Qasida Burda - Chapter 3

ظَلَمْتُ سُنَّةَ مَنْ أَحْيَا الظَّلَامَ إِلَى
أَنِ اشْتَكَتْ قَدَمَاهُ الضُّرَّ مِنْ وَرَمِ
وَشَدَّ مِنْ سَغَبٍ أَحْشَاءَهُ وَطَوَى
تَحْتَ الحِجَارَةِ كَشْحًا مُتْرَفَ الأَدَمِ
وَرَاوَدَتْهُ الجِبَالُ الشُّمُّ مِنْ ذَهَبٍ
عَنْ نَفْسِهِ فَأَرَاهَا أَيَّمَا شَمَمِ
وَأَكَّدَتْ زُهْدَهُ فِيهَا ضَرُورَتُهُ
إِنَّ الضَّرُورَةَ لَا تَعْدُو عَلَى الْعِصَمِ
وَكَيْفَ تَدْعُو إِلَى الدُّنْيَا ضَرُورَةُ مَنْ
لَوْلَاهُ لَمْ تُخْرَجِ الدُّنْيَا مِنَ الْعَدَمِ
مُحَمَّدٌ سَيِّدُ الكَوْنَيْنِ وَالثَّقَلَيْـ
ـنِ وَالفَرِيقَيْنِ مِنْ عُرْبٍ وَمِنْ عَجَمِ
نَبِيُّنَا الآمِرُ النَّاهِي فَلَا أَحَدٌ
أَبَرَّ فِي قَوْلِ لَا مِنْهُ وَلَا نَعَمِ
هُوَ الحَبِيبُ الذِّي تُرْجَى شَفَاعَتُهُ
لِكُلِّ هَوْلٍ مِنَ الأَهْوَالِ مُقْتَحَمِ
دَعَا إِلَى اللهِ فَالْمُسْتَمْسِكُونَ بِهِ
مُسْتَمْسِكُونَ بِحَبْلٍ غَيْرِ مُنْفَصِمِ
فَاقَ النَبِيِّينَ فِي خَلْقٍ وَفِي خُلُقٍ
وَلَمْ يُدَانُوهُ فِي عِلْمٍ وَلَا كَرَمِ
وَكُلُّهُمْ مِنْ رَسُولِ اللهِ مُلْتَمِسٌ
غَرْفًا مِنَ البَحْرِ أَوْ رَشْفًا مِنَ الدِّيَمِ
وَوَاقِفُونَ لَدَيْهِ عِنْدَ حَدِّهِمِ
مِنْ نُقْطَةِ العِلْمِ أَوْ مِنْ شَكْلَةِ الحِكَمِ
فَهْوَ الَّذِي تَمَّ مَعْنَاهُ وَصُورَتُهُ
ثُمَّ اصْطَفَاهُ حَبِيبًا بَارِئُ النَّسَمِ
مُنَزَّهٌ عَنْ شَرِيكٍ فِي مَحَاسِنِهِ
فَجَوْهَرُ الحُسْنِ فِيهِ غَيْرُ مُنْقَسِمِ
دَعْ مَا ادَّعَتْهُ النَّصَارَى فِي نَبِيِّهِمِ
وَاحْكُمْ بِمَا شِئْتَ مَدْحًا فِيهِ وَاحْتَكِمِ
وَانْسُبْ إِلَى ذَاتِهِ مَا شِئْتَ مِنْ شَرَفٍ
وَانْسُبْ إِلَى قَدْرِهِ مَا شِئْتَ مِنْ عِظَمِ
فَإِنَّ فَضْلَ رَسُولِ اللهِ لَيْسَ لَهُ
حَدٌّ فَيُعْرِبَ عَنْهُ نَاطِقٌ بِفَمِ
لَوْ نَاسَبَتْ قَدْرَهُ آيَاتُهُ عِظَمًا
أَحْيَا اسْمُهُ حِينَ يُدْعَى دَارِسَ الرِّمَمِ
لَمْ يَمْتَحِنَّا بِمَا تَعْيَا الْعُقُولُ بِهِ
حِرْصًا عَلَيْنَا فَلَمْ نَرْتَبْ وَلَمْ نَهِمْ
أَعْيَا الوَرَى فَهْمُ مَعْنَاهُ فَلَيْسَ يُرَى
فِي القُرْبِ وَالْبُعْدِ فِيهِ غَيْرُ مُنْفَحِمِ
كَالشَّمْسِ تَظْهَرُ لِلْعَيْنَيْنِ مِنْ بُعُدٍ
صَغِيرَةً وَتُكِلُّ الطَّرْفَ مِنْ أَمَمِ
وَكَيْفَ يُدْرِكُ فِي الدُّنْيَا حَقِيقَتَهُ
قَوْمٌ نِيَامٌ تَسَلَّوْا عَنْهُ بِالحُلُمِ
فَمَبْلَغُ العِلْمِ فِيهِ أَنَّهُ بَشَرٌ
وَأَنَّهُ خَيْرُ خَلْقِ اللهِ كُلِّهِمِ
وَكُلُّ آيٍ أَتَى الرُّسْلُ الكِرَامُ بِهَا
فَإِنَّمَا اتَّصَلَتْ مِنْ نُوِرِهِ بِهِمِ
فَإِنَّهُ شَمْسُ فَضْلٍ هُمْ كَوَاكِبُهَا
يُظْهِرْنَ أَنْوَارَهَا لِلنَّاسِ فِي الظُّلَمِ
أَكْرِمْ بِخَلْقِ نَبِيٍّ زَانَهُ خُلُقٌ
بِالحُسْنِ مُشْتَمِلٍ بِالبِشْرِ مُتَّسِمِ
كَالزَّهْرِ فِي تَرَفٍ وَالبَدْرِ فِي شَرَفٍ
وَالبَحْرِ فِي كَرَمٍ وَالدَّهْرِ فِي هِمَمِ
كَأَنَّهُ وَهْوَ فَرْدٌ مِنْ جَلَالَتِهِ
فِي عَسْكَرٍ حِينَ تَلْقَاهُ وَفِي حَشَمِ
كَأَنَّمَا اللُّؤْلُؤُ المَكْنُونُ فِي صَدَفٍ
مِنْ مَعْدِنَيْ مَنْطِقٍ مِنْهُ وَمُبْتَسِمِ
لَا طِيبَ يَعْدِلُ تُرْبًا ضَمَّ أَعْظُمَهُ
طُوبَى لِمُنْتَشِقٍ مِنْهُ وَمُلْتَثِمِ

I have wronged the Sunna of him who enlivened the dark nights
By praying till his feet complained of painful swelling.
He placed a stone over his belly and soft skin,
Tightening a belt over it to diminish the hunger pangs.
Lofty mountains tried, to tempt him with turning to gold,
But he showed them the height of his own loftiness!
His dire neediness only strengthened his detachment;
neediness like his never leads to transgression.
How could need tempt him with worldliness, when but for him
The world would not have emerged from non-existence?
Muhammad is the master of both abodes, of both kinds,
And both classes [of people]: Arabs and non-Arabs.
Our Prophet, who commands and who forbids;
None is more true than him in saying “yes” or “no”.
He is the Beloved whose intercession is hoped for,
Victorious over every terror and disaster.
He called [people] to Allah, so those who hold fast to him
Are holding fast to a rope that never shall break.
He excelled the other Prophets in form and qualities;
Their knowledge and nobility did not come near his.
They all seek something from Allah’s Emissary –
handfuls from the sea, or small sips of drizzle.
They all stand before him, observing their limits;
Dots to his knowledge, or vowel-marks to his wisdom.
It is he whose meaning and form attained perfection
Then the Maker of Souls chose him for His beloved.
Exalted above having a rival in his perfections;
In him is the undivided essence of beauty.
Eschew the claim Christians have made for their Prophet.
Then say in his praise what you will, but wisely!
Ascribe whatever honour you will to his essence,
And ascribe what greatness you will to his worth;
For the worth of Allah’s Emissary has no limit
That could be expressed by a human mouth.
If his miracles were commensurate with his greatness,
The mere mention of his name would give life to dry bones.
He did not try us with things that confound the mind
Out of concern for us, so we neither doubted nor strayed.
Man’s mind is exhausted trying to understand his meaning;
All of them, near or far, appear as if dumbstruck.
He is like the sun: small to the eye when seen from afar,
But dazzling to the sight when seen close up.
How can his reality be grasped in this world
By sleeping folk, distracted from him by dreams?
The extent of our knowledge is that he is a mortal –
And that he is the best of Allah’s creation!
Every miracle produced by the noble Emissaries
Came to them by virtue of his light alone
For he is the sun of virtue, and they are its planets;
They display its lights to mankind in the darkness.
How noble the qualities of a Prophet beautified by such traits:
Full of beauty, and marked by smiles and good cheer!
Like flowers in delicate beauty, like the full moon in honour;
like the sea in generosity, like time in persistence.
So majestic was his presence that even when alone
he appeared surrounded by a large army and retinue.
It is as if precious hidden pearls, sparkling from their shells,
came from the treasure-mine of his speech and smile.
No perfume can match the ground that holds his bones.
Blessed are those who breathe in its fragrance or kiss it!