Al-Burda

Qasida e-Burda (, "Ode of the Mantle"), or al-Burda for short, is a poem from a long time ago. It talks about Muhammad and how wonderful he is. Al-Busiri, a scholar from Egypt, wrote it. The full name is "The Celestial Lights in Praise of the Best of Creation" ().

The poem is loved by many Muslims. It tells that al-Busiri was sick. He loved Muhammad very much. One night, Muhammad came in a dream and gave him a mantle (cloak). When al-Busiri woke up, he was well again.

Before this, Ka'b ibn Zuhayr wrote a poem called Al-Burda (also called Bānat Suʿād). He showed it to Muhammad after he became Muslim. Muhammad liked it and put his cloak on Ka'b. But the poem by al-Busiri became more famous, even though Muhammad had really wrapped Ka'b, not in a dream.

 Composition 

The Burda has ten chapters and 160 verses. All verses rhyme. A line is repeated many times:

"My Lord, send blessings and peace always 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. This is called mīmiyya. The ten chapters are:

 On love
 On warnings about the self
 On praise of Muhammad
 On his birth
 On his miracles
 On the high status and wonders of the Qur'an
 On Muhammad going to heaven
 On Muhammad’s struggles
 On asking for help through Muhammad
 On talking to God and asking for wishes

 Popularity 

Many Sufis love this poem. People memorize it, say it together, and put it on walls in mosques and buildings. It decorated Prophet's Mosque in Medina for many years, but now only two lines are left.

More than 90 books explain it. Timothy Winter made an English version."Imam al-Busiri, The Mantle Adorned", Timothy Winter (Abdal Hakim Murad), (London: Quilliam Press, 2009) It is also in Hausa, Persian, Urdu, Turkish, Berber languages, Punjabi, French, German, Sindhi, Saraiki, Norwegian, Chinese (called Tianfangshijing), and more.

Many Sunni Muslims say it every day or on special days like Mawlid. It is one of the most said poems in the world.

 Legacy 

The Burda is important in Sufi Islam. Many Sufi teachers wrote about it, like Ibn Hajar al-Haytami, Nazifi, and Qastallani.

Shafi'i scholar Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (d. 852 A.H.) read it with his teacher and from copies of al-Busiri.

Al-Burda gave ideas to Ahmad Shawqi for his poem .

 Related pages 
 Al-Busiri
 Salawat
 Islamic poetry

 References 

 Bibliography 

 Other websites 
 Qasida Burda website

Category:Works by Al-Busiri
Category:Islamic poetry
Category:Sufi literature
Category:Panegyrics
Category:Medieval Arabic poems
Category:Sunni literature
Category:Muhammad