Al-Burda

Qasīdat al-Burda(Arabic:قصيدة البردة,"Ode of the Mantle" ), oral-Burdafor short, is a thirteenth-century ode of praise forMuhammadcomposed by the eminentShadhilimystical-BusiriofEgypt.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 SunniMuslim 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 amantleor cloak; in the morning the poet discovers that God has cured him.^[3]^[4]

Illuminatedfrontispieceto the manuscript ofAl-Kawākib ad-durriyyabyAl-Busirimade for the sultanQaitbay.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.

Bānat Suʿād,a poem composed byKa'b ibn Zuhayrwas originally calledAl-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

TheBurdais divided into ten chapters and 160 verses, each rhyming with the other. Interspersing the verses is the refrain, "MyPatron,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 lettermīm,a style calledmīmiyya.The ten chapters of theBurdacomprise:

On Lyrical love yearnly
On Warnings about theCaprices of the Self
On thePraise of the Prophet
On HisBirth
On HisMiracles
On the Exalted Stature and Miraculous Merits of theQur'an
On theAscension of the Prophet
On theStruggleof God's Messenger
On SeekingIntercession through the Prophet
On Intimate Discourse and thePetitionof 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 andmosques.This poem decoratedProphet's MosqueinMedinafor centuries but was erased except for two lines.^[5]Over 90 commentaries have been written on this poem. It has been translated intoHausa,Persian,Urdu,Turkish,theBerber languages,Punjabi,English,French,German,Sindhi,Saraiki,Norwegian,Chinese(called Tianfangshijing), and other languages. It is known and recited by a large number ofSunni Muslims,ordinarily and on special occasions, such asMawlid,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 byTimothy Winterinto 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 mainstreamSufischolars^[9]such asIbn Hajar al-Haytami,^[10]Nazifi^[10]andQastallani^[11]It was also studied by theShafi'ihadith masterIbn 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-Wahhabconsidered the poem to beshirk(idolatory).^[13]

Al-Burda was the inspiration behindAhmad 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 fromthe originalon 2009-12-10.Retrieved2009-11-11.
^"The poem of the scarf by Shaikh Faizullah Bhai B. A. – University of Bombay – Published by Taj Company Ltd".Archived fromthe originalon 2009-12-10.Retrieved2009-11-11.
^"BBC – Religions – Islam: al-Burda".Retrieved2016-12-17.
^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 ^bKrätli, 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-Burdaon the BBC
Iqra.net: The Prophet's Mantle
Translation ofal-Burdaand other resources
MA Thesis: Understanding the Poem of the Burdah in Sufi Commentaries Archived2012-02-04 at theWayback Machine
The Mantle Adorneda translation byTimothy Winter