world.
He was the first to bring Byari culture into prominence, kindling various activities to promote and conserve the culture. He also composed and sung Beary songs fifty years ago. A CD of his songs was released in January 2011.
Besides, Noori also translated more than 20 works from several languages into Kannada, and also served as editor and assistant editor of various publications. His 'Hijri Samskarana Sanchike' was published in Kannada and English as well. He also translated Father Muller's 'The Guide to Health' into Urdu.
In 2009, he was awarded the Karnataka Beary Sahitya Academy award for his immense contribution to Beary literature. In 1998, he was honoured during the first Beary literary convention held in Mangalore. He was also one of the founder members of Beary Welfare Association.
During his time, many from the Muslim community were against using Kannada, and Noori was of the opinion that this attitude was the cause for the educational backwardness of the community. He advocated the use of Kannada in Madarasas too, and wrote several pieces in various publications calling for a revolution among Islamic scholars.
Hailing from a Beary family, he was well-versed in Udru, Parsi, Arabic, Hindi, Malayalam, Tulu, Tamil and English languages. He translated a vast fund of literary works from these languages into Kannada.
Ahmed Noori's contribution to Kannada and culture spanned for over six decades. Ironically, despite his great efforts towards promoting and conserving Kannada language, the government failed to recognize him.