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Illuminated frontispiece to the manuscript of Al-Kawākib ad-durriyya by Al-Busiri made for the sultan Qaitbay. Large lobed medallions in the center bear the name of the sultan (right) and blessing on him (left).^[1] Above and below on the right is the certificate of commissioning stating the manuscript to have been produced for his library, while opposite, on the facing page, the upper and lower panels contain the title of the work. Cairo, c. 1470.^[2] Chester Beatty Library.

Qasīdat al-Burda (Arabic: قصيدة البردة, "Ode of the Mantle"), or al-Burda for short, is a thirteenth-century ode of praise for Muhammad composed by the eminent Shadhili mystic al-Busiri of Egypt. The poem, whose actual title is "The Celestial Lights in Praise of the Best of Creation" ([الكواكب الدرية في مدح خير البرية] Error: {{Lang}}: invalid parameter: |3= (help)), is famous mainly in the Sunni Muslim world. It is entirely in praise of Muhammad, who is said to have been praised ceaselessly by the afflicted poet, to the point that Muhammad appeared in a dream and wrapped him in a mantle or cloak; in the morning the poet discovers that God has cured him.^[3]^[4]

Bānat Suʿād, a poem composed by Ka'b ibn Zuhayr was originally called Al-Burda. He recited this poem in front of Muhammad after embracing Islam. Muhammad was so moved that he removed his mantle and wrapped it over him. The original Burdah is not as famous as the one composed by al-Busiri even though Muhammad had physically wrapped his mantle over Ka'b, not in a dream like in the case of al-Busiri.

Composition

The Burda is divided into ten chapters and 160 verses, each rhyming with the other. Interspersing the verses is the refrain, "My Patron, confer blessings and peace continuously and eternally on Your Beloved, the Best of All Creation" (Arabic: مولاي صل وسلم دائما أبدا على حبيبك خير الخلق كلهم). Each verse ends with the Arabic letter mīm, a style called mīmiyya. The ten chapters of the Burda comprise:

On Lyrical love yearnly
On Warnings about the Caprices of the Self
On the Praise of the Prophet
On His Birth
On His Miracles
On the Exalted Stature and Miraculous Merits of the Qur'an
On the Ascension of the Prophet
On the Struggle of God's Messenger
On Seeking Intercession through the Prophet
On Intimate Discourse and the Petition of One's State.

Popularity

Sufis have traditionally venerated the poem. It is memorized and recited in congregations, and its verses decorate the walls of public buildings and mosques. This poem decorated Prophet's Mosque in Medina for centuries but was erased except for two lines.^[5] Over 90 commentaries have been written on this poem. It has been translated into Hausa, Persian, Urdu, Turkish, the Berber languages, Punjabi, English, French, German, Sindhi, Saraiki, Norwegian, Chinese (called Tianfangshijing), and other languages. It is known and recited by a large number of Sunni Muslims, ordinarily and on special occasions, such as Mawlid, making it one of the most recited poems in the world.

Translations

The poem has seen several different translations, into a variety of languages.^[6] Arguably the most important translation of recent times is that by Timothy Winter into English.^[7] The book was also translated into four different languages: Persian, Urdu, Punjabi and English by Dr. Muhammad Hamid.

Audio

The full rendition of this famous poem has been produced by The Adel Brothers. They have sung the full poem in over 20 different styles.^[8]

Legacy

The Burda was accepted within Sufi Islam and was the subject of numerous commentaries by mainstream Sufi scholars^[9] such as Ibn Hajar al-Haytami,^[10] Nazifi^[10] and Qastallani^[11] It was also studied by the Shafi'i hadith master Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (d. 852 A.H.) both by reading the text out loud to his teacher and by receiving it in writing from a transmitter who heard it directly from Busiri himself.^[12]

Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab considered the poem to be shirk (idolatory).^[13]

Al-Burda was the inspiration behind Ahmad Shawqi's poem, Nahj al-Burda [ar] which follows a similar style as well.

References

^ Blair & Bloom 1995, p. 113.
^ James 1983, p. 26.
^ "Anthology of Arabic Poems about the Prophet and the Faith of Islam Containing the Famous Poem of Al-Busaree". Archived from the original on 2009-12-10. Retrieved 2009-11-11.
^ "The poem of the scarf by Shaikh Faizullah Bhai B. A. – University of Bombay – Published by Taj Company Ltd". Archived from the original on 2009-12-10. Retrieved 2009-11-11.
^ "BBC – Religions – Islam: al-Burda". Retrieved 2016-12-17.
^ See section, "Popularity"
^ "Imam al-Busiri, The Mantle Adorned", Timothy Winter (Abdal Hakim Murad), (London: Quilliam Press, 2009)
^ 'The Mantle of Praise', see 'External links' below.
^ Meri, Josef W. (2005-10-31). Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. p. 166. ISBN 9781135455965.
^ ^a ^b Krätli, Graziano; Lydon, Ghislaine (2011-01-01). The Trans-Saharan Book Trade: Manuscript Culture, Arabic Literacy and Intellectual History in Muslim Africa. BRILL. p. 126. ISBN 978-9004187429.
^ Lewis, B.; Menage, V.L.; Pellat, Ch.; Schacht, J. (1997) [1st. pub. 1978]. Encyclopaedia of Islam. Vol. IV (Iran-Kha) (New ed.). Leiden, Netherlands: Brill. p. 737. ISBN 9004078193.
^ Sobieroj, Florian (2016-05-24). Variance in Arabic Manuscripts: Arabic Didactic Poems from the Eleventh to the Seventeenth Centuries – Analysis of Textual Variance and Its Control in the Manuscripts. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. p. 65. ISBN 9783110460001.
^ Commins, David (2006-02-20). The Wahhabi Mission and Saudi Arabia. I.B.Tauris. pp. 59. ISBN 9781845110802. The Wahhai mission.

Bibliography

Blair, Sheila S.; Bloom, Jonathan M. (1995). The Art and Architecture of Islam. 1250 - 1800. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300058888.
James, David (1983). The Arab Book. Chester Beatty Library.

External links

Al-Burda on the BBC
Iqra.net: The Prophet's Mantle
Translation of al-Burda and other resources
MA Thesis: Understanding the Poem of the Burdah in Sufi Commentaries Archived 2012-02-04 at the Wayback Machine
The Mantle Adorned a translation by Timothy Winter