Yet another translation of the Qaseeda Burda Shareef [Ode of the Mantle], composed in Arabic by Imam Muhammad Sharafuddin al Busiri in the 13th century for the Prophet of Islam (PBUH), has just been published.

Titled Nawah-i-Kazimah [The Suburbs of Kazimah], it is Dr Najeeba Arif who has done this exquisite job in Urdu. Kazimah is one of the old names for the city of Madinah and the title is taken from a verse of Allama Muhammad Iqbal. The befitting calligraphy of the Urdu text by Sajjad Khalid and a catching cover by Rasheed Butt, under the overall supervision of Shahid Awan of Emel Publications, makes this book a collector’s item.

Qaseeda Burda has found itself a legendary place in the tradition of Islamic devotional poetry. Interestingly, the first qaseeda by this name was written in praise of the Prophet and read in his presence by Ka’ab bin Zuhair. It is said that the Prophet was so pleased that he presented his mantle to Ka’ab and hence, the name ‘burda’, which literally means ‘mantle’ or ‘shroud’, was attached to the qaseeda.

Six centuries later, Imam al Busiri — a seasoned scholar and an established poet in Egypt — wrote a qaseeda under another name. Al Busiri’s qaseeda eventually gained the title of Qaseeda Burda as we know it today.

It is believed that the recital of this qaseeda has a healing effect on those who are ailing with different diseases, as Imam al Busiri recovered from his paralysis after writing and reading it. Irrespective of your belief in its effects, the qaseeda is one of the most fascinating odes written anywhere and truly a great piece of literature.

It is believed that the recital of this qaseeda has a healing effect on those who are ailing with different diseases.

Divided into 10 sections and more than 160 couplets, its rhyme, metre, melody and flow completely capture the listener or reader. It begins with praise for the Prophet, highlights the life he led, reaffirms the greatness of his message and the human values he professed, celebrates the superiority of his character over any other human being and ends with asking for his kindness and patronage.

Qaseeda Burda has been translated into scores of languages, with more than 90 literary explanations offered in several languages. In Urdu, it has been translated about a dozen times in different genres and forms, including that of the genre of qaseeda.

In Pakistan, it was popularised more than 40 years ago by Qari Khushi Muhammad al Azhari. His rendition in Arabic and Urdu of select verses, accompanied by a choir of young people, was aired quite frequently by both Radio Pakistan and Pakistan Television (PTV). Poet Iftikhar Arif, when he chaired the Pakistan Academy of Letters, published the qaseeda in the multiple languages that we speak.

Therefore, it was brave of Dr Najeeba Arif to take upon herself to translate Al Busiri’s qaseeda one more time in Urdu, not just because translations are already available, but also because good translations are available in our languages. According to her, it was a spiritual calling. In my view, she has met the challenge of not only providing us with a wonderful translation, but improving upon many of the previous ones.

Something that makes Najeeba Arif’s translation stand out is the indelibility of the words that she has chosen to establish the same atmosphere, lyricism, effect and profundity. Every word in poetry is a metaphor. It has a meaning, a history of usage and a meaning beyond meaning. Arif knows that fact about poetry well, but she doesn’t apply her skill of using appropriate words consciously. This happens with her at an unconscious level. Her devotion and her aesthetics blend perfectly to create a translation of the qaseeda that is both moving and refined.

The tragic circumstances our humankind — individuals and collective alike — has been facing since forever are depicted in one of the couplets towards the beginning of the qaseeda: “Iss qadar girya kunaan aankhein, sambhalti hi nahin/ Iss qadar aashuftagi, utthhta nahin hai baar-i-gham” [Tears incessantly flow out of my eyes, unstoppable/ Despondency prevails, so hard to bear this grief].

And the aspirations of that individual who believes in the Prophet get articulated towards its end: “Do jahaan mein apnay iss banday pe rehna mehrbaan/ Sabr se aajiz, raheen-i-sakhti o maghloob-i-gham” [Please be kind in this life and hereafter to this slave of yours/ Who is patient, humble, suffers hardships and encircled by grief].

Those who can understand Urdu will appreciate the flavour and tightness of the translation that, in places, gives an impression of being the original itself.

When reading Arif’s translation of the qaseeda for the Prophet, I remembered the naats [poetry written in his praise] I grew up on, composed by Maulana Jami, Pir Mehr Ali Shah, Hafeez Taib, Muzaffar Warsi and Ahmad Faraz in Farsi, Potohari and Urdu. Also, it is a given that any of our Sufi poets who preach humanity and pluralism — from Waris Shah and Mian Muhammad Bakhsh, to Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai to Shah Niaz Barelvi — will never abstain from praising the Prophet. There is this centrality of the person of the Prophet in every school of thought among Muslims.

Coming as I do from a left-wing political background, I remembered the likes of Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Maulana Obaidullah Sindhi, followed by Iranian sociologist Ali Shariati and South African scholar Farid Esack, who thought that, in the modern world, socialism was the only way to establish egalitarianism and justice because that is in accordance with what the Prophet of Islam envisaged.

That also took me back to the ideals of speaking truth to power and subverting power that Imam Ali and Imam Hussain stood for, based on the teachings of the Prophet. The name of Abu Dharr Ghiffari — who announced that wealth must not be accumulated, but distributed — reverberates in my mind. I congratulate Dr Najeeba Arif.

The columnist is a poet and essayist. He has recently edited Pakistan Here and Now: Insights into Society, Culture, Identity and Diaspora.

His latest collection of verse is Hairaan Sar-i-Bazaar

Published in Dawn, Books & Authors, October 30th, 2022