Excerpt from Shaykh Hamza Yusuf’s translation of the Burda of Imam Busiri: On The Praise of The Prophet, UPON HIM BE PRAYERS AND PEACE


I have neglected the path of the one who brought black nights
To life by praying, until even his feet swelled with distress.

To quell his hunger he tightened his midriff
By strapping stones to his soft and strong ribs.

Lofty mountains, to entice him, draped themselves in gold,
But he showed them a towering soul, perfectly content, without desire.

The extremity of his needs only confirmed his freedom from desire
Need never overshadows Virtue that is firmly rooted.

How could the need of such a man be answered by the world,
When without him this world would never have come into being!

Muhammad, lord of both worlds, lord of both species,
Lord of both assemblages Arabs and all others.

Our Prophet, commander of right, forbidder of wrong,
No soul kept his word more justly, whether ‘Yes’ or ‘No’

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

He called on God. Whoever clings to him
Clings to a rope that will never unravel nor break.

His form and character surpassed even the previous prophets,
And none have approached him in knowledge or nobility.

They all seek from the Messenger of God
Cupfuls from his ocean or sips from his unceasing rain.

They all stand before him according to their limits,
As if dots on his knowledge or diacritical marks on his wisdom.

He is the one whose meaning and form were perfected,
And then Originator of souls chose him as the beloved.

Incomparable, his beauty has no peer
The essence of beauty itself is in his nature.

Leave aside what the Christians have claimed for their Prophet
Then praise him as you like, but do so wisely.

Ascribe to his essence what you wish of honor,
Attribute to his exalted status what you will of greatness!

Truly, the Messenger of God’s bounty
Cannot be overstated by two lips and a tongue.
If a miracle could equal his stature in magnitude,
The mere mention of his name would revive decaying bones.

Concerned for our welfare, he did not confuse us with matters
We could not fathom, so we neither wandered nor wavered

Human beings cannot grasp his meaning
Even those at his side could not keep up with him.

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

How can slumberous souls in this world grasp his reality
Distracted as they are by the strength of their dreams?

The extent of what we know of him is this: He is a man,
And yet, without exception, he is the best of God’s creation.

All of the signs brought by the noble prophets before him
Came to them through his light alone.

He is bounteous sun and they her orbiting planets
She reveals their lights for humanity in the darkness of night

Until finally his light dawned on the horizon,
And his radiant guidance suffused the world and brought life to countless civilizations.

What excellence lies in the birth of a prophet adorned with such character!
Beauty itself shines forth from his smiling face!

Exquisite as a lily, illustrious as a full moon,
Magnanimous as the ocean, persistent as time.

Due to his majesty, even when alone,
He seemed surrounded by military might and cohorts of courtiers.

It is as if precious pearls, locked in their shells,
Poured from the treasury of his sweet mouth and smile.

As if, face to face with the sun,
Minds were forced to blink at the mere sight of him.

No perfume is as sweet as the ground that holds his bones.
What Paradise awaits the one who breathes its scent or brushed lips against its soil!




------------------------------------------------------------Guidance Magazine- Summer 2003 - Page 48-49