Al-Būṣīrī ( ar, ابو عبد الله محمد بن سعيد بن حماد الصنهاجي البوصيري, Abū ʿAbdallāh Muhammad ibn Saʿīd al-Ṣanhājī al-Būṣīrī; 1212–1294) was a
Sanhaji Berber
Berber or Berbers may refer to:
Ethnic group
* Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa
* Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages
Places
* Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile
People with the surname
* Ady Berber (1913–19 ...
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or w ...
belonging to the
Shadhiliyya order, being direct disciple of Sheikh
Abul Abbas al-Mursi. His magnum opus, the ''
Qaṣīda al-Burda'' ("Poem of the Mantle"), in praise of the
Islamic prophet
Prophets in Islam ( ar, الأنبياء في الإسلام, translit=al-ʾAnbiyāʾ fī al-ʾIslām) are individuals in Islam who are believed to spread God's message on Earth and to serve as models of ideal human behaviour. Some prophets ar ...
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mon ...
, is one of the most popular
Islamic poems praising the prophet, and it is in
Arabic language
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
, as much as his other ode named
Al-Hamziyya.
Biography
He was born in Dalāṣ,
a small town in
Beni Suef Governorate
Beni Suef ( ar, محافظة بني سويف ') is one of the governorates of Egypt. It is situated in the center of the country.
Overview
This governorate's capital is the city of Beni Suef, located about 120 km south of Cairo on the wes ...
in
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...
(despite the similar name, this town is not to be confused with
Dellys, in
Algeria
)
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, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
), and wrote under the patronage of Ibn Hinna, the
vizier
A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called '' katib'' (secretary), who was ...
. His father was from
Abusir
Abusir ( ar, ابو صير ; Egyptian ''pr wsjr'' cop, ⲃⲟⲩⲥⲓⲣⲓ ' "the House or Temple of Osiris"; grc, Βούσιρις) is the name given to an Egyptian archaeological locality – specifically, an extensive necropolis ...
, hence his
nisba ''Al-Būṣīrī''. Sometimes he also used his nisbe ''Dalāṣīrī'' as his mother belonged to the town of Dalāṣ.
In his ''Qaṣīda al-Burda'', he claims that Muhammad cured him of
paralysis
Paralysis (also known as plegia) is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, roughly 1 in 5 ...
by appearing to him in a dream and wrapping him in a mantle. The poem has had a unique history (cf.
I. Goldziher in ''Revue de l'histoire des religions'', vol. xxxi. pp. 304 ff.). It has been frequently edited and made the basis for other poems, and new poems have been made by interpolating four or six lines after each line of the original. It has been published with
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ...
translation by Faizullabhai (
Bombay
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...
, 1893), with
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
translation by
René Basset
René Basset (24July 18554January 1924) was a French orientalist, specialist of the Berber language and the Arabic language.
Biography
René Basset was the first director of the "École des lettres d'Alger" created in 1879 during the Fren ...
(Paris, 1894), with
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
translation by C. A. Ralfs (Vienna, 1860), and in other languages elsewhere.
References
Further reading
*For a long list of commentaries, etc., cf.
C. Brockelmann
Carl Brockelmann (17 September 1868 – 6 May 1956) German Semiticist, was the foremost orientalist of his generation. He was a professor at the universities in Breslau, Berlin and, from 1903, Königsberg. He is best known for his multi-volum ...
's ''Gesch. der Arab. Litteratur'' (Weimar, 1898), vol. i. pp. 264–267
* La Burda du désert, T. Ikbal, F. Tidjani, M. Vâlsan, Science sacrée, 2015
13th-century Berber people
13th-century Arabic poets
13th-century Egyptian people
Berber Muslims
Sunni Sufis
Sufi writers
Berber poets
Sanhaja
{{Sufism-stub