Qasida al-Burda

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Veneration for Muhammad

Islam and Honour for the Prophet

# Muhammad in Islam

Muhammad (also spelled Muhammed or Mohammed), is considered the last prophet in the Islamic religion as taught by the Qur'an.

Muslims believe that Muhammad is a messenger (rasul in Arabic) and prophet of God. He is also acknowledged as the last of Islam's prophets, including Ibrāhīm (Abraham), Dawood (David), Musa (Moses), Isa (Jesus), and others. Some Islamic scholars argue that Muhammad was foretold in the Bible. Muhammad is divine innocent (absolutely sinless) both in his every act, and in sense of transmitting the revelation, according to these verses from the Qur'an

"And if the messenger were to invent any sayings in Our name,
We should certainly seize him by his right hand,
And We should certainly then cut off the artery of his heart:
Nor could any of you withhold him (from Our wrath)."

—Sura Al-Haaqqa, ayat 44-47

Although some Western references like Catholic Encyclopedia regard Muhammad as the founder of Islam, Muslims believe that monotheistic faith was not created by a human but it was finally revealed by God to Muhammad.

Muslims do not worship Muhammad, due to the belief in the Oneness of God as stated in the Shahada. In addition, Muslims see him as a human being and not as a God or angel.

Muslims must follow Islamic prophet Muhammad, according to this verse from the Qur'an:

"O ye who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger, and those charged with authority among you. If ye differ in anything among yourselves, refer it to Allah and His Messenger, if ye do believe in Allah and the Last Day: That is best, and most suitable for final determination."

—Sura An-Nisa, ayat 59

According to Islamic tradition, when the angel Gabriel appeared to him at the Cave of Hira, the Qur'an, began to be revealed to him. His wife, Khadijah bint Khuwaylid, encouraged him to describe the events that happened in the cave, and convinced him that he was chosen as a prophet. The revelation of the Qur'an from God to Muhammad orally, through Gabriel, was finished after approximately twenty-three years.

Other than Qur'an, Hadith, narrations originating from the words and deeds of the Islamic prophet Muhammad is an important part of Islam. Muslims do not believe in Hadith as Divine Revelation, however they follow the Hadiths as Mohammad's teachings, as there is no distinction between Muhammad's teachings and to surrender to one God in Islam.

Muslims believe the Qur'an is the living miracle given to Muhammad by God, as the collection of the works which all are written in rhyme and meter, was revealed to an illiterate man. Some Muslims believe that there are other miracles of Muhammad. For example, some Muslim commentators and some Western scholars have interpreted the Sura Al-Qamar as referring to Muhammad splitting the Moon in view of the Quraysh when they began persecuting his followers.

Sufi views

Sufis believe that Muhammad is alive with the power of invisibility; his spirit pervades the world and can be reached by true seekers.

Shia beliefs

In Shia'ism, Muhammad is free from sins as the doctrine of sinlessness called Ismah states. This doctrine literally means 'protection' and is generally translated as "sinlessness". Protection is believed to be of three types of "Protection from mistake in receiving the revelation from Allah", "Protection from mistake in conveying the revelation of Allah" and "Protection from sins." It is believed that all the prophets in Islam, Fatima, and the twelve descendants of Muhammad through Fatima are sinless.

The Twelver Shi'a teaches that Muhammad, Fatima together with the twelve descendants of Muhammad through Fatima are purified by God (See the Event of the Cloak). They are commonly called The Fourteen Infallibles. Though The Fourteen Infallibles are human being and may be tempted by Satan towards sin, it is believed that they will be helped by God to overcome Satan's temptations. The following verse of Qur'an is sometimes cited to prove this position.

(Iblis) said: "O my Lord! because Thou hast put me in the wrong, I will make (wrong) fair-seeming to them on the earth, and I will put them all in the wrong,-

"Except Thy servants among them, sincere and purified (by Thy Grace)."

—Sura Al-Hijr, ayah 39-40

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# Qasida al-Burda

Qasidat al-Burda ("Poem of the Mantle") is an ode of praise for the Islamic prophet Muhammad composed by the eminent Sufi, Imam al-Busiri.

The poem, whose actual title is "Celestial Lights in Praise of the Best of Creation", is famous mainly in the Sunni Muslim world. It is entirely in praise of Muhammad, who cured the poet of paralysis by appearing to him in a dream and wrapping him in a mantle or scarf. It was written in 1240 C.E.

Sufi Muslims have traditionally venerated the verses. The poem is memorized and recited in congregations, and its verses decorate the walls of public buildings and mosques. This poem decorated Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (the Prophet's Mosque) in Medina for centuries but was erased but for two lines under the Saudi dynasty. Some Muslims believe that, if recited with love and devotion, the Burda can cure diseases and purify hearts. Over 90 commentaries have been written on this poem and it has been translated into many languages.

While majority of the poem is consistent with Islamic teachings, many scholars have criticized parts of the poem for apparent shirk. Some verses supposedly elevate the Prophet Muhammad(alayhi salam) to the status of Allah by associating attributes that are unique to Allah, such as "This world and the Hereafter are part of what you control, and part of your knowledge is the knowledge of al-Lawh al-Mahfooz and the Pen", which contradicts Sahih hadiths, such as the prophet forbidding a girl to claim he knows what will happen in the future. Claims have been made that this contradicts verses in the Quran, such as the chapter, Al-Infitar 82:17-19, which states that nobody has control of the world except Allah. Another example, "And who else there, besides you, who I can call out, at times of distress and problems?", contradicts various verses of the Quran which call on Muslims to call out to Allah.

The Burda is divided into 10 chapters and 160 verses. Interspersing the verses is the refrain, "My Master, descend peace and blessings continuously and eternally on Your Beloved, the Best of All Creation".

مولاي صلي و سلم دائما أبدا على حبيبك خير الخلق كلهم

Each verse ends with the Arabic letter meem, a style called mīmīya.

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# BBC:

The al-Burda is an Arabic poem honouring the Prophet Muhammad. It was written in the 11th century by Imam al-Busiri during his illness.

al-Burda

The al-Burda, also called Qasida (hymn) Burda, is an Arabic poem honouring the Prophet Muhammad. The name means 'poem of the mantle' or 'of the cloak'.

It was written in the 11th century by Imam al-Busiri and forms part of a vast body of literature in praise of the Prophet that emerged from an Islamic culture where seeking knowledge of him was encouraged. Imam Al-Busiri both acknowledges this and the shortcomings of describing the Prophet in the poem itself.

"He is like the sun, small to the eye when seen from afar,
But when glimpsed close up. It dazzles and overwhelms."

The famous Mamluke minister Ibn Hinna, who served under the legendry sultan Barbys, took Imam al-Busiri under his patronage and freed him to write his poems in material security.

However, art often suffers when the artist is freed from suffering, and comes to life when calamities call. His greatest poem would result from a powerful tribulation: he woke up to find he was paralysed; half his body without movement. Suddenly, this man, whose erudition and art had elevated him to the status of prince of poets of his time, was reduced to an invalid unable to rise from his bed. This state of affliction stirred him to write the Burda.


Imam al-Busiri died in Alexandria, Egypt in the year 1295 CE. His grave is well known and is connected to a large mosque. His poem embellishes its walls.

The Burda was also engraved on the Prophet's mosque in Madina. There it adorned its walls and reminded believers for centuries before being erased by people who could not comprehend it. There is still one line left that has not been removed:

"He is the beloved whose intercession is hoped for
As arms against a host of relentless calamities."

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# AN ANALYSIS OF THE POEM

Beginning with an exquisite allusion to the subject matter in accordance with the almost established custom of introducing poems with Love Description, the poem gives a short description of the woeful plight of a tender lover during his separation from his sweetheart. This kind of introduction being incongruous to the sublime and grave subject of the poem, the poet, in trying to avoid this uncongruity, artfully gives it a better turn by calling in the agency of the reproachers, who come to discover his secret love, betrayed by his tears and pale colour. Naturally availing himself of the opportunity to expostulate with the lover, he exhorts him to give upsuch light pursuits as being inconsistent with his old age. While pointing out what the old age requires him to do instead, while showing the manner in which it peremptorily bids him refrain from the indulgence of lust and passions, and while proposing to himself to make the best amends for the time he wasted therein, he slyly glides into his subject, the panegyrics of the Prophet (God's Grace be with him).

Proceeding to mention how the Prophet abstained from wordly indulgences, how he called people to the won ship of one God, how he excelled all the noble prophets that preceded him in social, moral and mental Qualities, how he was then as a reward, invested by God with the enviable rank of a favourite, the poet tells us how mankind, at all times, being at a Loss to comprehend his true nature, not with standing his kindly taking every care not to try them with anything, beyond their capacity, had to admit his claims to every greatness and excellence, short only of divinity, he being but a human being after all; and how, while he stood so high among the prophets, and commanded the best respect of the people, he was always extremely affable, polite, accessible and gentle to his people.

The poet is here naturally led in a poetic strain to sing of the wonderful and supernatural incidents that occurred at the time of the Prophet's birth and predicted his high mission.

He then sings of the few out of many miracles showed by him in support of the truth of his mission, the greatest of them being the glorious and the inimitable Quran and the Ascension of the Prophet to the heavens, ending with his being invested by God with honours and ranks too high for any other prophet to attain.

Thus giving a short and lively description of the warlike deeds of the Prophet and of his noble disciples, who assisted him with their military achievements in support of his high mission the poet assures us how ready and prompt he is in defending his own people against any calamities and in helping them in their distress.

At this stage the poet, reflecting on his past life and regretting the waste of his energies in serving and eulogising wordly people, which would rather compromise his interest in the good of the next world, makes amends by devoutly offering the poem to the Prophet, and tenders his apology, feeling confident in the generosity of the Prophet and the promises held forth by him to his people, which leave him no reason for despair even in spite of the enormity of his sins. Then gently hinting at the object he asks for, and not coveting the gain of any wordly good (155), he invokes the promised intercession of the Prophet on his behalf on the Day of Judgement for the pardon of his sins and crimes, and thus consoles his despairing sinful conscience.

After a short prayer for himself he finishes the poem very elegantly and appropriately, with invoking the eternal blessings of God on the head of the Prophet, his followers and his posterity, in well-rounded lines.

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# THE POEM OF THE SCARF

Translated by Shaikh Faizullah Bhai.


Is it from the recollection of friends at Zu-salam, that thou haste mixed the tears, flowing from thy eyes, with blood?

Or is i' because the wind has blown from the direction of Kazimah? or is it because lightning has flashed in the darkness of night, from the mount of Izam?

What is the matter with thy two eyes, that the more I tell them to desist from tears, the more they flow; and what is the matter with thy heart, that the more I ask it to come to its senses, the more it is distracted by love?


Does the ardent lover think that his love can remain secret while his eyes are shedding tears and his heart is glowing with ardent low ?

Had it not been for love, thou shouldst not have shed tears at the ruined abode of thy friend, nor shouldst thou have lost sleep at the recollection of the cypress and the high mountain.

How durst thou deny thy love after the evidence, given against thee by such equitable witnesses as thy tears and illness ?

And even now that thy ardent love has stamped on thy two cheeks the two lines of tears and emaciation like Buphthalmus and Carob tree fruit.

Yes, the phantom of the sweetheart, whom I love, "visited me at night and drove away my sleep.. And love interrupts pleasures with pain.

O thou, who reproaches" me regarding my love for one of the tribe of ' Uzrah, excuse me and shouldst thou do me justice, thou wouldst not reproach me.


May my evil plight pass on to thee; for, neither is my secret concealed from my revellers, nor can my disease stand a check.

Thou hast sincerely offered me admonition; but I would not heed it; indeed, the lover is deaf to his reproaching critics.

Verily, I regarded the monitor of grey hair with suspicion in his censures passed on me; whereas grey hair is the farthest removed from suspicions in his censure.


For, my soul, which incites me to evil deeds, takes no lesson on account of its folly, from the warning grey hair and decrepitude.

Nor has he prepared a feast of good deeds for entertaining a guest, that has lodged in my head without any reserve.

Had I known that I would not be able to revere him, I should have tried to conceal his secret, which is now disclosed, by means of a dyed


Who can guarantee me to restrain refractory passions from their error, just as Manageable horses are curbed by bridles?
Do not try to subdue its appetite by means afillicit indulgence; for' verily, food increases more and more the appetite of a glutton.

And the soul is like a child, who, if thou indulgest him, will grow up with the love of sucking, but will keep away if you wean him.

Then, check its inclinations and take care, lest thou allowst it mastery over thee; for certainly, the lust, whenever it gets power, gives either a mortal blow or tarnishes the character.

Watch it well, while it is pasturing on the field of its actions; and should it make choice of any pasture, do not let it roam free, lest the choice prove unwholesome.

How often does it make a man approve of a deadly pleasure; since he does not know that there is poison in the fat?
And fear the secret machinations both of hunger and satiety' for, sometimes hunger is more mischievous than indigestion.


And shed tears unsparingly from the eye, which has been full of forbidden sights, and keep strictly to abstinence, In the shape of penitential exercises.

And resist both the self and Satan and disobey them, and should they sincerely offer thee any advice, regard them with suspicion.

And do not listen to them either as a litigant or an arbitrator; for, thou well knowest the tactics of such a litigant and arbitrator.

I ask God to pardon me for preaching without practice: for wearily thereby I claim offspring for a barren person.

I recommended fee practice of virtue to thee, but I did not myself conform to it; I did not keep to it; what, then, can be the effect of my telling thee to keep to it?

Nor have I provided myself with any voluntary devotions against the next world before the approach of death; nor have I offered any other than the compulsory devotion, nor have I observed any fasts.


I transgressed the law of the Prophet, who passed the night in adoration, until his feet complained of injury from pain.

He tied his bowels on account of hunger, and bound his waist with folds of delicate skin with a stone in it.

High mountains of gold tempted him, but he showed them extreme haughtiness.


Hi' poverty urged him to be indifferent to them,' for poverty never prevails over the immaculate.

And how could poverty incite one to worldly prosperity, for whom had it not been, the world should not have come out of nonentity ?

- Mohammed is the lord of the two worlds and of the two noble creations (men and genii) and of the two nations, namely, Arabs and non-Arabs.

He is our Prophet, who enjoined us to do good, and who prohibited us from doing wrong, because there is none more veracious than he in saying, 'no' or 'yes.'

He is the favourite of God, whose intercession is to be hoped for in every kind of surprising distress.

He called the people to God; so those who cling to him, cling to a rope which never snaps.


He surpassed all the prophets, troth in physical and moral qualities; while they did not approach him either in knowledge or in noble nature.

All of them obtained from the Messenger of God merely handfuls of water from the ocean, or sippings from continuous rains

They stop before him at their assigned limits: either of a point of knowledge or of a figure of philosophy

For, he is one in whom both the inward and the outward form attained to perfection, and then the Creator of the soul chose him as His favourite.

He has no competitor in his noble qualities, for, the substance of goodness in his nature is indivisible

Discard what the Christians claim for their Prophet, and then decide and judge as you like of him as a matter of praise.


You may then ascribe to his person any noble quality you which and you may attribute to his dignity as much of greatness as you desire.

For, verily, the excellence of the apostle of God has no bounds for, if, it had, a speaker might be able to express it with his mortal mouth.

If his miracles were proportionate to his high rank in greatness, his name should, when invoked, have resuscitated rotten bones.

He did not try us with what should confound our mental powers, out of keen interest in us; and consequently, neither were we suspicious about the genuineness of his mission, nor were we distracted by his doctrines.


His inner nature kept the people away from apprehending it, and so there was not found, near or far, a single man who was able to express himself regarding it.

He is like the sun, which appears small to the eyes from a distance, but dazzles the eye from near.

The intellects of the people were perplexed regarding his real nature, and so their descriptions of him were merely hypothetical resembling the interpretations of dreams.

I did not see anything remote from their reality or approximate to it, but was unintelligible.

And can sleepy people in this world, who neglecting him contented themselves with vague reveries, comprehend his real nature?


So, the extreme range of our knowledge regarding him is that he is a man and that he is the best of the creatures of God.

And all the signs, that the noble prophets have brought, have merely been derived by them from his light.

For, he is the sun of excellence and they are the stars, which show their lights to the people, only in the dark.

So that when he shone in this world, his light spread over the world, and gave life to all the nations.
How noble are the physical qualities of a prophet, adorned with good nature; who was invested with beauty, and distinguished by cheerfulness.

He is like the flower in its freshness; and tiles full moon in its splendour; and the ocean in its copiousness; and time in its irresistible courage.

Even when he is alone, its appears on account of his majestic dignity, as if he were in the midst of a large army and retinue.
And he was so eloquent that it seemed as if there were pearls, well preserved in the oyster, in his two mines of speaking and smiling.


No perfume equals the dust, which contains his bones; may good luck come to him who smells and kisses it!

His birth showed distinctly his good origin Oh! The excellence of his beginning and his end.

It was a day from which the Persians discovered that they were warned with the approach of misfortune and punishment.

And the palace of Kisra was affected with rents in its walls', just as his army was scattered up not to unite again'

The flames of his fire subsided from regret for him' while the river had a sleepless eye from excessive grief '


Sawah was troubled with the subsidence of the waters of its lake, while every one, who went there thirsty' had to return angry with the disappointment.]

As if the fire was struck with the moisture of the water out of grief, while the water was affected by the blazing of the fire.

While the genii were shouting’ and lights were glistening’ and truth was displaying itself both literally and metaphorically'

They were blind and they were deaf; the explicit good tidings of his birth were not heard, and the lightning of warning was not seen by them;


After that the soothsayer had informed the people that their crooked creed would stand no longer'

And after that they had witnessed shooting stars on the horizon, falling, just as idols were falling on the earth'

Until the devils fled one after another away from the track of the descent of the Revelation, from heaven.


In their flight they seemed as if they were the brave warriors of Abrahah, or an army put to flight when shot with pebbles from his hands;


Which he threw after their praying in his hands' just as fonas when he praised God was thrown out from the stomach of the swallowing fish.

Do not deny his dreams to be a kind of revelation' for, surely, he had, a heart, which never slept while the eyes were asleep.

That was at the time of his attaining maturity in his prophetship’ and consequently, the condition of an adult in mental power, cannot be denied to exist in him.

God be blessed; revelation is not a quality to be acquired' nor is the Prophet to be suspected regarding the mysteries, he knew by revelation.


How often has his hand granted freedom from diseases with the touch’ and set idiots free from the fetters of madness'
And his prayer revived the starlings year of famine' which abounded in harvest until it resembled in its fame a white conspicuous spot on the forehead of black times'
By means of a cloud which rained so abundantly, that you would think the large valleys were inundated by the ocean or by a torrent overflowing the Dam'


The trees came at his bidding, prostrating them selves, while they walked towards him on stems without feet.

They were effacing along their way of walking the marks of their prostration, but their very obliteration betrayed the traces on their middle path;

As though they drew ruling lines for the wonderful writings written by the boughs as if they were pens;
Just as the cloud did, which followed him wherever he went' sheltering him from the intense heat, as that of an oven, blazing in the high noon.


I swear by the Moon, which splits’ into two at his bidding, and ver that verily, it bears a similarity to his heart, which shows the veracity of my oath.

What the Cave contained of excellent qualities and noble deeds in his person kept his enemies of, while every eye of the infidels was blind to him.

Then the Truth and the True were at the Cave, which they did not quit; while people said that there was nobody in the Cave.


The people thought that the doves and the spiders did not weave webs and did not hover over the Prophet, the best of man kind'

The protection of Clod made him dispense with double armours and high castles.

Time never caused me any wrong while I sought his protection, but I received a shelter from him, which were not abused

I did not beg for the wealth of the two worlds from his hand, but I received an ample donation from the best hand that was ever kissed.

Leave me to describe’ his many miracles that appeared as conspicuous as the fire of hospitality at night on a high mountain.

For the pearl indeed displays greater beauty when it is strung, but it loses nothing in value when unstrung.

For, the aspirations of eulogy dare not aim at the noble dispositions and the innate qualities, which he possessed.


The verses are the signs of truth descended from God, newly created as well as eternal’, which is an attribute of God, Who is described as Eternal.

They are not connected with any period of time, while they tell us of the future of the world, as well as of 'Ad and of Iram.


They remained forever with us, and so they excelled every miracle of the other prophets, since the latter appeared, but lasted not'

They were never opposed by any eloquent writers, but the most bitter of the opponents turned away from the contest, tendering submission to them'

Their eloquence rejected the claims of their opponent, just as a jealous husband keeps off the hand of a transgressor from his harem.

They have innate ideas, which are like the waves of the sea in their abundant flow' but superior to its pearls in beauty and value.

The wonders of the Koran cannot be computed and comprehended completely; nor are they given up in disgust, notwithstanding repetition of reading.

They are confirmed and perspicuous' leaving no room for ambiguities to the advantage of any adversary, nor do they require any judge to decide their significance


The eye of their reader was contented with them, and I said to him; Verily, you have won the rope of Good, and so hold it fast.

'If you being afraid of the flame of the fire of Hell read them, you will put out the flame with their cold water.'

They are as clear and pure as Pond of the Prophet, the washing at which gives a fair complexion to the faces of the disobedient, when they come to it as black as coals’

They are like the Straight Bridge’ and like the Balance’ in their exact equilibrium and rectitude; so that equality cannot be established among the people without them.


Do not wonder at an envious opponent who denies them, pretending ignorance while he is most shrewd and intelligent.

The eye fails to see the light of the Sun from ophthalmia, and the mouth denies the taste of water from illness."

O thou best of those, to whose court the seekers of munificence resort, running and mounted on the backs of fleet camels'

Who art the greatest sign of God for a considerate thinker, and who art the noblest bounty of God for one who avails himself of it. Thou travelledst at night from one sacred place to another'

Just as the full moon travels through intense darkness’"


Thou continuedst ascending until thou attainedst a position at the distance of two cubit's length’ from God, such as has neither-been attained nor sought by any other.

In that position, all the prophets and apostles gave thee the precedence of a suzerain over feudatories'

While thou west passing by them, through the seven heavens, in a procession, wherein thou west the leader of the standard'

Until when thou leftst no goal of approach for any competitor to Precede' nor any place of ascent for any advancer'


Thou advancedst rendering every position inferior in comparison to shine when thou west addressed by God in exalted terms, as the unequalled lord of mankind;

In order that thou mightst win a union' with God, deeply concealed from the eyes of others, and a mystery, extremely abstruse.


So, thou acquiredst every glory, unshared by bothers' and thou passedst every position, not contested by others'

It was hardly possible for any other to attain the ranks conferred on thee; and the dimension of the bounties bestowed upon thee was great.

Happy news for us, O people of Islam! We have a strong and unyielding support from the providential favour.

Since God has nominated the Prophet, who called us to His worship, as the noblest of the prophets, we are, consequently, the noblest of the nations.

The news of his advent struck the hearts of his enemies with terror, just as a sudden alarm scares away heedless sheep.

He never ceased to encounter them in every scene of battle, until they were left by the effects of lances like flesh on shambles.

They chose flight, in so much so that they would almost envy the lot of those mangled corpses, which had been carried by vultures and eagles.


They were so very match terrified, that nights would pass away without their knowing the number so passed so long as they were not the nights of the sacred months'

As if it were, that the faith of Islam was a guest, that alight at their quarter with every brave warrior, greedy of the flesh of the enemies.

He used to lead an ocean of an army mounted on fleet horses; and would strike the enemy with a dashing wave of brave warriors;

Each of them volunteering himself for the cause of God, looking for a reward from Him, fighting with a resolutions, exterminating and destroying infidelity

Until the faith of Islam became, through their exertions, after her estrangement, honoured and exalt in society, with her ties of relationship firmly strengthened'

She was always taken care of by the Prophet as her most affectionate father and as her husband, and so she had to suffer neither orphanage nor widowhood.

They (i.e., the followers of the Prophet) were like mountains, and you may inquire about them of him who fought with them, as to what his experience was in each contest.


You may ask Hunain', You may ask Badr and you may ask Ohod’ which were reasons of destruction for the heathen more mischievous than an epidemic.

They brought out their swords, red with blood, after they were plunged into every black lock of hair of their enemies.


They wrote, with arrows marked with brown lines, on those parts of the bodies of the enemies which left untouched by like letters not dotted by panes'

They were completely clad in weapons; they had characteristic marks to distinguish them; —as the rose is distinguished by characteristic marks' from a thorny tree.

The winds of victory would bring; to you their fragrance so that you would think every brave man to be a flower in the bud diffusing perfume.

As though they were, when mounted on horseback, the plants of hills, on account of the strength of their resolution, and not of the tightness of their girths.

The hearts of the enemies flew with fear of their prowess; so that they could make no distinction between lambs and mighty warriors.

If lions encounter him' whose assistance is from the Apostle of God, in their own dens, they would have to grieve seriously.

You will never find any friend but conquering with his assistance, nor any foe but sustaining discomfiture


He lodged his people in the stronghold of his own creed, as lion lodges in the forest with its cubs.

The words of God baffled many a stubborn litigant regarding him, and their argument overcame' many a contending antagonist.

Such a vast knowledge in the Illiterate' in the Time of Ignorance' and also such an accomplishment in a state of orphanage' suffice you as a miracle.


I serve the Prophet with an eulogy, by means of which I ask to be pardoned for the sins of my life, that passed in writing verses on other subjects and in serving others;

Since my services to others have burdened me with a trouble, of the evil consequences of which I am afraid, as though I were, on the account, a camel led as a victim to e sacrifice'

I yielded to the misleading passions of youth, and I hit on nothing but sin and remorse.

Ah! The loss sustained by my soul in his dealing, for he neither exchanged faith for worldly goods nor negotiated for it.

He, who sells his future lot in the next world for his present worldly goods, will find himself, defrauded' both in the sale and in the negotiation.

If I have committed any crime, my covenant' with the Prophet is not likely to be violated; nor is ever my rope of relation to him likely-to be severed.


For, I have a security from him in my being called Mohammed'

While he is the most faithful of mankind as regards the fulfilment of his promises.

If he should not at my resurrection lift me up with the hand, out of kindness then I shall have to say to myself. "O. How perilous is the slip of the foot! "

He, the Prophet, is far from denying his protection to him who hopes co get It from him, or allowing his protege to return from him dishonoured.

Since I devoted my thoughts to his praises, I have found him to be the best asylum for my salvation.

His bounty will never escape from my hand, which has ruined itself with sins, for the rain causes flowers to bloom on rocks.

I did not covet the acquisition of the flowery wealth of the world, which the hands of Zuhair plucked through his praises of Haram'


O thou, most generous of mankind, I have no one to take refuge with, except thee, on the occurrence of the universal calamity'


And O Messenger of God! Thy dignity will not grudge my Salvation when the Bountiful God will appear in the capacity of the Punisher, on the day o f judgement.

For, among your bounties, are this Lower World, and its rival, the Next: end among your varieties of knowledge, is the knowledge of the Table' and o f the Pen'

O my soul! Do not despond on account of any serious fault that may be great; for, enormous crimes, when pardoned? dwindle info
small one.
Perchance, the Mercy of God, ``hen He will distribute it! will fall to thy lot in proportion to thy diaobedience'

O my Lord, save my hopes from thee from being frutrated' and make my account of deeds free from faults'

Be kind to thy servant in both the worlds; for, his patience is apt to run away from dangers, whenever they call it forth,


And order perpetual clouds of blessing to descend from thee on the Prophet, charged with every kind of rain, abundant and gentle;

And on the posterity, and the companions and their followers, people of piety, clemency, and generosity;

As long as the east wind makes the branches of the cypress wave and the camel-drivers make the camels merry with their thrilling songs.

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