Al-Burdah Verses 1 to 29 (This article)
Related Article: Al-Burdah Verses 30 to 47
Introduction
Numerous poems have been and still being written praising the Prophet peace be upon him. However, Al-Burdah by Imam Al-Busiri (696 H / 1296 G) is the most popular poem. Beside being often read by individuals, it is common for groups of people to gather and recite it across the Islamic world. That happens throughout the year, and most frequently in the month of Rabi' Al-Awal - the month in which the Prophet peace be upon him was born.
In this article I shall try to translate and explain the meanings of the Al-Burdah. The main reference used is explanation of the Burdah by Shiekh Ibrahim Al-Bajoori (1277 H / 1861 G) in addition to a general background in Sufism.
Please note that this is a limited attempt to present the Burdah in English.
I think that translating the verses might not always convey the depth of meanings in them. I guess the verses might be better understood with some background in Classic Arabic Poetry and Sufism.
There are angles and different ways to look at the verses, based on which interpretation and the translation can differ for some verses. This brief attempt is just one possible way to look at them.
Also, it might help better understand the Burdah when the three levels of viewing the Prophet (PBUH) are considered: as a human, as a Prophet seen from the basic widespread religious view, and then as a Prophet seen by mystics.
Part 1 & 2
Burda - verses 3/17/11
Part 1:
Imam Al-Busiri starts by expressing his great joy for being close to Madinah, so he is addressing an imaginary person (actually himself, and it is a common style in classic Arabic Poetry) and wondering why there are tears in his eyes:
أمن تذكر جيران بذي سلم
مزجت دمعا جرى من مقلة بدم
1-
"Is it for remembering neighbors [or loved ones] in Thee-Salam [a place near Madinah], did you mix running tear with blood [in Arabic, running blood instead of tears is used sometimes to express excessive crying]"
أم هبت الريح من تلقاء كاظمة
وأومض البرق في الظلماء من إضم
2-
"Or [are the tears] because of wind blowing from the direction of Kazimah [direction of Madinah from where he is], and [are the tears] because of Lightening appearing in the dark night in the direction of Edam [again direction of Madinah from where he is]."
Not getting any answers, the poet says to the imaginary person that he cannot deny the overwhelming love he has, otherwise:
فما لعينيك إن قلت اكففا همتا
وما لقلبك إن قلت استفق يهم
3-
"Why would your eyes shed even more tears when you tell them to stop, and why your heart becomes even more passionate when you tell it to wake up"
The implied answer is : because the imaginary person is unable to control his body's expressions :eyes (outer aspect), and his feelings: heart (inner aspect), due to the overwhelming love.
And continues:
أيحسب الصب أن الحب منكتم
ما بين منسجم منه ومضطرم
4-
"Does the ardent lover think that love can be hidden, while his eyes are full of tears and his heart is burning with love?"
And says with confidence:
لولا الهوى لم ترق دمعا على طلل
ولا أرقت لذكر البان والعلم
5-
"If it wasn't for love, your eyes wouldn't be full of tears over ruins [implying his ailing body], and you wouldn't have lost sleep for remembering the Ban [a tree with good smell, implying the good smell of the beloved] and the Mountain [pointing at the unmistakable and overwhelming presence of the beloved]"
ولا أعارتك لوني عبرة وضنى
ذكرى الخيام وذكرى ساكني الخيم
6-
"And the memory of the Tents and who live in them would not have given you the tears and the sickness."
After presenting the last three points as evidence:
فكيف تنكر حبا بعد ما شهدت
به عليك عدول الدمع والسقم
7-
"How can you deny a love that credible witnesses, who are the tears and the ailment [treated as persons here], have confirmed?"
وأثبت الوجد خطي عبرة وضنى
مثل البهار على خديك والعنم
8-
"And [how can you deny the love] after tears and sickness left their marks [on your face] yellow and red?"
So, the imaginary person eventually admits:
نعم سرى طيف من أهوى فأرقني
والحب يعترض اللذات بالألم
9-
"Yes, the shadow of whom I love did come to me at night and I lost sleep, and love does interrupt pleasures [pointing to good sleep] with pain [losing sleep]."
يا لائمي في الهوى العذري معذرة
مني إليك ولو أنصفت لم تلم
10-
"O you who blame me for pure love (that cannot be controlled), forgive me, (but) if you were fair, you wouldn't blame (me)"
عدتك حالي لا سري بمستتر
عن الوشاة ولا دائي بمنحسم
11-
"You do not understand the situation I am in (hence the blame), my secret is not hidden and my ailment [strength of love] will not end/wane (even after having met the loved one)"
محضتني النصح، لكن لست أسمعه
إن المحب عن العذال في صمم
12-
"You did (what you felt you should do) advise me honestly (not to be consumed by love), but I cannot listen (to you and accept what you advise, because:) a lover always turns a deaf ear to those who blame him.
To explain further why he did not listen to the advise:
إني اتهمت نصيح الشيب في عذل
والشيب أبعد في نصح عن التهم
13-
I blamed (did not accept) the advise of old age (the imaginary person's age. And the advise based on worldly experiences), even when the advise at a later age is less likely to be rejected (having come usually from a wiser person).
Part 2:
The poet continues, and focusing now on the shortcomings of the self/ego
فإن أمارتي بالسوء ما اتعظت
من جهلها بنذير الشيب والهرم
14-
My soul (prone to evil), because of its ignorance, did not pay attention to the warning of old age.
ولا أعدت من الفعل الجميل قرى
ضيف ألم برأسي غير محتشم
15-
And it did not honor, with good deeds, this guest (whitening hair) who came to stay unashamed.
لو كنت أعلم أني ما أوقره
كتمت سرا بدا لي منه بالكتم
16-
Had I (self when at a relatively higher level of awareness/ now that he is older and wiser) known that I (self when it is at a lower level of awareness/ when he was younger) would not honor it (old age and whitening hair), I would have hidden the secret that appeared to me (the first signs of white hair) by coloring it.
من لي برد جماح من غوايتها
كما يرد جماح الخيل باللجم
17-
"Who can help me curb its defiant urge (for things that might be sinful / or tempting even if not sinful), like curbing unexpected moves of horses by reins ?"
A hint here on the need for guidelines, and "who" is another hint on the need for a qualified guide or teacher.
As I understand, probably, another way to look at the verse is that it is describing the self as a powerful horse one owns. It can be a free, wild and restless one, and with little chance if any of benefiting one whether in this world or the hereafter. And it can be a calm, gentle and elevated, and with the hope of having a better chance of benefiting one in this world and the hereafter.
It is natural that man needs things like food, sex and entertainment. However, within the religious context, there are more things for man to realize. And if that is to be achieved then confining thoughts and concerns to things like food and entertainment lessens the chance of reaching further levels of awareness. Controlling urges (and not killing them) for things that are usually desired like food or sex or entertainment in general is often mentioned as essential in "treading the Path".
Responding to the idea that fulfilling one's desires would decrease the defiant urges (hence, a probable argument that after fulfillment why cannot one look for further levels of awareness?), the poet says:
فلا ترم بالمعاصي كسر شهوتها
إن الطعام يقوي شهوة النهم
18-
"Do not seek to decrease its desires by committing sins, [more] food does strengthen the desire of a person that has become accustomed to excess food."
والنفس كالطفل إن تهمله شب على
حب الرضاع وإن تفطمه ينفطم
19-
"And the self is like a baby, if left to itself, it would seek breast milk (even when he is beyond the age of needing breast milk), and if taught to stop, it would stop."
Avoiding fulfilling every desire is important. The goal is for urges and cravings to become reasonable and closer to fulfilling one's true and actual needs without excess. If one has not been raised up from childhood to keep desires at a natural and reasonable level, there might be a need for one to be a little strict with oneself in the beginning until a habit is formed and moderate fulfillment of desires become natural. There is a health aspect for this point which is important but the poet's clear focus is on the spiritual aspect. For instance, food is essential for one's life and avoiding filling one's stomach in every meal is a good thing. It has its positive consequences on the health, but more importantly for a religious person are the very much sought after consequences regarding treading the Path. Entertaining and fulfilling sensuous desires means being busy with awareness at a relatively lower level. It is not a total disregard to this level that is being sought, since it is part of a normal life on earth. Rather the aim is for this level not to prevent sight/realization of further levels, hence, keeping desires in check is important.
فاصرف هواها وحاذر أن توليه
إن الهوى ما تولى يصم إو يصم
20-
"So, do not follow its desire, and be ware not to let desire govern/control, [since] when desire is the governor [of man's behavior], it leads to death or shame."
An extreme case when reason (not to mention finer and higher levels of awareness) takes a back seat and desire become the governor of behavior. It is very likely that that would have negative consequences.
Avoiding negative aspects by not following desires regarding sensuous needs, is a good step forward, but it is not enough. Desire may also appear regarding good deeds.
وراعها وهي في الأعمال سائمة
وإن هي استحلت المرعى فلا تسم
21-
"Keep an eye on self when doing [good] deeds [that are other than the obligatory prayers or fasting] as a matter of habit [without noting or caring about the purpose], and if the self liked it [because of being noticed or praised by others], then stop."
Doing the obligatory religious deeds like five prayers and fasting Ramadan are not meant because everyone does it and nobody usually notices that, but doing something more, might catch attention.
Reaching a higher level of knowledge and awareness about religious teachings is the final goal of religious rites. Good deeds are important for advancement on the Path, but being busy with others' attention of one's deeds might not lead to the much sought after result.
Desire is part of man's awareness when that awareness is at a relatively lower level. The stronger desire is, the more busy one is dealing with matters at a lower level of awareness and the more confined one's attention is to that level, making it less likely for one to notice let alone to start moving to higher levels of awareness.
Focusing on reaching an awareness level that is beyond normal awareness of men is a clear and constant theme in Sufi writings.
كم حسنت لذة للمرء قاتلة
من حيث لم يدر أن السم في الدسم
22-
"It [self at lower level of awareness] often makes something of pleasure [others watching, their praise, etc.] looks good when it is deadly, leading one not to notice that there is poison [whatever that busies one from looking beyond] in food [good deeds]"
واخش الدسائس من جوع ومن شبع
فرب مخمصة شر من التخم
23-
"And be ware of tricks [of the self at a lower level of awareness, busy with immediate things, gains] of hunger and overeating [as opposed to moderate balanced manner of dieting, without any urge to be noted by anyone], [and just in case someone is wondering why warn against hunger which is often prescribed by Sufis as a commendable behavior:] it might be that hunger is worse [with regards to negative results] than overeating."
23-
The importance of not being busy with the immediate is so clear in Sufi writings. As I understand, Albusiri warned in verse 21 from good deeds if they were a means to be noticed or in anyway being busy from seeing beyond the immediate. Here in verse 23, a similar warning from hunger. Frequent fasting is a common behavior for many ordinary Muslims and Sufis often advise new students to fast as much as possible. Fasting is an important part of a whole setup of good deeds that are supposed to help one to start seeing what is beyond the immediate, but it can become a hindrance if one is busy with the details of fasting and how others are noting him, etc., and it is that side of good deeds (being busy with the means instead of the goal) that the poet sees it is important to be ware of.
So, the poet is actually urging the reader to purify his intentions and make one's acts of worship free from any negative sides so that they may start having the expected effects and lead to the much sought after goal, and not to be just part of one's ordinary habits and without much spiritual results.
واستفرغ الدمع من عين قد امتلأت
من المحارم والزم حمية الندم
24-
"And weep until there are no more tears in the eye [most likely one's consciousness] that has been filled with [images] of what is sinful, and always feel sorry [for sights of what is sinful, as a cure or a way to avoid seeing what is considered religiously inappropriate to see]"
Al-Baijoori said that the verse can bee seen from a regular religious person's view (where purity of one's consciousness from the clutter and "noise" of images that are considered to be negative from a religious point of view, since clutter and noise do not help gain "keen eyesight" and can hinder advancement on the Path) . And he also mentioned that the verse can be seen from a mystical viewpoint as meaning to weep for being overwhelmed by seeing the world and not seeing God.
وخالف النفس والشيطان واعصهما
وإن هما محضاك النصح فاتهم
25-
"And select a different path from what the self/ego and satan want you to select, and do not listen to them. And when they appear to be advising you [of what they tell you is better for you] do not trust them"
ولا تطع منهما خصما ولا حكما
فأنت تعرف كيد الخصم والحكم
26-
"And do not obey them [self/ego and satan], even when one of them appears as a foe or a judge. Since you already know the cunningness of the foe and the judge"
أستغفر الله من قول بلا عمل
لقد نسبت به نسلا لذي عقم
أمرتك الخير لكن ما ائتمرت به
وما استقمت فما قولي لك استقم
ولا تزودت قبل الموت نافلة
ولم أصل سوى فرض ولم أصم
27-
"I ask Allah's forgiveness for preaching that is not coupled with deed. It is like attributing progeny to some one who cannot have children"
28-
"I instructed you to do what is good, but I did not follow the instructions. And I did not 'stand firm in the straight path' [translation of Istiqamah according to Yusf Ali], so what is the value of my command to you to do so?"
29-
"And I did not pray a Nafilah [a prayer that is in addition to the five daily prayers] in preparation for my [journey after] death. I did not pray more than the Fard [the mandatory prayer], and did not fast [more than Ramadan]"
Emphasizing man's inherent weaknesses and not being perfect.
Basically saying: "I am not qualified to preach anyone with all my own shortcomings".
However, what he did not say but understood implicitly, as Al-Baijoori points out, is that: Delivering a piece of information that one knows about is important even with one's shortcomings. It is probably similar to the case of a doctor advising a patient to follow a certain diet, when the doctor himself needs to follow his own advice. But even if the doctor "does not practice what he preaches" his advice remains important to the patient.
I guess it is part of Sufi humility to try to deliver information while trying not to draw attention to themselves. Rather to keep the religious person's focus on the Path toward knowing God.
