قصيدة البردة
Qasida Al Burdah
En

Chapter 4

ﷺ ON HIS BIRTH

مَوْلَاىَ صَلِّ وَسَلِّمْ دَائِمًا أَبَدًا
عَلَى حَبِيبِكَ خَيْرِ الخَلْقِ كُلِّهِمِ
mawlā’a ṣalli wasallim dā’iman abadan
ʿalā ḥabībika khayril khalqi kullihimi
O my Lord, bless and grant peace always and forever
Upon Your beloved one, the Best of all Creation
أَبَانَ مَوْلِدُهُ عَنْ طِيبِ عُنْصُرِهِ
يَا طِيبَ مُبْتَدَإٍ مِنْهُ وَمُخْتَتَمِ
abāna mawliduhu ʿan ṭībi ʿunṣurihi
yā ṭība mubtada’in minhu wamukhtatami
His birth made clear the purity of his origin,
O how pure his beginning and his end!
يَوْمٌ تَفَرَّسَ فِيهِ الفُرْسُ أَنَّهُمُ
قَدْ أُنْذِرُوا بِحُلُولِ البُؤْسِ وَالنِّقَمِ
yawmun tafarrasa fīhil fursu annahumu
qad undhirū biḥulūlil bu’si wan niqami
On that day, the Persians realized they had been warned
Of the onset of misery and disasters
وَبَاتَ إِيوَانُ كِسْرَى وَهُوَ مُنْصَدِعٌ
كَشَمْلِ أَصْحَابِ كِسْرَى غَيْرَ مُلْتَئِمِ
wabāta īwānu kisrā wahuwa munṣadiʿun
kashamli aṣḥābi kisrā ghayra multa’imi
That very night a crack appeared in the Arch of Chosroes,
Just as the unity and cohesion of his people was forever lost
وَالنَّارُ خَامِدَةُ الأَنْفَاسِ مِنْ أَسَفٍ
عَلَيْهِ وَالنَّهْرُ سَاهِي العَيْنِ مِنْ سَدَمِ
wan nāru khāmidatul anfāsi min asafin
ʿalayhi wan nahru sāhīl ʿayni min sadami
The fire, out of grief for the loss, breathed its last,
And the river was distracted from its course by sorrow
وَسَاءَ سَاوَةَ أَنْ غَاضَتْ بُحَيْرَتُهَا
وَرُدَّ وَارِدُهَا بِالغَيْظِ حِينَ ظَمِي
wasā’a sāwata an ghāḍat buḥayratuhā
warudda wāriduhā bil ghayẓi ḥīna ẓamī
Sawa was troubled as the waters of its lake receded,
And the one who came to drink from it returned raging with thirst
كَأَنَّ بِالنَّارِ مَا بِالمَاءِ مِنْ بَلَلٍ
حُزْنًا وَبِالمَاءِ مَا بِالنَّارِ مِنْ ضَرَمِ
ka anna bin nāri mā bil mā’i min balalin
ḥuznan wabil mā’i mā bin nāri min ḍarami
It was as though, from grief, the fire took on water’s wetness,
And water took on the blazing dryness of the fire
وَالجِنُّ تَهْتِفُ وَالأَنْوَارُ سَاطِعَةٌ
وَالحَقُّ يَظْهَرُ مِنْ مَعْنىً وَمِنْ كَلِمِ
wal jinnu tahtifu wal anwāru sāṭiʿatun
wal ḥaqqu yaẓharu min maʿnan wamin kalimi
The jinn were shrieking, and the lights were flashing out,
As the truth was made manifest in both meaning and word
عَمُوا وَصَمُّوا فَإِعْلاَنُ البَشَائِرِ لَمْ
يُسْمَعْ وَبَارِقَةُ الإِنْذَارِ لَمْ تُشَمِ
ʿamū waṣammū fa iʿlanul bashā’iri lam
yusmaʿ wabāriqatul indhāri lam tushami
But blind and deaf, the Persians did not hear the happy tidings,
Neither did they see the flash of warning signs
مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا أَخْبَرَ الأَقْوَامَ كَاهِنُهُمْ
بِأَنَّ دِينَهُمُ المُعْوَجَّ لَمْ يَقُمِ
min baʿdi mā akhbaral aqwāma kāhinuhum
bi anna dīnahumul muʿwajja lam yaqumi
Even after the people’s own soothsayers had told them
That their crooked old religion could not last
وَبَعْدَمَا عَايَنُوا فِي الأُفْقِ مِنْ شُهُبٍ
مُنْقَضَّةٍ وَفْقَ مَا فِي الأَرْضِ مِنْ صَنَمِ
wabaʿdamā ʿāyanū fīl ufqi min shuhubin
munqaḍḍatin wafqa mā fīl arḍi min ṣanami
And after they had seen shooting stars away on the horizon,
Falling from the heavens, just as the idols were falling on earth
حَتَّى غَدَا عَنْ طَرِيقِ الوَحْيِ مُنْهَزِمٌ
مِنَ الشَّيَاطِينِ يَقْفُوا إِثْرَ مُنْهَزِمِ
ḥattā ghadā ʿan ṭarīqil waḥyi munhazimun
minash shayāṭīni yaqfū ithra munhazimi
Until even the devils were routed, fleeing from the path of revelation,
Following after others as they fled
كَأَنَّهُمْ هَرَبًا أَبْطَالُ أَبْرَهَةٍ
أَوْ عَسْكَرٍ بِالحَصَى مِنْ رَاحَتَيْهِ رُمِي
ka annahum haraban abṭālu abrahatin
aw ʿaskarin bil ḥaṣā min rāḥatayhi rumī
They were fleeing just like Abraha’s warriors,
Or like the army scattered by pebbles thrown From the Prophet’s own hand
نَبْذًا بِهِ بَعْدَ تَسْبِيحٍ بِبَطْنِهِمَا
نَبْذَ المُسَبِّحِ مِنْ أَحْشَاءِ مُلْتَقِمِ
nabdhan bihi baʿda tasbīḥin bibaṭnihimā
nabdhal musabbiḥi min aḥshā’i multaqimi
Thrown by him after glorifying God in the palm of his hand,
As the one who glorified his Lord was thrown out From the belly of the whale