Nahj al-Burda (Rim 'ala al-Qa')
نهج البردة
Nahj al-Burda, "On the Path of the Burda", is a long poem in praise of the Prophet Muhammad by the Egyptian poet Ahmed Shawqi, the "Prince of Poets". Its opening line, "Rim 'ala al-qa'", became famous across the Arab world through Umm Kulthum's 1946 performance.
- Written by
- Ahmed Shawqi (died 1932)
- In the video
- Umm Kulthum
- Context
- Poem by Ahmed Shawqi (1910) in praise of the Prophet, modelled on al-Busiri's Burda; sung by Umm Kulthum
- Year
- 1910
- Language
- Arabic
Nahj al-Burda (Rim 'ala al-Qa') lyrics with English translation
The first eight verses of a poem of about 190 verses; each verse is shown as two half-lines. Umm Kulthum's performance uses a selection of verses.
ريمٌ على القاعِ بينَ البانِ والعَلَمِ أحلَّ سفكَ دمي في الأشهرِ الحُرُمِ
Rīmun ʿala l-qāʿi bayna l-bāni wa-l-ʿalami aḥalla safka damī fi l-ashhuri l-ḥurumi
A young gazelle in the valley, between the ban trees and the mountain, has made it lawful to shed my blood even in the sacred months.
رمى القضاءُ بعيني جؤذرٍ أسدًا يا ساكنَ القاعِ أدركْ ساكنَ الأجمِ
Ramā l-qaḍāʾu bi-ʿaynay juʾdhurin asadan yā sākina l-qāʿi adrik sākina l-ajami
Fate has shot a lion with the eyes of a fawn: O dweller of the valley, rescue the dweller of the thicket!
لمّا رنا حدَّثتني النفسُ قائلةً يا ويحَ جنبِكَ بالسهمِ المصيبِ رُمي
Lammā ranā ḥaddathatni n-nafsu qāʾilatan yā wayḥa janbika bi-s-sahmi l-muṣībi rumī
When it gazed at me, my soul spoke and said: "Alas for your side, struck by the arrow that never misses."
جحدتُها وكتمتُ السهمَ في كبدي جرحُ الأحبةِ عندي غيرُ ذي ألمِ
Jaḥadtuhā wa-katamtu s-sahma fī kabidī jurḥu l-aḥibbati ʿindī ghayru dhī alami
I denied it and hid the arrow in my heart; for me, a wound from those I love brings no pain.
رُزقتَ أسمحَ ما في الناسِ من خُلُقٍ إذا رُزقتَ التماسَ العذرِ في الشِّيَمِ
Ruziqta asmaḥa mā fi n-nāsi min khuluqin idhā ruziqta ltimāsa l-ʿudhri fi sh-shiyami
You have been given the finest trait a person can have if you have been given the habit of making excuses for others.
يا لائمي في هواهُ والهوى قدرٌ لو شفَّكَ الوجدُ لم تعذلْ ولم تلمِ
Yā lāʾimī fī hawāhu wa-l-hawā qadarun law shaffaka l-wajdu lam taʿdhil wa-lam talumi
You who blame me for loving him, when love is destiny: if longing had worn you thin, you would neither reproach nor blame.
لقد أنلتُكَ أُذنًا غيرَ واعيةٍ ورُبَّ مُنتصتٍ والقلبُ في صممِ
Laqad analtuka udhnan ghayra wāʿiyatin wa-rubba muntaṣitin wa-l-qalbu fī ṣamami
I have lent you an ear that does not take in your words; many seem to listen while the heart stays deaf.
يا ناعسَ الطرفِ لا ذقتَ الهوى أبدًا أسهرتَ مُضناكَ في حفظِ الهوى فنمِ
Yā nāʿisa ṭ-ṭarfi lā dhuqta l-hawā abadan asharta muḍnāka fī ḥifẓi l-hawā fa-nami
You with drowsy eyes, may you never taste love: you kept your lovesick one awake guarding love, so sleep.
Translation: Lyriccs (original translation). Transliteration: Lyriccs.
The story behind Nahj al-Burda (Rim 'ala al-Qa')
Ahmed Shawqi (1868-1932) was the leading Arabic poet of his generation and was hailed as Amir al-Shu'ara', the Prince of Poets, in 1927. In 1910 he wrote Nahj al-Burda as a deliberate homage to al-Busiri's thirteenth-century Burda, using the same metre and the same rhyme in mim.
The poem was published in Cairo in 1910 together with a commentary, Wadh al-Nahj, by Shaykh Salim al-Bishri, the Shaykh of al-Azhar. Like its model, it opens with a love prelude before turning to the Prophet's life and message.
In 1946 Umm Kulthum sang a selection of its verses to a melody by Riad al-Sunbati. This page carries only Shawqi's text; the musical setting and recordings are separate works.
What Nahj al-Burda (Rim 'ala al-Qa') means
Shawqi begins with the conventions of the Arabic love prelude. A gazelle-eyed beauty in a valley has "made my blood lawful", even in the sacred months when fighting was forbidden: the lover is helpless before a glance.
The images play on reversals: a lion struck down by a fawn, a wound that brings no pain, a critic who seems to listen but hears nothing. The poet asks the one who blames him to see that love is destiny.
The prelude prepares for the poem's real subject. Just as in al-Busiri's Burda, the lover's longing becomes longing for the Prophet, whom the later verses praise at length.
Quick facts
- Written by Ahmed Shawqi (1868-1932), the "Prince of Poets".
- Composed in 1910 in imitation of al-Busiri's Burda, with the same metre and mim rhyme.
- Published in 1910 with a commentary by Shaykh Salim al-Bishri of al-Azhar.
- Umm Kulthum sang selected verses in 1946 to a melody by Riad al-Sunbati.