Qasidat al-Burda (opening verses)
قصيدة البردة
The Qasidat al-Burda, the "Poem of the Mantle", is a 13th-century Arabic ode in praise of the Prophet Muhammad by the Egyptian poet al-Busiri. It is one of the most recited poems in the Muslim world, sung in gatherings from Morocco to Indonesia, usually with the refrain "Mawlaya salli wa sallim".
- Written by
- Sharaf al-Din al-Busiri (died 1294)
- Music
- Traditional
- In the video
- Mesut Kurtis
- Context
- al-Kawakib al-Durriyya fi Madh Khayr al-Bariyya ("The Shining Stars in Praise of the Best of Creation") by al-Busiri
- Year
- 13th century
- Language
- Arabic
Qasidat al-Burda (opening verses) lyrics with English translation
The first ten verses of a poem of about 160 verses; each verse is shown as two half-lines. The refrain "Mawlaya salli wa sallim" used in performance is not part of al-Busiri's opening section.
أمِنْ تذَكُّرِ جيرانٍ بذي سلمِ مزجتَ دمعاً جرى من مقلةٍ بدمِ
A-min tadhakkuri jīrānin bi-Dhī Salamin mazajta damʿan jarā min muqlatin bi-dami
Is it the memory of neighbours at Dhu Salam that made you mix with blood the tears flowing from your eye?
أمْ هبَّتِ الريحُ من تلقاءِ كاظمةٍ وأوْمَضَ البَرْقُ في الظلْماءِ مِنْ إضَمِ
Am habbati r-rīḥu min tilqāʾi Kāẓimatin wa-awmaḍa l-barqu fi ẓ-ẓalmāʾi min Iḍami
Or did the wind blow from the direction of Kazima, and lightning flash in the darkness over Idam?
فما لعينيكَ إن قلتَ اكففا هَمَتا ومَا لِقَلْبِك إنْ قُلْتَ اسْتَفِقْ يَهِمِ
Fa-mā li-ʿaynayka in qulta kfufā hamatā wa-mā li-qalbika in qulta stafiq yahimi
What is wrong with your eyes? Tell them to stop, and they pour all the more; what is wrong with your heart? Tell it to wake, and it wanders lost in love.
أَيَحْسَبُ الصَّبُّ أنَّ الحُبَّ مُنْكتِمٌ ما بَيْنَ مُنْسَجِم منهُ ومضطَرِمِ
A-yaḥsabu ṣ-ṣabbu anna l-ḥubba munkatimun mā bayna munsajimin minhu wa-muḍṭarimi
Does the lover think his love can stay hidden between tears that stream and a heart that burns?
لولاَ الهَوَى لَمْ تُرِقْ دَمْعاً عَلَى طَلَلٍ ولا أرقتَ لذكرِ البانِ والعَلمِ
Law-la l-hawā lam turiq damʿan ʿalā ṭalalin wa-lā ariqta li-dhikri l-bāni wa-l-ʿalami
If not for love you would not shed tears over a deserted campsite, nor lie awake remembering the ban tree and the mountain.
فكيفَ تُنْكِرُ حُبَّا بعدَ ما شَهِدَتْ بهِ عليكَ عدولُ الدَّمْعِ والسَّقَم
Fa-kayfa tunkiru ḥubban baʿda mā shahidat bihi ʿalayka ʿudūlu d-damʿi wa-s-saqami
How can you deny a love when tears and sickness, those honest witnesses, have testified against you?
وَأثْبَتَ الوجْدُ خَطَّيْ عَبْرَةٍ وضَنًى مِثْلَ البَهارِ عَلَى خَدَّيْكَ والعَنَمِ
Wa-athbata l-wajdu khaṭṭay ʿabratin wa-ḍanan mithla l-bahāri ʿalā khaddayka wa-l-ʿanami
Longing has drawn two lines on your cheeks, of weeping and of wasting, like yellow ox-eye flowers and red anam blossoms.
نعمْ سرى طيفُ من أهوى فأرقني والحُبُّ يَعْتَرِضُ اللَّذاتِ بالأَلَمِ
Naʿam sarā ṭayfu man ahwā fa-arraqanī wa-l-ḥubbu yaʿtariḍu l-ladhdhāti bi-l-alami
Yes, the image of the one I love came by night and kept me awake; love always crosses pleasure with pain.
يا لائِمِي في الهَوَى العُذْرِيِّ مَعْذِرَةً منِّي إليكَ ولو أنصفتَ لم تلُمِ
Yā lāʾimī fi l-hawa l-ʿudhriyyi maʿdhiratan minnī ilayka wa-law anṣafta lam talumi
You who blame me for a pure and chaste love, forgive me: if you were fair, you would not blame me.
عَدَتْكَ حالِيَ لا سِرِّي بمُسْتَتِرٍ عن الوُشاةِ ولادائي بمنحسمِ
ʿAdatka ḥāliya lā sirrī bi-mustatirin ʿani l-wushāti wa-lā dāʾī bi-munḥasimi
May my state never reach you! My secret is not hidden from the gossips, and my sickness shows no sign of ending.
Translation: Lyriccs (original translation). Transliteration: Lyriccs.
The story behind Qasidat al-Burda (opening verses)
Sharaf al-Din Muhammad al-Busiri (1211-1294) was a poet of Berber descent who lived in Egypt. According to the well-known account, he composed the poem after being struck by paralysis; the Prophet appeared to him in a dream and wrapped him in his mantle (burda), and he awoke cured. The poem takes its popular name from that story.
Its formal title is al-Kawakib al-Durriyya fi Madh Khayr al-Bariyya. It runs to about 160 verses, all rhyming in the letter mim, and moves from a traditional opening of love and longing through warnings against the self, praise of the Prophet, his birth, miracles and night journey, to a closing prayer for forgiveness.
The Burda has inspired hundreds of commentaries, translations and imitations, among them Ahmed Shawqi's Nahj al-Burda (1910). Verses from it have been written on the walls of mosques, and it is chanted at the Prophet's birthday, at funerals and in Sufi circles.
What Qasidat al-Burda (opening verses) means
The opening follows the old Arabic custom of beginning a poem with the lover's grief. The poet asks himself why he is weeping blood: is it the memory of friends at Dhu Salam, a breeze from Kazima, or lightning over Idam, places near Medina that point quietly towards the Prophet.
His eyes and heart betray him; tears and sickness are "honest witnesses" that he cannot deny his love. He asks the critic who blames him to excuse him, since the love is chaste and beyond his control.
These verses set up the whole poem. The longing first described as a lover's turns out to be longing for the Prophet, and the self-examination that follows leads to repentance and praise.
Quick facts
- Written by the Egyptian poet Sharaf al-Din al-Busiri (1211-1294).
- Its formal title is al-Kawakib al-Durriyya fi Madh Khayr al-Bariyya.
- Every verse ends in the letter mim, so it is also called a mimiyya.
- The name Burda (mantle) comes from the story of the poet's dream and cure.
- Ahmed Shawqi's Nahj al-Burda (1910) was written in imitation of it.