نهج البردة Nahj al-Burda (The Way of the Mantle)

Rimun 'ala l-qa'i bayna l-bani wa-l-'alami — ahalla safka dami fi l-ash-huri l-hurumi

Lamma rana haddathatni n-nafsu qa'ilatan — ya wayha janbika bi-s-sahmi l-musibi rumi

Jahadtuha wa-katamtu s-sahma fi kabidi — jurhu l-ahibbati 'indi ghayru dhi alami

Ya la'imi fi hawahu wa-l-hawa qadarun — law shaffaka l-wajdu lam ta'dhil wa-lam talumi

Laqad analtuka udhnan ghayra wa'iyatin — wa-rubba muntasitin wa-l-qalbu fi samami

Ya na'isa t-tarfi la dhuqta l-hawa abadan — as-harta mudnaka fi hifzi l-hawa fa-nami

Ya nafsu dunyaki tukhfi kulla mubkiyatin — wa-in bada laki minha husnu mubtasami

Salahu amrika li-l-akhlaqi marji'uhu — fa-qawwimi n-nafsa bi-l-akhlaqi tastaqimi

Wa-n-nafsu min khayriha fi khayri 'afiyatin — wa-n-nafsu min sharriha fi marta'in wakhimi

In jalla dhanbi 'ani l-ghufrani li amalun — fi llahi yaj'aluni fi khayri mu'tasimi

Ulqi raja'i idha 'azza l-mujiru 'ala — mufarriji l-karbi fi d-darayni wa-l-ghamami

Idha khafadtu janaha dh-dhulli as'aluhu — 'izza sh-shafa'ati lam as'al siwa umami

Wa-in taqaddama dhu taqwa bi-salihatin — qaddamtu bayna yadayhi 'abrata n-nadami

Lazimtu baba amiri l-anbiya'i wa-man — yumsik bi-miftahi babi llahi yaghtanimi

Muhammadun safwatu l-bari wa-rahmatuhu — wa-bughyatu llahi min khalqin wa-min nasami

Wa-nudiya qra' ta'ala llahu qa'iluha — lam tattasil qabla man qilat lahu bi-fami

Hunaka adhdhana li-r-rahmani fa-mtala'at — asma'u makkata min qudsiyyati n-naghami

Sarat basha'iru bi-l-hadi wa-mawlidihi — fi sh-sharqi wa-l-gharbi masra n-nuri fi z-zulami

Atayta wa-n-nasu fawda la tamurru bihim — illa 'ala sanamin qad hama fi sanami

Asra bika llahu laylan idh mala'ikuhu — wa-r-ruslu fi l-masjidi l-aqsa 'ala qadami

Lamma khatarta bihi ltaffu bi-sayyidihim — ka-sh-shuhbi bi-l-badri aw ka-l-jundi bi-l-'alami

Salla wara'aka minhum kullu dhi khatarin — wa-man yafuz bi-habibi llahi ya'tamimi

Jubta s-samawati aw ma fawqahunna bihim — 'ala munawwaratin durriyyati l-lujumi

Mashi'atu l-khaliqi l-bari wa-san'atuhu — wa-qudratu llahi fawqa sh-shakki wa-t-tuhami

Hatta balaghta sama'an la yutaru laha — 'ala janahin wa-la yus'a 'ala qadami

Wa-qila kullu nabiyyin 'inda rutbatihi — wa-ya Muhammadu hadha l-'arshu fa-stalimi

Ya rabbi habbat shu'ubun min maniyyatiha — wa-stayqazat umamun min raqdati l-'adami

Ra'a qada'uka fina ra'ya hikmatihi — akrim bi-wajhika min qadin wa-muntaqimi

Fa-ltuf li-ajli rasuli l-'alamina bina — wa-la tazid qawmahu khasfan wa-la tusimi

Ya rabbi ahsanta bad'a l-muslimina bihi — fa-tammimi l-fadla wa-mnah husna mukhtatami

A gazelle on the plain, between the willow and the peak — has made the shedding of my blood lawful in the sacred months ✦

When it gazed at me, my soul spoke up and said — alas for your side: the unerring arrow has found it

I denied her, and hid the arrow deep in my liver — a wound from the beloved, to me, carries no pain ✦

You who blame me for loving him — love is fate — had longing wasted you, you would not scold or blame

I lent you an ear that took in nothing — many a man seems to listen while his heart is deaf

O drowsy-eyed one, may you never taste love's ache — you have kept your worn-out lover awake guarding love; now sleep ✦

O soul, your world conceals every cause for weeping — however lovely the smile it turns upon you ✦

The mending of your affairs traces back to character — so straighten the soul with virtue, and it stands straight

The soul, in its goodness, dwells in perfect health — and in its evil, in a rank and poisoned pasture

If my sin is too great for pardon, I still have hope — in God, who sets me in the surest refuge

When every protector fails, I cast my hope upon — the Reliever of anguish, in both worlds, and of sorrow

When I lower the wing of humility and ask him — for the glory of intercession, I ask nothing out of reach

And where the pious man brings forward his good works — I bring before him only the tear of my remorse

I have kept to the door of the prince of prophets — and whoever grasps the key to God's door has won

Muhammad, the Creator's chosen one and His mercy — the purpose of God in all creation, in every living breath ✦

The call came: "Read!" — exalted be He who spoke it — a word never joined to a mouth before the one who heard it ✦

There he raised the call to the Merciful, and the ears — of Mecca filled with the holiness of that melody

Glad tidings of the Guide and of his birth ran on — through East and West, as light runs through the dark

You came when mankind was chaos, and passing among them — one met only an idol infatuated with an idol

God carried you by night, while His angels — and the messengers stood waiting at the Farthest Mosque ✦

When you appeared among them they pressed round their master — like stars around the full moon, or soldiers round the standard

Every man of rank among them prayed behind you — for whoever wins God's beloved takes him as imam

You crossed the heavens, and what lies above them, with them — on a luminous mount bridled with pearl

The will of the Maker, the Creator, and His handiwork — and the power of God, above all doubt and accusation

Until you reached a heaven no wing can fly to — and no foot was ever made to climb

And it was said: let every prophet keep his station — but O Muhammad, here is the Throne: draw near ✦

O Lord, peoples have risen up from their deathbed — and nations have woken from the slumber of nothingness ✦

Your decree has judged us as its wisdom saw fit — how exalted Your face, as judge and as requiter

For the sake of the Messenger of the worlds, be gentle with us — do not deepen his people's abasement, nor brand them further

O Lord, through him You gave the Muslims a beautiful beginning — now complete the grace, and grant a beautiful end