The Mantle Adorned: Translated, with Further Poetic Ornaments

This book is worth every penny, and more. At its core is a poem, the "Burda" (i.e. mantle) that was written by a Muslim of the 13th century (Imam Busiri) as an act of devotion and love towards the final messenger of Allah swt, the prophet Muhammad pbuh. The poetry speaks to the reader in such a way that it is impossible to deny the love and yearning that existed in the poet towards the final messenger, pbuh. The scholar who compiled the book, Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad, aka Tim Winter, has not only translated the Burda into beautiful English, from beautiful Arabic, he has also done an excellent job of embellishing this publication with beautiful and diverse poetry that adds to the core poetic narrative. He has tried to relate each embellishment to the specific lines of the Burda on each page, and this gives us an insight into his mind too in addition to Imam Busiri. There is a clear and concise introduction to the Burda in the front of the book, as well as an introduction to its original author. As far as the physical condition of the book is concerned, it is a book you will feel obliged to handle with utmost care because the quality is excellent and you will want to keep it that way. The Islamic calligraphy and geometric patterns are mesmerising, and even the very paper itself is of very high quality. It is a book that has to be seen first-hand in order to be truly appreciated.

Excellent copy worth any library/collection. The paper is definitely excellent and makes you love the book. The Arabic calligraphy is graceful and the translation with other verses combined makes it a nice version. It will go into my library and worth reading multiple times after finishing and pondering over the beautiful lines.

Beautiful is an understatement! This is priceless! You will not regret purchasing this! Take heed to these words!

By far the best printed book I have ever read. This book is more of a decoration piece due to its excellent printing but at the same time the poem itself is one to be read over and over again

A wonderfully beautiful book which I own my own copy of but bought this as a gift for someone else. This book should be on every bookshelf.

Beautiful.

The al-Kawākib ad-Durrīya fī Madḥ Khayr al-Barīya (Celestial Lights in Praise of the Best of Creation) is the 13th century Egyptian Imam al-Busiri's offering of praise to the Prophet Muhammad. An eloquent testimony to its ubiquitous popularity is its adorning mosques and buildings throughout the Muslim world, even decorating the Prophet's Mosque in Madina for centuries until the present ruling Saudi dynasty erased all but two of its lines. As a young man interested in religious polemics, with a bad reputation and misanthropic tendencies al-Būṣīrī's early pieces were largely mocking satirical works aimed at his critics. Later, when he was employed by those in positions of power, authority and influence he would write panegyric poems; showing unreserved support for them. Becoming the disciple of the Shādhilī Shaykh Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Mursi would have a profound influence over both his life and poetry. His subsequent poems, in praise of al-Shādhilī, al-Mursī and their spiritual attributes as well as of the Prophet (SAW), bear little relation to the earlier harsh misanthropic satires. This is how al-Busiri relates the inspiration and composition of this august, majestic poem: "I had composed a number of praise poems for the Prophet ... Sometime after that, I was stricken by fālij (stroke), an illness that paralyzed half of my body. I thought that I would compose this poem, and so I made supplications to the Prophet Muḥammad to intercede for me and (and ask God to) cure me. I repeatedly sang the poem, wept, prayed, and asked for intercession. Then I slept and in my dream, I saw the Prophet. He wiped my face with his blessed hands and covered me in his cloak (burdah). Then I woke up and found I was able to walk; so I got up and left my house. I had told no one about what had happened. I encountered a Sufi on my way and he said to me: "I want you to give me the poem in which you praise the Prophet." I said: "Which one?" So he said: "The one that you composed during your sickness." Then he recited the first verse and said: "I swear by God that I heard it in a dream last night being sung in the presence of the Prophet Muḥammad. I saw the Prophet was pleased with it and covered the person who sang it with his cloak." So I recited the poem to him and he memorized it and related his vision to others." The Burdah, as it came to be known, is divided into 10 chapters and 160 verses with each verse ending with the Arabic letter mīm (also the first letter of the name Muhammad in Arabic), a style called mīmīya with the refrain "My Master, descend peace and blessings continuously and eternally on Your Beloved, the Best of All Creation" separating the verses. The eminently erudite Abdal Hakim Murad (of whom Sheikh Nuh has reportedly said "one of the great translators, period") has rendered this into seamless striking English; at times you forget that this is a translation, not an English poem. For good measure he has garlanded it with further poetic offerings from across the Islamic world provoking further insights and thoughts in the reflective reader. The idea of these additions is inspired as they unveil new vistas while shining a light on Imam Busiri's more esoteric words whilst furthering the translator's counsel, - "each line ... should be the subject of an hour's quiet meditation."

Beautifully designed book produced to highest standards ruined by careless post production handling at the bindery. I guess no human at Amazon ever saw my copy. I hope not! I returned it and will order again. Fingers Xd this was a one off.

The author has carefully selected gems from other poems that are qualitatively similar to the words of the Burda. Overall, the Burda and those other poetic verses excel at describing in words the love we should have for the Prophet (saw)

This was a pricey purchase, but I felt it to be worth it. The translations are meaningful. Instead of being word for word, they capture the gist while still being accurate. The touches of extra poems at the end of the every couplet made this to be an exploration of thanaa' in different languages. And, finally, the calligraphy. Wow. I love it.

So many gems. The translations of the main poem and the commentary poetry was beautiful. This one by Aisha al-Ba'uniyya lead me to read Emil Homerin's A Life in Praise of Love: If your hopes are set upon Ascent And openness to God's assent, Then cling to Ahmad, straying in his scent; Be lost in beauty! well-content!

The first day it arrived, I tore open the box and started to admire the beauty of such a beautiful book. The design and layout is simply amazing. Imam Bursi's Burda is famous and should be read by all. This book can be admired by Muslims as well as Non Muslims. When you open the book there is a BEAUTIFUL picture of Prophet Muhammad's (Peace and Blessings be Upon Him) dome hand drawn with a flower. Each page is gold.

The book: The language, pages, color, feel of the book itself...all beautiful. But I have one complaint. As I just stated, this book is like a piece of artwork. Why then would you ruin it by slapping a sticker with a barcode on it?! I removed the sticker and not only did it leave a film on the back cover, it also removed some of the design it was stuck on. I dare not try and remove the stickiness for fear of removing even more of the design. Not a good move for a book so pricey! But again, the contents of the book and it's overall design is worth the money.