Poems of Mantle

The Mantle Odes
A R A B I C PRAISE POEMS TO
THE PROPHET M U H A M M A D
SUZANNE PINCKNEY STETKEVYCH
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CONTENTS
• PREFACE • XI
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS • XV
• N O T E ON T R A N S L A T I O N A N D T R A N S L I T E R A T I O N • XVI I
• LI ST OF A B B R E V I A T I O N S • XI X
ONE K A CB I BN Z U H A Y R A N D T H E M A N T L E OF T H E P R O P H E T
Introduction • 1
The Pre-Islamic Prototype • 1
1. ‘Alqam ah’s A Heart Turbulent with Passion: The Poem as
Ransom Payment • 3
2. Al-Nabighah’s O Abode of Mayyah: Transgression and
Redemption • 12
3. Zuhayr ibn Abi Sulma’s The Tribe Set Out: The Tacit
Panegyric Pact • 19
The Pre-Islamic as Proto-Islamic • 28
Kacb ibn Zuhayr’s Sucad Has Departed • 30

The Conversion Narrative • 33
The Conversion Ode • 38
Part 1: Lyric-Elegiac Prelude (Nasib) • 38
Part 2: Desert Journey (Rahil) • 42
Part 3: Praise (Madih) • 46
Mythogenesis: The Donation of the Mantle • 62
Conclusion • 66
Hassan ibn Thabit’s At Taybah Lies a Trace • 66
TWO A L - B U S i R l A N D T H E D R E A M OF T H E M A N T L E
Introduction * 70
Poetic Genre • 71
Poetic Style: Classical and Post-Classical Badic • 73
The Poet and His Times • 81
The Miracle and the Poem • 82
cUmar ibn al-Farid’s Was That Layla’s Fire • 88
The Mantle Ode • 90

The Structure of al-Busiri’s Burdah • 90
The Beginning o f the Supplicatory Pattern: Parts 1-3 • 92

Part 1: Prophetic Nasib • 92
Part 2: Warning against the Desires of the Self • 95
Part 3: Praise of the Noble Messenger • 97
The Sirah-Derived Passages: Parts 4-8 • 106

Poeticization and Polemicization • 107
Part 4: The Birth of the Prophet • 111
Part 5: The Miracles of the Prophet • 117
Part 6: The Noble Q ur5an • 121
Part 7: The Night Journey and Ascension • 127
Part 8: The Messenger’s Jihad and Campaigns • 132
Completion o f the Supplicatory Pattern: Parts 9-10 • 141

Part 9: Supplication and Plea for Intercession » 142
Part 10: Fervent Prayer and Petition • 144
Conclusion • 148
THREE A H M A D S HA WQ I A N D T HE R E W E A V I N G OF T HE M A N T L E
Introduction • 151
Ahmad Shawqi and the Nahdah • 151
Poetic Precedents • 153
Authorizing the Text: The Khedive, the Shaykh, and the
Adlb • 156
The Colonial Double Bind • 160
Shawqi’s Nahj al-Burdah: The Thematic Structure • 163
Nahj al-Burdah Movement I: In the Path o f al-Busiri— Parts

1-6 • 166
Part 1: Nasib: Complaint of Unrequited Love • 166
Part 2: Chiding the Unruly Soul— Warning against Worldly
Temptations • 171
Part 3: Repentance, Submission, and Supplication • 173
Part 4: Prophetic Praise • 176
Part 5: Slrah Themes: The Birth of the Prophet; The Night
Journey and Ascension; The Miracle of the Cave • 184
Part 6: Metapoetic Recapitulation of Prophetic Praise • 194
Nahj al-Burdah Movement II: The Ihya3Project: Parts

7-12 • 200
Part 7: Polemic against Christianity • 201
Part 8: Defense/Praise of Jihad and the Prophet’s Military
Campaigns • 202
Part 9: The Sharicah • 208
Part 10: The Glory of Baghdad • 216
Part 11: The Orthodox Caliphs • 219
Part 12: Benediction and Supplication • 224
Conclusion • 231
Umm Kulthum, al-QaradawI, and Nahj al-Burdah • 231
A P P E N D I X OF A R A B I C T E X T S • 235
NOTES • 261
WO R K S C I T E D • 287
I NDEX • 297
PREFACE
The Mantle Odes: Arabic Praise Poems to the Prophet Muhammad offers
original translations and contextualized interpretations of the three most
renowned praise poems to the Prophet (madaTh nabawiyyah) in the Arab-
Islamic tradition. The three odes span the arc o f Islamic history: the first
dates from the lifetime of the Prophet (7th c. c e ); the second from the
medieval M amluk period (late 13th c.); and the third from the Modern
colonial period (1910). It is the intention of this study to bring these Arab-
Islamic devotional masterpieces into the purview of contemporary literary
interpretation in a way that makes them culturally relevant and poetically
effective for the modern reader, whether Muslim or non-Muslim.
Chapter 1: Kacb ibn Zuhayr and the Mantle of the Prophet. The first
poem is the conversion ode of the celebrated pre-Islamic poet, Kacb ibn
Zuhayr. The poet, who faced a death sentence for his failure to convert to
Islam, in the end came to the Prophet in submission and presented the ode
of praise (qasidat al-madh) that opens “Sucad Has Departed” (Banat Sucad).
As a sign of his protection and acceptance of Ka'b’s submission, the Prophet
bestowed his mantle on the poet, and the poem became known as “The
Mantle Ode” (Qasidat al-Burdah). Sucad Has Departed is a striking ex
ample of the panegyric ode in the pre-Islamic tradition and demonstrates
the power and plasticity of that form to become the dominant genre of the
courtly and religious poetry of the Islamic tradition.
Chapter 1 opens with an introductory section that presents in a suc
cinct manner the form and function of the pre-Islamic ode of praise to
Arab kings and tribal chieftains. In light of theories of rite of passage
XI
XII PREFACE
and gift exchange, it presents the Arabic praise ode as part of a multifac
eted exchange ritual, whereby a bond of mutual obligation and allegiance
is formed between the poet and patron. Above all, it demonstrates that
the three-part praise ode incorporates a supplicatory ritual that forms
the basis for the poem’s performative functions. Three renowned ex
amples o f the pre-Islamic ode, by cAlqamah ibn cAbadah, al-Nabighah
al-Dhubyani, and Zuhayr ibn Abi Sulma, along with the prose anecdotes
that contextualize them in the Arabic literary tradition, thus set the stage
for the examination o f the dramatic conversion narrative and celebrated
ode o f Kacb ibn Zuhayr.
The interpretation of Kacb ’s Sucad Has Departed demonstrates that
Kacb has captured in poetic form the life-and-death drama that is so
evident in the prose narratives about his risking his life to submit to the
Prophet and convert to Islam. Through viewing the poem as a ritual of
submission and supplication— what I term the Supplicatory Ode— this
study reveals as well how and why Kacb ’s Sucad Has Departed has pro
vided a spiritual model for Muslims seeking redemption throughout the
ages. Chapter 1 closes with a brief look at another poem to the Prophet,
the elegy o f Hassan ibn Thabit, to demonstrate how the supplication
ritual and the exchange o f poem for prize in this world (i.e., the exchange
o f Kacb ’s poem for the Prophet’s mantle) can be translated, after the
death o f the Prophet, to the next world.
Chapter 2: Al-Busiri and the Dream o f the Mantle. The second poem
to receive the sobriquet o f Mantle Ode is the most famous devotional
poem in the Islamic world, the Mantle Ode (Qasldat al-Burdah) of the
7th/i3th century poet of M am luk Egypt, al-Busiri. The legend goes that
the poet, afflicted with incurable hemiplegia, composed, out o f hope and
despair, a praise poem to the Prophet. That night he saw the Prophet in
a dream and recited his poem to him. The Prophet, delighted with the
poem, bestowed his mantle on the poet. Al-Busiri awoke the next day,
completely cured. His Mantle Ode has, ever since, been credited in the
Islamic world with curative, talismanic, and spiritual powers. The re
nowned 9th/i4th century historian and sociologist of the Maghrib, Ibn
Khaldun, considered a copy of al-Busiri’s Burdah a fit gift to present to
the Mongol conqueror, Tim urlank.1W ith the nineteenth-century O tto
man restoration project, verses o f the Burdah, along with those of the
Qurian, adorned the domes o f the Mosque of the Prophet in Medina.2
PREFACE XIII
Al-Busiri’s Mantle Ode generated a massive production o f manuscripts,

commentaries, expansions, imitations, and translations, and continues
to be widely performed and printed throughout the Islamic world.
Chapter 2 begins with a brief overview of the developments in genre
and style that took place in the centuries of Classical Arab-Islamic poetry
that intervened between K a'b’s poem and al-Busiri’s distinctly Post-Clas
sical poem. After offering an interpretation o f the narratives of the poet’s
miraculous cure and the talismanic powers of the verses of al-Busiri’s Bur-
dah, it offers a structural interpretation on which to base the reading of the
poem. It argues that the overarching structure of the poem is that of the
Supplicatory Pattern examined in chapter 1 and, further, that the ritual of
supplication in medieval praise poems to the Prophet invariably involves
presenting the poem of praise in exchange for the Prophet’s intercession
on Judgment Day. It then argues that the extended poetic passages con
cerning themes and events from the life of the Prophet have been appended
to the praise section of the poem and serve to promote an ideology of what
I term “Islamic Manifest Destiny”— an argument for worldly dominion
that serves as an earthly counterpart or complement to the otherworldly
concern with Judgment Day. The poem as a whole and these passages about
the Prophet in particular provide a window onto traditional Islamic beliefs
and practices that continue until our own day.
Chapter 3: Ahmad Shawqi and the Reweaving of the Mantle. The
third poem is The Way o f the Mantle (Nahj al-Burdah) by the preemi
nent Egyptian Neo-Classical poet, Ahmad Shawqi (d. 1932). It is, as its
title suggests, a praise poem to the Prophet composed as a formal imita
tion of al-Busiri’s Burdah. Written in 1910, it ostensibly celebrates the Hajj
pilgrimage of the poet’s patron, the khedive o f Egypt, 'Abbas Hilmi II.
The poem continues to be widely appreciated, both in written form and
in the tremendously popular musical rendition by the Egyptian singer,
Umm Kulthum (d. 1975).
Chapter 3 opens with a brief survey o f the political and cultural
context of early twentieth-century Egypt. Egypt finds itself politically
trapped between the moribund Ottoman Empire and the British O c
cupation. In response to its double exposure to the West— both its liberal
humanism and its brutal imperialism— the Arab world produced the
literary and cultural renascence termed the Nahdah (Arab Awakening)
or Ihya5 (Revival). This background material paves the way for the in
XI V PREFACE
terpretation o f The Way o f the Mantle as ShawqI’s literary formulation

o f an anticolonialist stance, what I have termed his Ihya3 (Revival) Proj
ect. Through a close reading o f the poem in light o f the commentary by
Shaykh Salim al-Bishrl, this section demonstrates how Shawqi has “re
woven” al-Busiri’s Mantle into a forceful and eloquent plea for the res
toration o f the Islamic Ummah based on “humanistic” concepts which
he locates in the Classical Arab-Islamic past.
Until now, scholarship on praise poems to the Prophet has, for the
most part, been limited to descriptive accounts of their historical circum
stances and thematic contents, without any recognition of their ritual
structure and its relation to their poetic (and spiritual) efficacy. By inter
preting these poetic works in light of the structural elements of the sup
plicatory ode, by highlighting the performative function of the odes as
speech acts with transformative power, and by viewing them as part of the
ritual exchange of poem for prize, The Mantle Odes demonstrates why
these praise poems to the Prophet have continued through the centuries
to inform the poetic and religious life of the Arab and Islamic world.
N O TE ON T R A N S L A T I O N A N D
TRANSLITERATION
A ll the translations from Arabic and other languages in this study are
my own, except where otherwise noted. Particularly in the case of the
poetry texts, I have tried to honor the original while at the same time
taking the liberties necessary to produce a readable and, I hope, engag
ing English rendition. W ith a view to a smooth English reading of both
poetry and prose translations, I have not used square brackets [/] for
minor interpolations that are simply a matter of clarification or style, but
rather only in cases where the interpolation is open to doubt, such as the
identification o f the antecedent o f a pronoun. In addition, as the full
repetition o f the honorific o f the Prophet Muhammad, salla Alldhu
calayhi wa-sallama (“God bless him and give him peace”) proves cum
bersome to the English reader, I have used the standard English abbre
viation “pbuh” (peace and blessings upon him) in all translations,
whether the original has the Arabic siglum or the full phrase. All transla
tion is a matter o f interpretation, and interpretations, especially o f po
etry, are often quite an individual matter. For the Arabic reader, brack
eted numbers at the right-hand margin following each poetry translation
serve as the key to the Appendix o f Arabic Texts. Specialists will want
to refer as well to the Arabic source materials for textual variants and to
the commentaries for varying interpretations.
In the transliteration of Arabic, I have followed the Library o f C on
gress system, with the following modifications: iyy for iy; ay for ai; uww
for uw; and aw for au. For the transliteration o f extended phrases, sen-
XVII
XVI I I N O T E ON T R A N S L A T I O N A N D T R A N S L I T E R A T I O N
tences, and verses, I have added end-vowels and initial hamzat al-qatc
and have included all letters as they appear in written form, not as they
are elided or assimilated in pronunciation.
ABBREVIATIONS
(Consult the bibliography for complete references)
BB al-BusIri’s Qasidat al-Burdah

Eh Encyclopaedia of Islam, New Edition
Ehonline Encyclopaedia o f Islam, Second Edition, Brill Online
G AL Carl Brockelmann, Geschichte der Arabischen Litteratur
Lane Edward W illiam Lane, Arabic-English Lexicon
Lisan Muhammad ibn Mukarram ibn Manzur, Lisan al-cArab
NB Ahmad Shawqi’s Nahj al-Burdah
pbuh peace and blessings upon him = salla Allahu calayhi wa-
sallama (lit. “God bless him and give him peace,” the
honorific phrase traditionally used after the name of the
Prophet Muhammad)
QK al-Q ur5an al-Karim
WN Wadah al-Nahj, Shaykh Salim al-Bishri’s commentary on
Shawqi’s Nahj al-Burdah
XIX
THREE
Ahmad Shawqi and the

Reweaving o f the Mantle
Introduction
The third of our Mantle Odes is Nahj al-Burdah (The Way of the Mantle),1
which, as its title indicates, is a contrafaction (mucaradah), that is, a
formal imitation in rhyme and meter, of al-Busiri’s Burdah composed
by Ahmad Shawqi (1868-1932), the most celebrated of the Egyptian Neo-
Classical poets.2 Termed in Arabic “SfuTara5 al-Ihya5” (Poets of the Re
vival), the Neo-Classical poets formed an integral part o f the mid-nine-
teenth-mid-twentieth-century renascence of Classical Arabic language,
literature, and culture termed the Arab Awakening (al-Ihya^, literally
“revival”) or Renaissance (al-Nahdah).
A H M A D S HA WQ I A N D T HE N A H D A H
Ahmad Shawqi was born in Cairo in 1868 to a family of mixed Arab, Turk
ish, Greek, and Circassian origins. His family had close ties to the court of
the Khedives. Descendants of the great mid-nineteenth-century Albanian
reformist ruler of Egypt, Muhammad cAli Pasha (r. 1805-1845), the Khe
dives ruled Egypt under more or less nominal Ottoman suzerainty. In 1883
Shawqi completed his secondary studies at the Khedival School and en
rolled at the Law School in 1885, where he studied for two years followed
by two years in its Division of Translation, graduating in 1889. In 1890 he
was appointed to the Khedival Secretariat of Khedive Tawfiq, who then
sent him to study law and literature in France from 1891 to 1893, first in
151
152 T H E M A N T L E ODES
Montpelier and then in Paris. Upon his return to Egypt, he was reap
pointed to the Khedival Secretariat. He remained there under Tawfiq’s
successor, cAbbas Hilmi II (r. 1892-1914), whom he served as court poet
until the Khedive’s dethronement and Shawql’s own exile to Spain, in 1914.
Upon his return from exile in 1919, Shawql was unable to gain a position at
court but became an increasingly popular poet throughout the Arab world.
Proclaimed by the Arab poetic establishment “Prince of Poets” (Amir al-
Shucara5) in 1927, Shawqi died, after a long illness, in 1932.3
Shawqi’s extraordinarily rich and varied poetic production ranges
from imitations of French and European models in his early Diwan; to the
Neo-Classical court panegyric to the Khedive o f Egypt and occasional
poetry addressed to countless notables (including Lord Cromer) in his
middle period; to the Neo-Classical masterpiece, his Siniyyah in imitation
o f al-Buhturl, on the monuments of Islamic Spain, the end product of his
exile in Spain (1914-1919); to his experiments in verse drama, didactic po
etry, etc.4His lifetime spans a dramatic transitional period in Egyptian and
Arab culture: the emergence o f Egyptian nationalism; the cUrabI Revolt of
1882, whose failure ushered in the British occupation of Egypt, 1882-1936;
World War 1, 1914-18; the Egyptian 1919 Revolution; and in the 1920s the
Wafd party’s establishment o f a constitutional monarchy under dimin
ished British authority— concomitant with the dissolution of the Ottoman
Sultanate, and with it the Islamic Caliphate, in 1922, with the establishment
o f the Turkish Republic.
It has been widely recognized that the Nahdah, or Arab Renaissance,
arose largely as a response to Western imperialism and domination of the
Arab world. In poetry, this led to the formation of the Neo-Classical school
and took the form of attempting to recuperate a vision of Arab-Islamic
hegemony through reprising the robust and majestic voices of the master
poets o f the High cAbbasid era, often in the form of contrafactions
(mucaradat) o f established masterpieces.5A formative figure on the Egyp
tian scene was the Shaykh al-Husayn al-Marsafi (1815-90), who is regarded
as the first to have formulated a renaissance (nahdah) of Arabic literature,
as seen in his influential study o f Arabic language, grammar, and rhetoric,
etc., Al-Wasilah al-Adabiyyah ila al-cUlum al-cArabiyyah (vol. 1:1289/1875;
vol. 2: 1292/1879). There he espouses the revival o f the art of writing or
composition (insha3), based largely on examples taken from the Umayyad
and cAbbasid prose masters, as essential for the rebirth and modernization
of Egypt.6Worthy of mention here, too, is the poet and statesman Mahmud
Sami al-Barudi (1839-1904), one o f the leaders o f the failed nationalist
cUrabI Revolt (1881-82). When British military intervention quashed the
revolt and ushered in the British occupation o f Egypt, Barudi was among
the leaders exiled to Ceylon, where he spent the next seventeen years. It was
there that he composed major parts of his diwan and his voluminous and
influential anthology of cAbbasid poetry, Al-Mukhtarat, both of which ap
peared posthumously and established him as major proponent o f and for
mative influence on the Neo-Classical movement.7
Concomitant with this valorization o f Classical, especially early
cAbbasid, poets was the Neo-Classical disparagement of the more im
mediate poetic precedents o f what came to be termed cAsr al-Inhitat
(Age of Decline) or al-Jumud (of Stagnation), that is, the Post-Classical
period o f Arab subjugation to “ foreign,” if Islamic, rule, such as the
Ayyubids, Mamluks, and Ottomans. Charged with excessive artifice and
artificiality, the late medieval tradition was taken to embody the degen
eracy o f Arab-Islamic culture that had, in turn, paved the way for non-
Arab (Central Asian, Turkish, Kurdish, or Caucasian) Islamic and sub
sequently European Christian ascendancy and domination.
We must not forget that this literary movement was part and parcel
of the broader cultural movement of the Nahdah, the rebirth and reform
o f Arab and more generally Islamic culture under the influence o f Eu
ropean liberal thought and scientific progress on the one hand and
European imperialism and military domination on the other. In this
respect, the work of intellectuals and reformers such as the Egyptian
modernizer and educator Rifacah Rafic al-Tahtawi (d. 1873), the revolu
tionary pan-Islamist, Jamal al-DIn al-Afghanl (d. 1897), and, especially,
the Egyptian Islamic modernizer Muhammad cAbduh (d. 1905), must
be kept in mind— particularly in light of Albert Hourani’s point that the
Islamic reformism o f Muhammad cAbduh, Rashid Rida, and others
“took place under the stimulus of European liberal thought, and led to
the gradual reinterpretation of Islamic concepts so as to make them
equivalent to the guiding principles of European thought.”8
POETI C PRECEDENTS
What is curious about Shawqi’s Nahj al-Burdah is that he has chosen not,
as the usual Neo-Classical manner would suggest, a High cAbbasid
model for his contrafaction (mucdradah), but rather the centerpiece of
the poetry and piety o f the Post-Classical era, al-Busiri’s Burdah, or

Mantle Ode. Shawqi’s Neo-Classical predecessor, al-Barudi, too, com
posed a mucaradah, o f sorts, o f al-Busirl’s Burdah, namely his madih
nabawi o f nearly 450 verses, Kashf al-Ghummah fi Madh Sayyid al-
Ummah (The Banishment o f Sorrow in Praise o f the Master o f the
Ummah).9It opens with an unmistakable allusion to its poetic genealogy
echoing the image and diction o f al-Busiris base-text, the MImiyyah of
Ibn al-Farid (see chapter 2 o f this volume):
O h arb in ger o f lig h tn in g , m ake y o u r w a y to D arat al-cA la m

A n d urge y o u r flo ck o f clouds to a trib e at D h u Salam
[59]
Although it begins with a lyrical nasib or “ghazal” section, it is, as al-

Barudi states in his prose introduction, basically a poetic rendition of
Ibn Hisham’s Al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah.10 It thus represents a poetic un
dertaking altogether different from Shawqi’s, one that has led to the de
bate over whether K ashf al-Ghum mah is a qasidah or an epic
(malhamah) .n Further, we should note that Shawqi himself also com
posed a contrafaction o f al-Busiri’s second most celebrated and imitated
madih nabawi, his Hamziyyah, known by its incipit Wulida al-Huda
(True Guidance Was Born).12
Yet another layer o f literary influence must be taken into account.
The intervening six centuries between al-Busiri’s Burdah as base-text
and Shawqi’s contrafaction o f it in Nahj al-Burdah witnessed not merely
the florescence o f madih nabawi as a major poetic genre, including myr
iad contrafactions and expansions o f the Burdah, but also the peculiar
genre o f badiciyyah, that is, a contrafaction o f al-Busirl’s Burdah that is
composed in such a way that each verse exhibits a particular rhetorical
device. Safi al-DIn al-Hilli (d. 749/1348 or 750/1349) is usually credited
with creating the first such poem. Later practitioners, beginning with
Tzz al-DIn al-Mawsili (d. 789/1387), added the further proviso that each
verse contain a tawriyah (pun) on the rhetorical term for the device
exhibited therein. A number of these poems, especially those of Safi al-
DIn al Hilli and Ibn Hijjah al-Hamawi (d. 837/1434). had a certain cur
rency in the Neo-Classical period.13 Inasmuch as their poems closely
followed the thematic structure as well as rhyme and meter of al-Busirl’s
Burdah, they, and the aesthetic rhetorical expectations they engendered,
A H M A D S H A W Q l A N D T H E R E W E A V I N G OF T H E M A N T L E 155
must have influenced both Shawqi’s choice o f base-text and his composi
tion. Indeed, in his introduction to Nahj al-Burdah, M uhammad al-
Muwaylihl states that Shawqi has taken the badiciyyat type o f madih
nabawi as his model.14Although Shawqi does not follow their program
matic practice, nevertheless his rhetorically ornate style creates a similar
effect, and his poem shows the influence o f this body o f poetry. It should
be noted, further, that especially since the technical term badiciyyah is
sometimes used more loosely for rhetorically ornate madih nabawi—
usually contrafactions of, or strongly influenced by, al-Busiri’s Burdah—
to Shawqi’s contemporaries the badiciyyah, whether in the precise or
looser sense, is the immediate genre-association for Nahj al-Burdah.
As we saw in chapter 2, al-Busiri’s Burdah is without question the
preeminent example of madih nabawi, one that, in addition to spawning
the subgenre of the badiciyyah, was imitated, copied, commented upon,
expanded upon, translated, etc., in an entirely unprecedented manner.
Further, we must not forget the widespread popular belief in the Bur-
dah’s miraculous and talismanic powers, both spiritual and physical,
that were both initiated and confirmed by the story associated with it,
as follows. The poet, stricken with hemiplegia, composed this poem of
madih nabawi. He then saw the Prophet in a dream and recited the poem
to him, whereupon the Prophet, in an expression of appreciation and
delight, conferred his mantle upon the poet. The poet awoke the next
morning cured of his ailment. The protection and blessings, in this world
and the next, that the Burdah conferred resulted in its extensive incor
poration into the everyday piety of the faithful— its recitation at mawlids
of the Prophet and various saints, at funerals, etc., and especially to its
incorporation into Sufi liturgies, where, as I understand it, its recitation
is believed to evoke the presence of the Prophet even as it had for al-
Busiri (see chapter 2). Thus, in choosing to imitate al-Busiri’s Burdah,
Shawqi was at once engaging a powerful and evocative model and creat
ing for himself a formidable poetic challenge.
To understand Shawqi’s purpose in following al-Busiri’s Burdah,
then, we will once more invoke Connerton’s concept of “mythic concor
dance,” that is, the identification with an originary and authoritative
model, whereby the imitator acquires, or coopts, for himself and his own
work, the model’s authenticity and authority. In the case of Shawqi’s Nahj
al-Burdah, we will refine the concept of mythic concordance to argue
156 THE M A N T L E ODES
that Shawqi has chosen al-Busiri’s Burdah, and with it the centuries-old
tradition o f madih nabawi, especially badiciyyah, associated with it, to
appropriate for his “Ihya3 Project” for the cultural and political revival
o f the Islamic Ummah the most compelling poetic and religious author
ity. As with any poetic contrafaction (mucaradah), Shawqi’s Nahj al-
Burdah must be understood as a “performance” of the base-text, that is,
a form o f ritual reenactment that combines repetition and mimesis of
the authority-conferring base-text on the one hand, but at the same time
transforms and redirects it through the new text toward the poet’s own
contemporary goals and concerns (poetic, political, religious, etc., see
below), on the other.
A U T H O R I Z I N G T H E T E XT :
T H E K H E D I V E , T H E S H A Y K H , A N D T HE A D I B
Shawqi’s quest for authority— political and religious as well as poetic—

comes to the fore extrapoetically in the prose dedication of Nahj al-
Burdah to his patron, the Khedive cAbbas Hilmi II, to commemorate his
Hajj o f the year 1909/1327; this appears as the frontispiece, beneath the
Khedival coat o f arms, o f the first edition (1910/1328).
The Exalted K in g, M y Lord the H ajji cA bbas H ilm i II:
G o d has th o u g h t it best for th is h um ble servant, the poet o f y o u r noble

house, to fo llo w the ligh t o f the u n riva led lu m in ary, the blessed al-B usiri,
the m aster o f the celebrated qasida k n o w n as al-B u rdah in praise o f the
best o f all m a n k in d , M u h a m m ad , pbuh. So I have com p osed this poem ,
w h ich I ask A lla h and im plore his M essenger to accept, and I have m ade
it, m y L ord, to co m m em orate y o u r blessed Hajj o f the year 1327, that p e o
ple m igh t spread the new s o f it each tim e it is read. O u r lord the d istin
g u ish ed professor, the Shaykh o f a l-A zh a r U niversity, Shaykh Salim al-
B ishri, has g racio u sly u n d ertaken to p rovide a co m m en ta ry on it for the
people. Thus, blessing has been added to its verses from every source and
its favorable reception b y the k in g is the utm ost goal o f the o rig in ality and
the b ea u ty o f fits com position ! [AN D /O R ] w o u ld be the m ost m arvelous
and generous [reward] [u n derlin in g m ine].15
The prose dedication is composed in a rhetorically ornate stylized idiom

that is designed with the utmost precision to enhance the prestige and
authority o f the royal gift that the poet proffers. W hile employing the
A H M A D S H A W Q I A N D T H E R E W E A V I N G OF T H E M A N T L E 157
conventional formulae of self-abasement, Shawqi first invokes the madih

nabawi tradition o f divine or prophetic inspiration (as we saw in the case
o f al-Busiri, chapter 2). Further, he specifies that this divine mandate is
to compose a madih nabawi following the model of the unrivalled mas
ter o f that genre, al-Busiri, which, in the Arabic poetic context o f the
time, means that the poem is technically a mucaradah, a contrafaction
that follows the same rhyme (mim) and meter (al-basit), and that its first
religious and literary objective is therefore to be pleasing and acceptable
to Allah and the Prophet. In keeping with the Islamic hierarchical struc
ture, it is only then that Shawqi introduces the statement that the poem
has been composed in commemoration o f his patron’s Hajj of 1327/1909
and that it is intended to perpetuate among the people the memory of
that blessed event. To further buttress the Islamic credentials o f the
poem, Shawqi adds that none other than the Shaykh al-Azhar o f the
period, the M aliki mufti Salim al-Bishri (1832-1917) has deigned to com
pose the accompanying commentary, Wadah al-Nahj (Light of the Way),
to explicate the poetic text to the reading public.16
This ranked hierarchy o f religious figures— Allah, the Prophet, al-
Busiri as the master o f the greatest o f all madaîh nabawiyyah, the
Khedive-as-hajji (i.e., the legitimate Islamic ruler in the performance of
his religious duty), and the Shaykh al-Azhar— thus serves to authorize
the poetic text in the religious, literary, and political spheres, an autho
rization or guarantee that Shawqi terms barakah (blessing). The rhetori
cally complex final sentence seems to me to be intentionally ambiguous.
In a manner that charmingly encapsulates the panegyric pact (the ritual
exchange o f poem for prize) while at the same time exhibiting the con
vention o f asking for no reward but the patron’s satisfaction, Shawqi’s
closing statement reads both as: “the king’s favorable reception of the
poem is the utmost goal of the originality and beauty of its composition”
and/or “the king’s favorable reception of the poem should take the form
of the most marvelous and generous [reward].”
We can contextualize the prose dedication more broadly. On the one
hand, Shawqi’s choice of al-Busiri’s Burdah as his model is natural, for in
this period the visit to the Prophet’s grave in Medina was still an integral
part of the Hajj ritual and was traditionally an occasion for the composi
tion of madih nabawi. What seems strange, however, is that despite the
prose dedication, in which the poet expresses his intention that the patron’s
158 T HE MA N T L E ODES
Hajj will be remembered as often as people recite the poem, there is no

mention o f the patron or his Hajj in the text of the poem itself. In fact,
Shawqi had already performed his panegyric obligation o f celebrating and
commemorating his patron’s Hajj in his tcfiyyah, To [Mount] ‘Arafat,
which takes as its themes the Khedive’s Hajj to Mecca and subsequent visit
to the tomb of the Prophet in Medina. Shawqi closes that poem, interest
ingly, by calling upon the Khedive to make a plea to the Prophet, bemoan
ing the backward and benighted state o f the Islamic Ummah: “Your peo
p le . . . are in a deep slumber, like the Seven Sleepers snorting in their Den”
(cf. Q K 18:9 Ashab al-Kahf), and pleading for its awakening or revival.17
It is noteworthy that the prose dedication, which appears as the fron
tispiece of the original 1910 publication, is relegated in later editions of Nahj
al-Burdah /Wadah al-Nahj to a footnote to al-Muwaylihi’s introduction,
while in Al-Shawqiyyat (as Shawqi’s diwan is conventionally titled), there
is no mention at all o f the occasion or patron.18That is, over time, the as
sociation of the Khedive with the poem has been obscured, omitted, and
forgotten. Inasmuch as the normal celebratory or commemorative poem
to one’s patron is the qasidat al-madh— the panegyric ode of praise to the
patron— the fact is that in this case the earthly patron has been replaced as
the mamduh by the Prophet. What I would like to suggest is that there are
political implications to not naming one’s patron in a poem ostensibly
dedicated to him: as we shall see from the poem itself, the poet does not
place any political hopes in his patron nor, as is otherwise standard for a
court poet, does he offer any praise o f the patron or his rule. This is both
very telling and very clever on the poet’s part, for the Khedive could cer
tainly not complain about the Prophet displacing him, and Shawqi’s dedi
cation declares that it was Allah’s bidding that he compose a madih nabawi
following al-Busiri. As we noted, the Islamic credentials of the poem are
further enhanced by the commentary by the Shaykh al-Azhar of the time,
Salim al-Bishri. And yet in political terms, the Prophet as mamduh and an
idealized vision of past Islamic glory have completely displaced the court
poet’s contemporary patron and any expression of praise for or approval
o f his rule. In all, this suggests that Shawqi’s dedication of Nahj al-Burdah
to the Khedive in commemoration of his Hajj o f 1909/1327 goes beyond
performing the obligatory ceremony of allegiance incumbent upon a court
poet; it further functions as an expedient to shield the poet from accusa
tions o f disloyalty or sedition that the poem’s contents might invite.
In sum, in light of the 1,500-year court panegyric tradition of which

Shawqi was the last great exemplar, his silence within the poetic text itself
on the subject of the poem’s proclaimed dedicatee and patron is telling. As
I have demonstrated at length elsewhere, the principal role of the court
panegyrist in the Arab-Islamic tradition is to substantiate and celebrate
the legitimacy o f his patron’s rule.19Shawql’s silence on this subject in Nahj
al-Burdah is therefore glaring. In fact, the poem as text does not do what
the prose dedication says it is intended to do— i.e., immortalize the mem
ory of the Khedive’s Hajj. However prominent the placement of the dedica
tion in the original 1328/1910 printing, by limiting mention of his patron to
a prose dedication, Shawqi has made it not only distinct from, but also
eminently detachable from, the poetic text— and this is precisely what hap
pens in later editions and publications. In brief, over time any and all con
nection to the Khedive and his performance of the Hajj is lost.
The detachment o f the compositional context from the poem in the
case of Nahj al-Burdah is altogether in contrast to the inseparability of
al-Busiri’s Burdah from the myth of the dream vision of the Prophet and
the poet’s cure, and from Kacb ibn Zuhayr’s Sucad Has Departed and the
myth o f the donation of the Prophet’s mantle. In my reading, to the
extent that the poem is at least for appearance’s sake dedicated to cAbbas
Hilmi II, it functions as an unspoken but eloquent rebuke o f the Khe
dive’s rule— a virtual, or silent, hijd5 (see below).
A final feature o f the first printing of Nahj al-Burdah and its numer
ous reprintings is the introduction by the esteemed political journalist
and litterateur (adib) of the period, Muhammad al-Muwaylihi (1858?—
1930). Most renowned for his Hadtth cIsa ibn Hisham (1907), the collec
tion of his series o f maqamat-inspired articles, originally published in
his journal Misbah al-Sharq, exposing the foibles of contemporary Egyp
tian society, al-Muwaylihi himself was, as Roger Allen characterizes this
work, for the most part Neo-Classical and conservative in his views. A
staunch defender of Arab classicism in the face of the onslaught of West
ern— first French and then English Romantic— literature and literary
theory on Arab letters, al-Muwaylihi had ruthlessly attacked Shawqi in
his reviews, also published in Misbah al-Sharq. There he decried the
young poet’s first edition o f Al-Shawqiyyat (1898) for its espousal of
Western (French) literary models such as Victor Hugo, Lamartine, and
la Fontaine, whom he had read during his student years in France.*0 In
160 • THE M A N T L E ODES
this respect, M uwaylihi’s exuberant approbation in his Nahj al-Burdah

introduction, with its defense o f the timeless expressive capacities o f the
classical Arabic idiom in the face o f Western-influenced modernists’
claims that it is obsolete and inadequate, constitutes a Neo-Classical (or
“Neo-Conservative”) literary manifesto and, for Shawqi, imprimatur.21
T H E C O L O N I A L D O U B L E BI ND
A brief survey o f the Egyptian political situation at the time of the compo
sition o f Nahj al-Burdah will, in my reading o f the poem, shed light on
Shawqi’s silence on his patron’s rule. Although under the British Agency
Egypt experienced substantial material and economic improvements (re
grettably at the expense o f education, public health, etc.), particularly
under the consulship o f Lord Cromer (Sir Evelyn Baring, r. 1884-1907), it
was otherwise in a state o f political and cultural doldrums, as virtually all
factions— the Ottomanists/pan-Islamists, the nationalists, the secular
ists— chafed under the British colonial yoke. The Khedive, although ap
parently nursing dreams of independently ruling Egypt, was in practical
terms expecting to be deposed by the British Agency at any time (as in fact
happened in 1914). Further, however trapped the Khedive was between the
nominal suzerainty of the moribund Ottoman Sultan/Caliph (the notori
ously despotic cAbd al-Hamid II was deposed by the Young Turks in 1909
and replaced with Muhammad V) and the actual control of the British
Agency, nevertheless, the former guaranteed that Egypt could not be an
nexed, as India had been, into the British Empire. The French, to counter
the influence o f their British rivals, had supported the Khedive and the
Nationalists, but the Anglo-French Entente of 1904 dashed any hopes of
the French serving to end the British occupation. The Khedive, for his part,
voiced support for Mustafa Kam il’s Egyptian Nationalist Movement, in
asmuch as it served as a threat to the Ottomans and British, but stopped
short o f espousing its idea o f a constitutional monarchy, which did not
accord with the Khedive’s absolutist appetites.22
On the broader Egyptian scene, outside of the khedival court, the
1910 date o f Nahj al-Burdah and its commentary Wadah al-Nahj by
Shaykh Salim al-Bishrl comes just four years after the crystallization of
the Egyptian-British colonial experience in the notorious Dinshaway
Incident o f M ay 1906 and its aftermath, and three years after Cromer’s
AHMAD SHAWQ! AND THE REWEAVING OF T H E M A N T L E l 6l
1907 resignation, marked by his offensive and insulting Farewell A d

dress.23 O f the former, Hourani writes:
the fam ou s incident o f D a n ish w ay (D inshaw ay) b ro u gh t to the surface

the feelin g o f nation al h u m ilia tio n . In 1906 a fight broke out betw een v il
lagers o f D inshaw ay, near Tanta in the delta, and a group o f British officers
w h o w ere sh o o tin g p igeons in th e n eigh b orh o od . Several officers w ere
injured, and one died o f sh ock and sun stroke; a peasant w as beaten to
death b y the B ritish soldiers w h o fou n d the dead officer. C ro m er w as
absent on leave, and those w h o w ere tem p o ra rily in ch arge lost th eir
heads: a sp ecial co u rt w as set up, a n u m ber o f peasants w ere co n d em n ed
to be h an ged, others to be flogged, and the sentences w ere carried out w ith
b arbarou s p u b licity.24
The Egyptian reaction to the brutal and disproportionate British response

(in a summary trial four villagers were condemned to be hanged, one to
fifteen years in prison, others to shorter prison terms or flogging; the hang
ings and floggings were publicly carried out) is recorded in the oft-quoted
remarks of Egyptian nationalist and reformer Qasim Amin:
E very m an I m et had a broken h eart and a lu m p in his throat. There was

nervousness in e very g estu re— in th eir han ds and their voices. Sadness
w as on every face, but it w as a p ecu lia r sort o f sadness. It w as co n fu sed ,
d istracted and v isib ly subdued b y superior f o r c e .. . . The spirits o f the
h an ged m en seem ed to hover over every place in the city.25
Lord Cromer’s Farewell Address was humiliating and patronizing:

his statement that British control would need to continue indefinitely
dashed hopes for Egyptian independence; his castigating the Egyptians
for not showing gratitude to their British occupiers offended Egyptian
sensibilities, as did his failure to mention the Khedive, the legitimate
Islamic ruler of the land.26
If relations between the Khedive and Cromer (and later Kitchener,
1911-14) were unremittingly hostile, the rapprochement between him and
the new consul general, Sir Eldon Gorst (r. 1907-11), who was under orders
from the British Liberal government to give the Egyptian government
more control over matters of policy and administration, did not entirely
ease his situation. Rather, it opened the Khedive to more insistent attacks
from the Nationalists for his conciliatory policy toward the British.
In the year 1910 itself, the political scene was dominated by the assas
sination on 10 February of Butrus Ghali, the Coptic prime minister and a
162 t h e m a n t l e odes
strong ally o f the British, who had been the presiding judge in the
Dinshaway trial and who was now prepared to approve a British plan to
extend the Suez Canal concession beyond 1968 for an additional forty
years. The literary scene was dominated by the publication in July o f the
poetry collection, Wataniyyatl (My Patriotism), by the ardent nationalist
and follower o f Mustafa Kamil, cAli al-Ghayati (d. 1956). The poems in
cluded vehement attacks on the British and Egyptian authorities, and the
collection boasted three introductions: by Muhammad Farid, Mustafa
K am il’s successor as leader of the National Party; cAbd al-cAz!z Shawlsh,
K am il’s successor as editor of the party’s paper, Al-Liwa5; and the poet
himself. In August 1910 the three were brought to trial, convicted, and
sentenced to imprisonment (for terms o f six, three, and twelve months,
respectively) for incitement against the government. Thus, al-Ghayati’s
Wataniyyatl provided Gorst with the occasion he had been looking for to
crush the extreme wing of the Nationalist Party and its leaders.27
Beyond the political events and economic statistics, what is above
all important is the moral condition of Egypt during the period of
Shawqi’s composition o f Nahj al-Burdah. In this regard, I follow Husayn
N. Kadhim in his astute choice o f Albert Hourani’s summation of the
common characteristics o f British and French control o f Arab peoples
in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries:
First o f all, it w as im p osed by acts o f force, in op position to such articulate

p o litica l feelin g as existed. In E gyp t B ritish co n tro l w as im posed by the
defeat o f an inept but g en u in e n atio n al m ovem ent again st older alien
d o m in a tio n [the cU rabi Revolt, 1882] Secondly, th is foreign control
w as not established p rim a rily for the sake o f the inh abitants o f the A rab
co u n tries th em selves W h a t w as im p ortan t for them w as the land and
its resources. Those w h o happen ed to o ccu p y the land w ere at best in stru
m ents for, at w orst obstacles in the w a y of, p urposes w h ich w ere no c o n
cern o f th e irs T hirdly, foreign co n tro l was not o n ly im p osed by acts
o f force; it w as alw ays m a in tain ed b y fo r c e .. . . It is this im p osition o f an
alien rule upon an u n w illin g people w h ich is called “ im perialism .” . . . The
essence o f im p erialism is to be fou n d in a m oral relation ship — that o f
p ow er and p ow erlessness— and an y m aterial consequences w h ich spring
from it are not en ough to ch an ge it.28
In light o f this background, the categorization o f Nahj al-Burdah

under the rubric o f Shawql’s Islamiyyat, as is sometimes done, must not
blind us to its eminently political circumstances and polemical intent.
AHMAD SHAWQI AND THE REWEAVING OF T H E MANTLE 163
As we shall see, Shawqi’s poem and the vitriolic political-polemical pas

sages of al-Bishrl’s commentary constitute an eloquent and cogent Arab-
Islamic response to the moral and political double bind o f a nation
trapped between the moral and material decay o f the Ottoman Muslim
East on the one hand and the hypocrisy and oppression o f the Christian
West on the other. It is this situation of political and cultural paralysis,
despondency, and humiliation that Shawqi’s Nahj al-Burdah addresses
and that his Ihya5 Project of revival seeks to remedy.
We should also keep in mind that Arab literary modernism (tajdid)
o f early twentieth-century Egypt, often termed Pre-Romantic, was es
poused at this time by the Lebanese-born Khalil Mutran (1872-1949). In
his Neo-Classical poems Shawql is moving against this growing trend,
which would soon find more vocal support in the English and French
Romantic-based movement composed o f the triumvirate of Ibrahim al-
M azinl (1890-1949), cAbd al-Rahman ShukrI (1886-1958), and Mahmud
cAbbas al-cAqqad (1889-1964), later named the Diwan School after the
1921 publication of their literary manifesto o f that title. Although in 1910
this movement was still in a formative stage, in the coming years the
Diwan School, especially al-cAqqad, would launch a sustained and viru
lent attack on Shawqi’s Neo-Classicism as artificial, reactionary, and
alienated from contemporary life and experience.29In this respect, Nahj
al-Burdah, like Shawqi’s other mucaradat o f Classical Arabic master
pieces, should be understood as a challenge, not merely to the poet’s
Classical and Post-Classical forebears, but to his contemporary Modern
ist rivals as well.
Shawqi’s Nahj al-Burdah: The Thematic Structure
The thematic structure of Shawqi’s Nahj al-Burdah can best be under

stood through a comparison with that of the poem he has explicitly
taken as his model or base-text, al-BusIrl’s Burdah. As we saw in chapter
2, al-BusIrl’s Burdah is traditionally, though not originally or always,
divided into ten thematic sections, which for the purposes of a thematic
and structural overview provide a useful starting point and frame of
reference. Badr al-DIn Muhammad al-Ghazzi (d. 984/1577) in his com
mentary, Al-Zubdah f i Sharh al-Burdah, labels the sections as follows
(emphasis mine):
Al-Busiri’s Burdah: Thematic Parts
1: Prophetic Nasib (vv. 1-11) = lyric-elegiac prelude

2: Warning against the Desires of the Willful Self (vv. 11-28)
3: Praise of the Noble Messenger (vv. 29-58)
4: His Birth (vv. 59-71)
5: His Miracles (vv. 72-87)
6: The Noble Qur5an (vv. 88-104)
7: The Night Journey and Ascension (vv. 105-117)
8: The Messenger’s Jihad and Military Campaigns (vv. 118-139)
9: Supplication and Plea for Intercession (vv. 140-151)
10 : Fervent Prayer and Petition (vv. 152-160)i0
In chapter 2, on al-Busiri’s Burdah, I proposed that parts 1, 2, 3, 9

and 10 constitute that traditional structural fram ew ork o f a courtly ode
o f supplication to w hich the Sirah-related passages o f parts 4-8 have
been added as an extension o f the madih (praise) section. A s Shawql is
avowedly follow ing the example o f the “M aster o f the Burdah,” (in his
prose dedication, above, and N B v. 101), we can assume that he isinti
mately aware o f the structure o f his m odel— even though he would not
have expressed that awareness in the same terms as our contem porary
studies— and undoubtedly he was fam iliar w ith the traditional division
o f the Burdah into ten thematic parts. W ith this in m ind and, first, with
the intention o f revealing the structural and thematic relationship o f
Shawqfs poem to al-Busiri’s and, second, for the practical expedient o f
providing a structural and thematic overview o f Shawqi’s 190-line poem,
I have divided Nahj al-Burdah into the following twelve parts and, as
w ill be discussed below, two movements.
S h aw q l’s N ah j al-B u rd ah : T h em atic P arts
M ovem ent I: In the Path o f al-B u siri

1: Nasib: C o m p la in t o f U nrequited Love (vv. 1-24)
2 : C h id in g the U nruly S o u l— W arning against
W orldly Tem ptations (vv. 25-38)
3 : R epentance, Subm ission, and Supplication (vv. 39-46)
4 : Prophetic Praise (vv. 46/7-74)
5 : S irah T hem es (vv. 75~99 )
T he B irth o f the P rop het (vv. 75-82)
T he N ig h t Journey and A scen sio n (vv. 83-93)
T he M iracle o f the C a ve (v. 94-99)
6: M etapoetic Recapitulation o f Prophetic Praise (vv. 100-117)
A H M A D S H A W Q f A N D T H E R E W E A V I N G OF T H E M A N T L E 165
M ovem ent II: D eviation and T ransform ation

7: P olem ic again st C h ristia n s/C h ristia n ity (vv. 118-128)
8: D efense/Praise o f Jihad and the P rop h et’s
M ilita ry C a m p a ig n s (vv. 129-141)
9 : The S h arT ah (vv. 142-154)
10: The G lo ry o f B agh dad (vv. 155-164)
11: The O rth o d o x C a lip h s (vv. 165-176)
12 : Benediction and Supplication (v. 177-190)
As the italics in the above list indicate, parts 1,2,3,9, and 10 o f al-Busiri’s
Burdah, which constitute what I have termed the supplicatory frame
work o f the poem, find their counterparts in parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 12 of
Shawqfs Nahj al-Burdah. The sequence of supplicatory ode elements in
Shawqi’s poem is approximately: 1) Lyric-Elegiac Prelude (nasib, consist
ing o f the complaint of unrequited passion and resolving with chiding
the self/soul and warning it against earthly temptations; 2-3) the poet’s
Self-Abasement and Supplication (repentance and submission) to the
mamduh/Prophet; 4) Praise of the mamduh/Prophet; and, as we saw in
al-Busiri’s Burdah, 5) Benediction with supplication, that is, asking for
G od ’s blessing upon the mamduh/Prophet, etc. It should be noted here
that, as we saw in chapter 2 for medieval madih nabawi o f the type of
al-Busiri’s Burdah, the object of supplication is invariably (though not
exclusively) the intercession (shafacah) o f the Prophet on Judgment Day
and, therefore, the gist of the supplicatory rite that the poem entails is
the exchange o f the poet’s praise today for the Prophet’s future interces
sion (see part 3, below).
As we shall see, Shawqi both complies with and transcends the dictates
of the traditional form. Furthermore, Shawqi incorporates counterparts to
what I have termed the Sirah-related sections of al-Busiri, i.e., Burdah parts
4-7, although in a truncated form, in what I have labeled as Nahj al-Burdah
part 5. However, Busiri’s part 8, on the Prophet’s jihad or military cam
paigns, takes on a new structural position in Shawqi’s poem, where it forms
part of the new extended political-polemical section that Shawqi has intro
duced into the traditional madih nabawi— parts 7-11.
In sum, then, a comparison of the thematic structure of the two poems
reveals that Shawqi has incorporated the main structural and thematic
components of al-Busiri’s Burdah in parts 1-6 and 12 of his Nahj al-Burdah.
He has then introduced a new extended section, parts 7-11, including a
166 THE MA N T L E ODES
counterpart of al-Busiri’s part 8, in which he presents his own new political

polemic against the Christian West and proposes, to counter Western mili
tary, political, cultural, and moral hegemony, a competing model for an
Arab-Islamic hegemony grounded in a humanistic (re)vision of early
Islam, the Sharicah, and the cAbbasid Golden Age. Finally, in what is un
doubtedly the most moving poetic and political achievement of Nahj al-
Burdah, Shawqi closes his poem with a resounding plea, not for mercy on
Judgment Day, but for the restoration of Islamic worldly dominion. This
allows us to divide Shawqi’s Nahj al-Burdah, for the sake of discussion and
analysis, into two movements: movement I, in which the poet for the most
part follows al-Busirl’s Burdah, and movement II, in which he departs from
his model to redirect the poem toward his Ihya5Project of revival. A fuller
comparison with specific points in al-Busiri’s Burdah follows in the discus
sion of the individual parts o f Nahj al-Burdah.
Nahj al-Burdah M ovem ent I: In the Path o f al-B usiri— Parts 1-6
The Way o f the Mantle by Ahmad Shawqi31
p art 1: n a s Ib : c o m p la in t o f u n r e q u ite d lo ve (vv. 1-24)
1. O n the p lain betw een the ban -tree and the peak, a pale faw n
H as fo u n d it licit, in forbidden m onths, to shed m y blood.
2. W ith the g la n ce o f faw n ’s eyes fate has shot a lion:

O g a zelle o f the p lain , slay the lion o f the thicket!
3. W h e n the gazelle tu rn ed its gaze upon me, m y soul said to me,

“A las! Y o u r h eart has been stru ck by w ell-aim ed arro w !”
4. I denied w hat m y soul said and hid the arrow in m y h ea rt* [*lit. “ liver”]
For m e, the w o u n d s o f lovers caused no pain.
5. Y ou are endow ed w ith the noblest o f virtu es

I f y o u seek excuses for the sins o f others.
6. O y o u w h o blam e m e for this love, th o u gh love is fate,

I f passion so em aciated you, you w ould not be so q u ick to censure me.
7. I have lent y o u m y ear, but it pays no heed;

For often, th o u g h the ear can hear, the heart is deaf.
8. O you w ith d row sy eye, m ay y o u never taste passion!

Y o u ’ve kept y o u r lover aw ake, p in in g over passion, so sleep!
9. A th o u san d tim es w o u ld I be y o u r ransom , and y o u r

n igh t-p h an tom ’s, too,
T h o u gh the love that m ade you m iserly to m e has m ade it generous.
10. Y ou r p h an tom cam e to m e b y night, foun d a b leed in g w o u n d ,

and healed it.
H ow m an y gifts do dream s to lovers bring!
11. A m o n g the m aidens that sw ay lik e ban-trees on a h ill and, like

spear-shafts, quiver,
A re those w h o m ake sport o f m y soul and spill m y blood,
12. Those w h o, in the late m o rn in g , reveal faces lik e fu ll m oons,

W h o , w ith th eir jew els and n ecklaces, stir to je a lo u sy the
forenoon sun,
13. Those w h o, w ith eyelids sick w ith languor, slay th eir lo v e r—

For love-sickn ess is w e ll-k n o w n to lead to death,
14. Those w h o trip over the h earts o f m en, and there is n o th in g

That can steady the co q u ettish trip p in g o f th eir gait,
15. Those w h o in flam e m en ’s cheeks u n til th ey glow , revealin g

The in fatu ation that inflam es th eir hearts,* [*lit. “ livers” ]'2
16. Those w h o bear the b an n er o f beauty, w h ich ,

H ow ever varied in its form s, is one and indivisible,
17. E very m aiden, pale or dusky, adorned to the eye’s delight,

For b eau ty is found in b o th the w h ite gazelle and taw ny
m oun tain -goat,
18. H ow stran ge that th ey are frigh ten ed by a m ere raised glance,

T hey w h o m erely by p o in tin g th eir ca n a m -tw ig fingers can cap ture
the lion.
19. I abased m y ch eek to the gazelles and d ivid ed m y heart am on g

them in the hills;
In th eir coverts th ey grazed upon m y h eart, and on the rises.
20. O d aughter o f the fu ll-m an ed lion o f the w ell-gu ard ed lair,

Shall I m eet you in the forest or the palace?
21. I did not know , till I saw w here he lived,

That death and desire pitch their tents in the sam e cam p.
22. H ow did a sw ayin g bough sp ring from a keen blade?

H ow did a w h ite gazelle issue from a ravening lion?
23. Betw een y o u — m y b eloved — and me, brow n spears block the way,
A n d lik ew ise an ‘ U d h ri veil o f chastity.
24. I have never visited y o u r abode, except in the folds o f slum ber;
Y o u r abode, for h im w h o desires you, is m ore distant than
m a n y -co lu m n e d Iram .
[6 0 ]
The challenge o f the poet who chooses to imitate a great masterpiece is

to evoke the power and majesty o f the original while at the same time
establishing his own distinct poetic identity. If we understand poetic
imitation as a type o f performance o f the base-text, we must accept as
well that every successful imitation, like every successful performance,
transforms and transcends the base-text. The critical issue for discussing
the opening section o f Nahj al-Burdah is how Ahmad Shawqi identifies
Nahj al-Burdah with al-Busiri’s Burdah while establishing at the same
time its, and his, own unique identity. We will take as our starting point
Gian Biagio Conte’s remarks on classical Greek and Latin poetry:
[T ]he “ in cip it” o f p oem s . . . had all the im p ortan ce o f a title or heading;
its fu n c tio n w as that o f the au th o r’s “signature.” . . . [T]he op en in g o f a
w o rk boasts a suprem e p osition in co m p osition because it is p articu la rly
m em orable and quotable an d is co n seq u en tly an indispensable gu id e to
in terp retation for b o th reader and p h ilo logist. But for the author, p oetic
m e m o ry im p licit in the o p en in g verses is redeem ed by the w ay it invests
th e v e ry substance o f the w o rk w ith a litera ry identity. It is the q u in tes
sential litera ry act. The o p e n in g situates the p oetic act and b y situ ating it
ju stifies it. The op en in g is, first and forem ost, a bold signal asserting, “This
is P oetry,” because for o u r cu ltu ral tradition this is the w ay p o etry begins.
O n ce th e w ord has issued from the liv in g vo ice o f the p o e t’s personal
in ven tion and has entered the co d e o f p o etic tradition, it has the respon
sib ility o f im p o sin g the em blem atic quality o f p o e try upon its new host
d isco u rse The first lin e . . . acqu ires em blem atic valu e and can stand
for th e w o rk its e lf.. . . [I]t signals . . . the relation betw een a specific co m
p osition and its litera ry genre.33
The incipit, in the classical Arabic tradition the rhymed hemistichs of

the opening verse, announces multiple aspects of the poem’s identity.
First, the rhymed hemistichs in the meter basit identify the speech in
terms o f sonority as the opening line o f a classical Arabic poem. The
m otif o f a fawn shedding the poet-lover-speaker’s blood identifies verse
1 as the opening o f a nasib dominated by the erotic or amatory (tashbib)
theme (as opposed to the elegiac icon o f the abandoned campsite [atlal]
theme), modeled on an 'Abbasid conceit, and suggests that the poem is,
potentially at least, a full-fledged qasidah o f traditional form. The an
tithesis (tibaq) between “licit” and “ forbidden” further suggests the in
fluence o f the High 'Abbasid badV style. As quickly becomes apparent,
the heavily rhetoricized and conceptualized expression o f the nasib
theme of the unattainability of the beloved throughout part 1 establishes
ShawqI’s Neo-Classical identification with the High 'Abbasid master
poets. This broad sense of poetic ancestry and possibilities quickly yields,
however, to a much more precise poetic genealogy: the combination of
the meter basit and the rhyme in the letter mim already alludes to the
most popular poem o f the period, al-Busiri’s Burdah, but the phrase al-
bani wa-al-calami, “the ban-tree and the mountain peak,” explicitly
identifies the new poem with its base-text, al-Busiri’s Burdah verse 5, and
its base-text, Ibn al-Farid’s Sufi ghazal, Was That Layla’s Fire, verse 1 (see
chapter 2). Ibn al-Farid’s ghazal is further invoked by the second half of
Shawql’s opening verse: “Has found it licit, in forbidden months, to shed
my blood” Cahalla safka d a m ifi al-âshhuri al-hurumi), which closely
echoes that o f the Sufi poet’s verse 17: “To shed my blood in both profane
and sacred months” (âfta bi-safki dam ifi al-hilli wa-al-harami). At the
same time, o f course, Shawqi is identifying his poem as one o f the entire
subgenre of madih nabawi that takes the form of mucaradat of al-Busiri’s
Burdah, whether explicitly badViyyat that programmatically exemplify
a badic device in each verse, or not.34 Nevertheless, Shawqi’s opening
verse is strikingly different from al-Busiri’s, thereby staking out the new
poet’s original tu rf at the same time that he identifies his base-text.
In developing the 'Abbasid “ hunt of love” conceit, in which the ap
parently weak and passive gazelle/beloved “slays” the mighty lion-poet,
Shawqi stakes out his own individual poetic territory (vv. 1-5), distinct
from both al-Busiri’s likewise 'Abbasid conceit of weeping tears of blood
and Ibn al-Farid’s Umayyad 'Udhri-derived “ lightning-flash” that
evokes the memory o f the beloved. Nevertheless, at verse 6, with the
poet’s reproof of the blamer who censures him for his excessive passion,
he forcefully reasserts his poetic lineage through this close variant of
al-Busiri’s verse 9, itself a close variant of Ibn al-Farid’s verse 10 (see
chapter 2). Shawqi’s verse 7, on lovers’ deafness to sound advice, is like
wise a close variant of al-Busiri’s verse 11. Shawqi then expands in verses
9-10 upon al-Busiri’s verse 8 one-line reference to the m otif of the phan
tom o f the beloved (tayf al-khayal) before dilating further and with ex
quisite lyricism upon the lethal beauty of the gazelles/maidens (vv. 11-19).
He then adds to this extended “ hunt o f love” another cAbbasid conceit,
that o f the gazelle/maiden as the daughter o f a fierce lion/father (vv.
20-22). Part 1 concludes on the theme of the dangers of love, and the how
fulfillment o f the lover’s desires has been doubly blocked— by the be
loved’s kinsmen’s spears and by her veil o f chastity (v. 23). This leads to
his sealing part 1 with the m otif of the unattainable beloved (v. 24). Thus,
in closing, Shawqi follows and develops al-Busiri’s verse 9 m otif o f chaste
love, whereas al-Busiri, for his part, concludes with reproach for both
his censurer and him self (BB vv. 10-12).
The closure o f ShawqI’s nasib exhibits a very curious transitional
feature. Until verse 24, the nasib has been purely lyric and erotic, with
no religious— or Islamic— elements. It could just as well have served as
the nasib o f a court panegyric. By closing it, however, with the Q u r3anic
“the [many-]columned Iram” (Irama dhati al-cimadi [QK 89:7]), Shawqi
creates a transition from the personal erotic loss and separation of lovers
to the moral and mythic destruction o f the pre-Islamic people o f cAd
and their capital city o f Iram, the object o f divine retribution for their
moral excesses. The Q u r3an warns: “Have you not seen how your Lord
dealt with [the people of] cAd o f the many-columned Iram? . . . who
committed transgressions in the lands and sowed much corruption in
them, so that your Lord rained down on them the scourge of chastise
ment” (QK 89: 6-7,11-13). This one word “Iram” thus serves as a pivot-
point from the lyric-erotic nasib to the moral admonitions of part 2.
In sum, ShawqI’s part 1 is the more developed and the more lyrical of
the two poems, and the emotional trajectory is somewhat different: al-
Busiri moves into the cadhilah (termagant, female reproacher) motif (w.
9-12) to close his twelve-verse nasib, whereas Shawqi develops the gazelle
theme in delightful lyrical detail to end with an expression of the dangers
and difficulties, both moral and practical, that make his desire/beloved
unattainable. Although we may retroactively (after reading part 2) read this
lyrical nasib on the unattainability of the beloved and the poet’s resultant
suffering as an allegory of the vanity and unattainability of earthly desires,
nothing forces us to do so at this point. To my mind, ShawqI’s nasib pos
sesses an emotional immediacy and delicacy that mere allegory lacks. I
prefer to look at it in a subtler light as the introit into the world of poetic
emotions and sensibilities that, by evoking a deeply felt mood of loss and
despair that begs for a remedy, sets the stage for the dramatic emotional
and moral trajectory of the poem. Having clearly set his own poetic pa
rameters and network of generic, historical, and stylistic identities, Shawqi
has established his own authentic and authoritative poetic voice as well as
the setting-off point for his poem’s journey. Nahj al-Burdah “imitates” al-
Busiri’s Burdah, but it does not reiterate it.
PART 2: C H I D I N G THE UNR UL Y SOUL — WA R N I N G A G A I N S T
WORLDL Y T E M P T A T I O N S ( w . 25-38)
25. O m y w illfu l soul, y o u r w o rld ly abode co n ceals e very tea rfu l th in g,

H ow ever b ea u tifu l the sm ile that she reveals.
26. So break her teeth w ith y o u r p iety each tim e she laughs,
A s y o u w o u ld b reak the sp eckled v ip er’s fangs to spill its venom .
27. She has been betrothed as long as m an k in d has existed, and betrothing;
From tim e ’s b e g in n in g , she has never been w id ow ed or unw ed.
28. T im e fades away, but h er e vil deeds rem ain

A w o u n d to A d a m ’s flesh that forever m akes h im weep.
29. D o n ’t be con cern ed w ith her fru its or w ith her crim es,
For death w ith flowers is just lik e death w ith coals.
30. M a n y a m an is asleep and does not see her, but she is ever w akefu l.
W ere it not for hopes and dream s, he w o u ld not sleep.
31. A t one tim e, she bestow s on you p ro sp erity and health;

A t another, she afflicts you w ith disease and m isery.
32. H ow often has she led you astray! For, w hen she veils a m an ’s sight,
I f he finds bitter co lo cyn th , he d rin k s; if he finds acrid
calqam -plan ts, he grazes.
33. O w oe is me for m y soul! She is stru ck w ith fear and terror

By the pages black w ith evil deeds on her w h ite forelocks.
34. I raced her at a gallop to the lush pastures o f disob ed ien ce and sin;
I to o k no pious deeds to protect her from foun dering.
35. She yearned after the traces o f delight, seekin g them ;

For the soul, when y o u th fu l passion calls, yearns after it.
36. For yo u r ow n good, you m ust return to virtu e;

Straighten yo u r soul w ith m orals and it w ill follow the straight path.
37- It is best for the soul to g ra ze on w h oleso m e pasture-groun ds;

The w orst th in g for the soul is to g raze on n o xio u s grass.
38. The soul, w h en em b old en ed b y d eligh t and passion,

Is as u n ru ly as a fiery steed, ch a m p in g at its bit.
[61]
W ith part 2 the tone o f Nahj al-Burdah changes quite abruptly from the
erotic lyrical-elegiac mood o f the nasib to that o f a moral exhortation or
admonition.35 This may force us, retrospectively, to read part 1 allegori
cally, or at least to recognize that it has an allegorical level. Part 2 consists
o f a warning against worldly and fleshly temptations, much along the
lines o f al-Busiri’s part 2 but, again, longer. Al-Busiri’s sixteen-line part
2 contains the moral and emotional transition from admonition to re
pentance and submission. Shawqi, however, has expanded this process
to what I have counted as two distinct passages: part 2 (vv. 25-38) and
part 3 (vv. 39-45). These two Nahj al-Burdah passages differ strikingly
in tone and style. Part 2 consists o f traditional hortatory sermonizing
(wacz) couched in metaphors or allegories o f physical appetites (e.g., vv.
37, 38) and the temptations they present to what I have translated as the
“w illful soul” (nafs), quite in keeping with al-Busiri’s model. In both
poems, the reference is to the Q u ra n ic Surat Yusuf, 3inna al-nafsa la-
3ammaratun bi-al-sifi (surely the w illful soul commands one to do evil
[QK 12:53]), although al-Busiri keeps the w illful self in the third person
and addresses the reader, whereas Shawqi apostrophizes the soul/self.
The result is that where al-Busiri commands the reader, “Defy your
wicked self and Satan, disobey them!” (al-Busiri, v. 24), Shawqi, with, I
believe, greater dramatic effect, urges the his self/soul against the world,
“Break her teeth with your piety each time she laughs,” (v. 26). This ad
monition continues until verse 33 with its plaintive “O woe is me for my
so u l! ” Here Shawqi departs from al-Busiri’s metaphor of taming the
soul in terms o f weaning a child (BB v. 18) to develop as a metaphor for
curbing the souls appetites the breaking in of a horse, perhaps deriving
from al-Busiri’s verse 20 with its image o f grazing a steed. The effect of
the depiction o f youthful passion in terms of an unruly steed champing
at the bit (NB vv. 35,38), whatever its association with Platonic imagery,
is, in the Arabic tradition, to evoke the oft-cited metaphor for the loss of
youth and its impetuousness o f the Jahili master Zuhayr ibn Abi Sulma:
“And the steeds of youth and its camels have been stripped o f their sad
dles” (wa-curriya 5afrasu al-siba wa-rawahiluh).36 In both Shawql and his
predecessor al-Busiri we thus find clearly articulated the classical qasidah
movement from the emotional and moral abandon o f youthful passion
to the realization o f its futility and the concomitant shouldering of the
responsibilities of maturity: self-control and the submission to a higher
(moral) authority.
P A R T 3: R E P E N T A N C E , S U B MI S S I O N , A N D S U P P L I C A T I O N
(v v . 39-46)
39. I f m y sin is too grave to be forgiven,

Yet I have h ope that G o d w ill gran t m e the best o f refuges.
40. W h e n G o d the Savior appears in H is terrible m igh t, I w ill place

m y hope
In M u h a m m ad , the dispeller o f cares and sorrow s in this w orld
and the next.
41. W h e n I low er the w in g o f subm ission before h im , a sk in g for the

p recious gift
O f intercession, to h im m y request w ill be a p a ltry thing.
42. A n d i f the pious m an com es before h im w ith go o d deeds,

I w ill present before h im tears o f rem orse.
43. I hereby clin g to the d o or o f M u h a m m ad , the P rin ce o f Prophets,

For he w h o holds tigh t to the key o f G o d ’s d o or w ill prosper.
44. For every act o f v irtu e , charity, or favor, w h eth er p erform ed freely
O r com p elled, com es th ro u gh him .
45. I hereby grab tight to the rope o f praise for h im , w h ich w ill avail me
on a day
W h en bonds o f lineage and k in sh ip are o f no avail.
46. M y poetry, w hen I praise the Prophet, d isd ain s Z u h a y r’s,

For the dew o f H a rim ’s gifts can n ot com p are w ith the b o u n ty that
w ill p ou r d ow n on me.
[62]
At verse 39, part 3 is set off from part 2 by the change to the first person
and by the abrupt transition from the hortatory tone of part 2 to a lan
guage that is highly emotively charged, simplified, transparent, and
direct— stylistic qualities which, as I have demonstrated elsewhere, are

characteristic o f what we have termed the poem’s “ritual core” (see chap
ters 1 and 2). Part 3 sets forth explicitly the ritual of supplication that
constitutes the performative heart o f the madih nabawi, and in this re
spect part 3 of Shawqi’s Nahj al-Burdah bears a close resemblance, poeti
cally and ritually, to al-Busiri’s Burdah Part 9: Supplication and Plea for
Intercession (BB vv. 140-151). It is essentially a ritual of exchange whereby
a relationship o f mutual obligation, the panegyric pact, is established:
the poet offers submission to and praise o f the Prophet in return for the
Prophet’s intercession on the Day o f Judgment. W ith regard to the per
formative aspects o f language, it is essential to realize that “repentance,”
“submission,” and “supplication” are not the mere subjects or themes of
part 3; they are, above all, speech acts whose (poetic) utterance changes
the moral status o f the poet (see chapters 1 and 2). The poet in uttering
these lines is ipsofacto performing those very acts of repentance, submis
sion, and supplication that they entail. Furthermore we must keep in
mind that this ritual is not unique to Shawqi, or even to madih nabawi
as a genre o f devotional poetry, but is fully and extensively grounded in
the structure o f what we have termed the Supplicatory Ode, which was
already fully developed in the Jahiliyyah and, as early as Kacb ibn Zu-
hayr’s Sucad Has Departed, totally assimilated into the Islamic poetic
tradition, for both courtly and religious purposes (see chapter 1).
It behooves us to examine these verses in detail. Verses 39-40 explicitly
express the twinned emotions of hope and fear that are essential to the act
of submission to the patron: through them the poet-supplicant throws
himself on the patron’s mercy. If there is no fear, there is no virtue in the
poet’s expression o f hope. Self-abasement is also essential to the supplica
tory ritual, and we find the poet performing his act of self-abasement most
explicitly in verse 41, “When I lower the wing of submission. . . ” where it is
intimately tied to the object o f supplication— “the most precious gift of
intercession.” The metaphoric expression “lower the wing of submission,”
or “humility” is of Q ur5anic provenance (QK 17:24), thus adding a spiritual
dimension to the image o f physical self-abasement. The shedding of “tears
of remorse” o f verse 42 is likewise a bodily enactment of remorse, not
merely a verbal expression. But the “tears of remorse,” like the “pious man’s
good deeds,” are also the offering that the poet makes to the Prophet in a
gift-exchange ritual to obtain his intercession. Al-Bishri explains it thus:
“When the pious benefit from the good deeds that they have done before
hand and the virtuous acts that they have performed in advance, I will
implore the Messenger of God (pbuh) with my weeping and remorse for
my misdeeds, so that he will accept me and intercede for me” (W N v. 42).
On a metapoetic level, of course, the “tears of remorse” that the poet pres
ents to the Prophet are these very verses of poetry.
Graphic physical images and acts (i.e., bodily enactments or perfor
mances) of submission, self-abasement, and supplication continue in the
following verses (w. 43-45), which form an effective expansion and develop
ment of al-Busiri’s verse 37. Let us note first that the verbs lazimtu (43) and
caliqtu (45) are best understood in what Arab grammarians tell us is the
performative use of the Perfect Tense, hence: “I hereby clin g...,” “I hereby
grab tigh t. . . ” graphically conveying in their physicality the strength of the
moral and spiritual commitment that the poet is thereby establishing: the
first, in the image of the supplicant clinging to the door of his patron; the
second, a compelling encapsulation of the panegyric pact (cf. BB vv. 148-
149). Paul Connerton’s discussion of the performativity of physical postures
will help us to grasp the rhetorical effectiveness of the “verbal acts” that the
poet “performs.” He says, taking kneeling as his example:
To kneel in sub ordin ation is not to state sub ordin ation , nor is it just to
co m m u n icate a m essage o f subm ission. To kneel in su b ord in atio n is to
display it th rou gh the visible, present substance o f o n e ’s body. K neelers
id en tify the disposition o f th eir bo d y w ith th eir d isposition o f su b o rd in a
tion. Such p erform ative d o in gs are p a rticu la rly effective, because u n
eq u ivo ca l and su b stan tial.37
The supplicatory intent of verse 43 is stated explicitly by al-Bishri:

“ ‘Clinging to his door’ is a metonymy (kinayah) for seeking refuge in his
generosity and not ceasing to implore him to grant his requests” (W N v.
43). Verse 45 is striking for its performative immediacy as well as its
metaphorical power: the praise of the Prophet, which the poet is at this
instant uttering, is the figurative “rope” to which the poet clings. The
verse, simple as it is in terms o f diction, is rhetorically complex. The
“rope” (habl) to which the poet clings is first of all a metaphor for the
“bond” of mutual obligation instituted by the praise-for-prize exchange
of the panegyric pact (i.e., the poet’s praise obligates the Prophet to grant
intercession to him on Judgment Day, as discussed in chapter 2 in BB,
176 • THE M A N T L E ODES
part 9, vv. 140-151). This rope is also intended to contrast with the failed
“bonds” o f lineage and kinship, which, on Judgment Day, will be of no
avail. At the same time, to hold tight to a rope (habl) that guarantees
salvation has the effect o f identifying the act o f madih nabawi with the
Q u r3anic “firm handle” (al-curwah al-wuthqa), much as al-Busiri has
alluded to the use o f this expression as an epithet for Muhammad (see
BB v. 37). Again, the performative aspects o f these poetic utterances in
dicate that to compose madih nabawi is not merely to compose a devo
tional poem; it is, moreover, in and o f itself an “act o f faith.”
Finally, verse 46 follows the established convention of madih nabawi,
particularly that which imitates al-Busiri in its rhyme and meter, of con
trasting purely material and worldly panegyric pact, invariably exempli
fied by the pre-Islamic panegyrist Zuhayr ibn Abi Sulma and his lavishly
munificent patron Harim ibn Sinan (apparently aided by the suitability of
“Harim” to the rhyme and meter), to the spiritual and otherworldly pan
egyric pact of madih nabawi (see BB v. 151). In other words, the poets praise
poem to the Prophet is part of a ritual exchange for which the poet will
receive as counter-gift a downpour o f (spiritual) bounty (intercession on
Judgment Day, salvation) that would put Harim ibn Sinan to shame.
Thus with great beauty, simplicity, and precision Shawqi has per
formed the supplicatory ritual and established the panegyric pact be
tween poet and Prophet. In this respect verses 43-46 serve as the ritual
and poetic preamble to the ensuing panegyric sections of Nahj al-Bur
dah, wherein the poet fulfills his end o f the bargain by offering his gift
o f praise: parts 4, Prophetic Praise; 5, Sirah Themes, which we can un
derstand as an extension o f the Prophetic Praise theme; and 6, Metapo-
etic Recapitulation o f Prophetic Praise. These parts o f Nahj al-Burdah
constitute Shawqi’s reprise o f parts 3-7 o f al-BusIrfs Burdah, namely: 3,
Prophetic Praise; and the Sirah-derived sections; 4, The Prophet’s Birth;
5, His Miracles; 6, the Q ur5an; and 7, The Night Journey and A scen sion -
excluding Busin’s Part 8, The Messenger’s Jihad and M ilitary Campaigns
(see below, Nahj al-Burdah, part 8).
PART 4: P R O P H E T I C P R A I S E ( VV. 47 “ 74 )
47. M u h a m m ad , the chosen o f the Creator, H is m ercy to m an kin d ,

The goal o f G o d ’s desire from am o n g creation and m an k in d ,
48. The M aster o f the Basin on the day w h en even G o d ’s M essengers

are supplicants,
W h e n the tim e has co m e for d rin k and even the tru sty Jibril is thirsty.
49. The P ro p h et’s m ajesty an d g lo ry are lik e the sun w h en it rises,

For the celestial orb runs h igh in its h eaven ly sphere, and yet its light
illu m in ates the w orld below.
50. A n d even the stars in the heavens fall far short

O f his forefath ers’ lo fty d o m in io n and h a u gh ty m ien.
51. W h e n his forebears’ lin eage w as traced to h im , th eir n o b ility am o n g

m en increased,
For so m etim es the root is traced in g lo ry to a branch!
52. Before th eir tim e he w as preserved in tw o lights o f

“p rim o rd ia l ad oratio n ”38
The w ay a m an is preserved in his an cestors’ loin s and w om bs.
53. W h e n the m o n k B ah ira beheld h im , he said, “W e re co g n ize h im

From the nam es and signs we have p reserved.”
54. A s k M t. H Ira5 and [Jibril] the H oly Spirit, w h eth er th ey k n ew

The gu ard ed secret that w as co n cealed from all but M u h am m ad .
55. H ow often w as M ecca ’s pebbled flo od -p lain honored

B y his co m in g and g o in g at m o rn in g and night!
56. H ow often did M u h a m m ad ibn 'A b d A lla h desire seclusion w ith M t.

H ira 5 and Jibril
M ore than the co m p an y o f friends and servants?
57. W a itin g th ro u gh the night for insp iration to descend,

For he w h o is given glad tid in gs is m arked for great things.
58. W h en the C o m p a n io n s, out o f thirst, called out for water,

A vessel-fillin g stream gush ed forth from you r tw o hands.
59. There shaded h im , then cam e to seek the shade o f his protection,
A cloud that w as draw n along by the best o f co n tin u ou s rains.
60. A love for G o d ’s M essenger suffused the hearts o f both

The m o n astery’s cloistered m on ks and the herm it m on ks on
m ountain -tops.
61. For i f o n e’s ch aracter is gentle it can sw ay

B oth obdurate rock and all creatures that have breath.
62. A vo ice called out to M u h am m ad , “ R ecite!” G reat is G o d the

Speaker o f these w ords,
W h ich , before th ey w ere revealed to him , had never crossed any
m an ’s lips.
63. T hereupon he called m a n k in d to the M o st M ercifu l

A n d filled the M e cca n s’ ears w ith the pure tones o f his voice.
64. D o n ’t ask about Q u raysh! H o w in th eir co n fu sion

T h ey fled to p lain and m o u n tain ,
65. A s k in g each other, “W h a t ca la m ity has befallen us?!”

It left b o th y o u n g and old distraugh t.
66. O yo u im p etu o u s fools [ja hilin a ] w h o attack the G u id e and his C a ll,
H o w can y o u ign ore [tajhaluna] the ra n k o f th is great and tru th fu l
man?
67. In h is y o u th y o u used to ca ll h im “ H onest,”

A n d the w ord o f an honest m an is not to be doubted.
68. In b e a u ty he exceeds the m oon; in virtu e , the prophets;

H ow great then are his form and character!
69. The oth er proph ets b ro u gh t m iracles that are done and gone,
But y o u b ro u gh t us a w isd o m that is never e n d in g — the Qurân.
70. Its m ira cu lo u s verses, h ow ever m uch tim e passes, rem ain forever new,
Yet an an cien t and p rim o rd ia l splendor adorns them still.
71. A sin gle su b lim e u tteran ce from it m ay suffice

To g u id e a m an tow ard tru th and p iety and m ercy.
72. O m ost eloquent o f all w h o utter d a d * [* = the Arabs]

Y o u r speech is h o n ey to h im w h o tastes and understands.
73. W ith its jew els y o u adorn ed the naked n eck o f eloquence
U n til e ve ry p hrase o f prose bore p oetic beauty.
74. W ith e very noble w o rd yo u utter, y o u revive m en ’s hearts

A n d b rin g dead aspiration s back to life.
[63]
As we have seen in the case of al-Busiri’s Burdah, the purpose of the praise
section o f madih nabawi is not a random enumeration of laudable traits;
rather, just as in Arab-Islamic court panegyric the poet’s goal is to establish
and confirm the unique authority and legitimacy of his patron as caliph or
emir, etc., so in the case of madih nabawi, the poet’s aim in his praise is to
establish the unique position of Muhammad as the last and best of G od’s
prophets. Further, as in caliphal panegyric the poet sought to prove his
patron’s supreme position as ruler of the Islamic Ummah vis-a-vis rival
claimants, whether within or without Islamdom, so too in madih nabawi,
the poet’s goal is to establish the prophethood of Muhammad and the truth
of Islam and its superiority over its main contenders for religious truth—
that is, Judaism, or more explicitly in the case of Nahj al-Burdah, Christi
anity, as the religion of Western imperialism and colonialism. In reading
this section, then, we will see that Shawqi is not merely establishing the
authority and truth o f M uhammad’s prophecy, but effecting a transition
from prophetic praise to the Ihya3Project of Arab-Islamic cultural revival
which lays the groundwork for the later more explicitly polemical and po
litical parts of Nahj al-Burdah (parts 7-12).
Shawqi opens the praise section (v. 47) invoking M uham m ad’s
unique position as A llah ’s Chosen One (as his epithet Mustafa conveys,
here alluded to in the noun of the same root, safwah), that Allah sent
him as an act o f mercy to mankind (wa-ma 3arsalnaka 5ilia rahmatan
lil-cdlamina [QK 21:107]), and, in accord with the tenets surrounding the
doctrines of al-Haqiqah al-Muhammadiyyah (the Muhammadan Truth),
the idea that Muhammad is the ultimate goal or purpose of A llah ’s cre
ation (see below v. 52). He then turns in v. 48 to M uham m ad’s position
on Resurrection Day when, as his epithet Sahib al-Hawd al-Mawrud
(Master of the Watering-Basin) indicates, he will preside over a basin.39
This doctrine is not based in the Q u r3anic text, except inasmuch as the
Hawd comes to be identified with the paradisical spring of Kawthar, but
rather in Hadlth. It is said that the Ummah will gather there on Resur
rection Day. W hile the details are unclear, we can gather from the gen
eral symbolism o f this figure that water represents life, that is, salvation,
and that Muhammad plays a crucial role in dispensing it, with even
other Messengers or Prophets coming to him as supplicants (W N v. 48).40
Again, M uham mad’s superiority over other Prophets and Messengers is
the crucial point here.
The next two verses (49-50) shift from theological to cAbbasid-style
poetic-astrological images to describe Muhammad with the paradox of
the sun— that is at once the highest orb in the distant heavens, yet its
light illumines the earth below; likewise, the stars fall short of his lofty
ancestry.41 With this, the poet shifts to the Prophet’s noble ancestry (v.
51), which was, o f course, further ennobled by its glorious descendent,
to conclude (v. 52) with M uhammad’s supernatural antecedents— that is
the (Post-Classical) doctrines o f al-Nur al-M uhammadiyyah (the
Muhammadan Light) and the related al-Haqiqah al-Muhammadiyyah
180 • T HE M A N T L E ODES
(the Muhammadan Truth, the Archetypal, Pre-Existent Muhammad;

see chapter 2, BB v. 33). Al-Bishri explains:
It is related that G o d A lm ig h ty created the M u h a m m ad a n T ru th (a l-

haqtqah al-m uham m adiyyah) from H is ligh t and that it revolved around
th e th ron e, an d the ligh ts o f H is epiphanies flood ed over it; and those are
the tw o ligh ts w h ich co n tain ed M u h a m m ad , pbuh , before he w as co n
tain ed in the loin s and w om bs o f his an cestors___ cA b d al-R azzaq related
that Jabir ibn cA b d A lla h a l-A n sa rl said: I said, “O h M essenger o f G od ,
b y m y fath er and m other, tell m e about the first th in g that G o d A lm ig h ty
created before all oth er th in g s!” H e replied, “O Jabir, before all oth er
th in g s, G o d A lm ig h ty created the ligh t o f y o u r Prophet from H is light,”
(W N v. 52)
W ith verse 53 Shawqi returns to the Sirah lore of the predictions of

M uham m ad’s coming, especially that o f the Christian monk Bahira.
Al-Bishri cites a tradition related by al-Bayhaqi and Abu Nucaym that
the monk Bahira was in his cell when he saw Muhammad among a
group o f approaching riders, and a white cloud was shading him alone.
They approached until they alighted in the shade o f a tree near where
Bahira was, whereupon the branches o f the tree bent to provide shade
for Muhammad. So Bahira queried him about certain signs he had read
about and found that Muhammad agreed with the descriptions in the
predictions, and he saw the seal o f prophethood on his shoulder as had
been predicted. Thereupon he embraced him and declared that this was
the prophet whose coming the signs foretold (W N v. 53).
The theme o f M uham mad’s coming being foretold in the Torah and
the Gospels (al-Tawrah wa-al-Injil) had long been a potent element of
Muslim polemic against the Christians and Jews. The prophet foretold
by Moses in Deut. 18:5 (“The lord thy God will raise up unto thee a
Prophet from the midst o f thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him
ye shall hearken”; King James Version) is identified by Muslims as
Muhammad. Under the name of Ahmad, an etymological variant of
Muhammad, he is identified with the Biblical paracletos (counselor,
helper), read by Muslims as pericletos (most praiseworthy = ahm ad), of
John 14:16 (“And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another
Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever”; King James Version).
Hence in the Q ur'an we read, “Those who follow the Messenger, the
unlettered Prophet, whom they find written of among them in the Torah
AHMAD SHAWQI AND THE REWEAVING OF T H E M A N T L E l 8l
and the Gospel ” (QK 7:157), and “W hen Jesus the son of M aryam
said: O Children of Israel, I am the Messenger of God, confirming what
came before me in the Torah and proclaiming the glad tidings o f a Mes
senger who will come after me whose name is A h m a d ... ” (QK 61: 6;
W N v. 60).42These predictions surrounding the name Ahmad and physi
cal signs such as the “seal o f prophethood” mark on the shoulder, then,
are what the poet succinctly conveys in verse 53 with the jinas between
the phonetically and semiotically proximate asma* (names; s. ism, root
s-m-y) and its metathetic mate siyam (signs; s. simah, root s-y-m).
Verses 54-57 and 62-67 offer a summation o f M uham mad’s divine
revelation and mission to the doubting Meccans or Qurashis. Shawqi
begins by evoking M uham mad’s long period o f waiting in the cave on
Mount HIra5 for divine revelation to come to him through Jibril (the
archangel Gabriel). As al-Bishri notes, M uhammad had to spend a
doubt-filled and anxious thirty-six months o f prayer from the initial
revelation, “Recite in the name o f your Lord ” (QK 96:1), until Jibril
appeared to him and cried, “You are truly the Messenger o f God,” and
then a further period o f waiting until he received the revelation “O you
who are wrapped in your cloak, rise and warn [mankind]” (QK 74:1),
whereupon he began his prophetic mission (W N v. 57).
This is followed by two verses o f popular Sirah-derived “standard
miracles,” of which al-Bishri tells us there are many examples and/or
variants, of water gushing from the Prophet’s two hands (v. 58) and of a
cloud following over the Prophet’s head to shade him (W N v. 58). Within
the poetic, as opposed to narrative prose, formulation o f these events,
however, a symbolic meaning emerges. The thirst of the Prophet’s com
panions, especially in the context of verse 48, becomes a spiritual thirst,
and his quenching their thirst thus becomes a spiritual life-giving, ad
umbrating the Prophet’s powers of revival with which this section cul
minates (v. 73). Similarly, “the best o f continuous rains” of verse 59 takes
on the standard Arabic poetic connotation to refer to the Prophet’s un
equalled generosity and magnanimity.43
Verses 60-61 take up once more the persuasive effect of Muhammad’s
mission on Christian monks— again a powerful polemical element in
the colonial context. This continues with verses 62-67, which ostensibly
relate to M uham mad’s efforts to convert the Meccans and his tribe
Quraysh but would seem in the present colonial context to refer to all
182 THE MANTLE ODES
who would foolishly reject the Prophet’s message. For example, verse 66
combines root-play on jahilin (ignorant) and tajhalun (ignore) to imply
the falsehood and error o f the Jahiliyyah (Age o f Ignorance, i.e., the pre-
Islamic period) with a double antithesis, first with al-hadi (the guide,
also an epithet of the Prophet) and al-sadiq (truthful). The verse is ad
dressed in its immediate context to the Meccan or Qurashi polytheists
but, by extension, equally and allegorically to the poet’s contemporaries
who ignore or deny the true faith.
The remaining verses o f this section, 68-74, focus in on the unique
ness o f M uham m ad’s message and miracle, which are one. That is, in
keeping the Islamic doctrine o f Icjaz al-Q ur3an (the unsurpassable rhe
torical beauty o f the Q u r5an), it is the divine origin of the Q ur3an re
vealed to M uhammad that is the essential proof o f his Prophethood, in
addition to which he possesses among his shamaîl, or virtues, extraor
dinary personal eloquence. In this respect, verse 69 echoes al-Busiri’s
Burdah verses 91-93 in propounding a key element of Pjaz al-Q ur5an,
namely that while other prophets’ miracles— such as Moses’ changing a
staff into a serpent or Jesus’ raising the dead— are one-time occurrences
that are now over, the miraculous rhetorical power of the Qurian is
eternal and permanently effective. That is, as Shawql states in verse 69,
the ayat (s. ayah; the word means both “Q u ra n ic verses” and “mira
cles”), are ancient, indeed pre-eternal, and at the same time forever
new— that is, forever efficacious, so that even a single word or sentence
may lead a man to “truth, piety, and mercy,” that is, salvation. To exem
plify this last proposition, al-Bishrl adduces the renowned episode of the
conversion o f the Meccan oligarch al-Walid ibn al-Mughirah (father of
the illustrious general o f the Islamic conquests, Khalid ibn al-Walid).
Upon hearing M uhammad recite: “God commands justice, good deeds,
and generosity to one’s kin, and He forbids foul deeds, loathsome acts,
and injustice, admonishing you so that perhaps you will take heed” (QK
16:90), he said, “By God, [these words] possess a sweetness and elegance,
the least o f which is a copious downpour, the best of which is abundant
fruit. Surely these are not the words of a mere mortal,” whereupon he
converted to Islam (W N v. 71). The continued efficacy o f M uhammad’s
message is, o f course, the crux of Shawqi’s message in Nahj al-Burdah.
Shawql closes part 4 with a poignant and powerful three-verse (72-74)
apostrophe to the Prophet in which he brings the precept of the eternal
AHMAD SHAWQI AND THE REWEAVING OF T H E M A N T L E 183
veracity and efficacy of M uham mad’s miracle— the Q urian— and the
Prophet’s own personal eloquence to bear on the present condition of the
Islamic Ummah. What is essential here is the identification of eloquence—
and in these verses the poet has shifted from the Qurian itself to
Muhammad’s own personal eloquence— with the power to revive. This
curative, restorative power of the beauty/truth of Muhammad’s eloquence
is first introduced in verse 72 in calling his speech “honey” or “honey
comb” (shahd). As al-Bishri astutely points out, “honey” is intended here
not merely to convey the sweetness and beauty of Muhammad’s speech,
but also its properties as a spiritual restorative, that is, his words cure the
soul just as honey is used medicinally to cure the body (W N v. 72). Shawqi
adds rhetorical intensity to create a sense of momentum as he reaches the
climax and closure of part 4. Employing a double tibaq (adorned/naked//
prose/poetry), he praises the eloquence of Muhammad as so powerful that
his prose utterances have all the beauty of poetry (v. 73). Finally, the poet
brings all his rhetorical might to bear in the closing verse of part 4 (v. 74),
where, through the root-play on “word/utter” (qawl/qahl), intensifying
repetition of tuhyi (revive, bring back to life), and the antithesis between
life and death (tuhyi/mayyit), he drives home his message o f the revival of
the spiritually dead and politically moribund Islamic Ummah through the
word of the Prophet (cf. BB v. 46; NB vv. 116 and 190).
Further, we should note that himam (aspirations, sing, himmah) of the
phrase tuhyi mayyita al-himami (“revive dead aspirations,” lit.: “those
whose aspirations are dead”) is a literarily and culturally loaded term
rooted as far back as Jahill poetry. It denotes determination, ambition, and
resolution, with an energetic forward-looking zeal that distinguishes it
diametrically from its root-mate hamm, pi. humum, which denotes para
lyzing cares and anxieties. The choice o f himam, then, in this context
points toward quite worldly political and military ambitions, as indeed
al-Bishri comments: that the words of the Prophet “made the ambitions
(himam) of his Companions and Successors reach the Gemini, until king
doms became subject to them and difficult obstacles were easily overcome”
(WN v. 74). What is above all important in the context o f the present argu
ment is that Shawqi has mustered carefully chosen elements of traditional
madih nabawi to bring them at last to bear on his climactic conclusion: that
the Prophet Muhammad’s words (that is, Qurian and Hadith Nabawi) are
a source for Islamic political and cultural revival.
184 THE MANTLE ODES
A further level o f discourse is at play here as well. Inasmuch as

Shawqi is a, or the, leading proponent o f the school o f poetry termed
Ihya5 (Revival; conventionally translated as Neo-Classical), his reitera
tive insistence on its verbal form tuhyi (revive) should alert us to the fact
that this poem, indeed the entire project o f the Shueara5 al-Ihya5 (Poets
o f the Revival), is not the mere resuscitation o f classical Arabic poetry
and language, but above all, the revitalization o f a moribund Arab-Is-
lamic civilization through the recuperation o f the cultural values of the
classical (normally the High cAbbasid Golden Age) period. Furthermore,
then, Shawqi sees him self as the poetic counterpart o f the Prophet in the
Ihya5 Project. In this respect, verse 74, as indeed its rhetorical highlight
ing indicates, is a key structural marker in the poem, pointing the way
to the polemical-political sections of parts 7 -1 2 .
P A R T 5: S I R A H T H E M E S ( w . 7 5 ~ 9 9 )
[The Birth o f the Prophet]

75. G la d tid in g s o f the G u id e and his b irth spread east and west,
L ike ligh t that penetrates the d a rk o f night,
76. It snatch ed the blo o d from A ra b desp ots’ hearts,

A n d put to flight the foreign tyra n ts’ souls.
77. It so a la rm ed the battlem ents o f Iwan K isra that th ey cracked,

From th e sh o ck o f tru th , not the sh o ck o f bold w a rrio rs’ advance.
78. W h e n y o u cam e y o u fou n d m a n k in d in chaos,

L ike stone idols en th ralled b y stone idols,
79. A n d the ea rth w as filled w ith inju stice

A n d subjected to e ve ry despot w h o held sw ay over m an k in d .
80. The Persian overlord oppressed his subjects,

W h ile pride left R om e’s C a esar blin d and d e a f to his p eople’s plight.
81. T hey to rtu red G o d ’s w orsh ipp ers on false pretexts,

A n d slaughtered them lik e sacrificial sheep.44
82. A m o n g m a n k in d , the strong shed the bloo d o f the w eak,

Like lion s k illin g sheep or w h ales k illin g m inn ow s.
[The Night Journey and Ascension]

83. G o d con veyed y o u by n ight to the Farthest M osque,
W h e re H is angels and M essengers stood gathered to receive you.
AHMAD SHAWQ! AND THE REWEAVING OF T H E MANTLE 185
84. W h e n yo u strode in, th e y th ron ged a ro u n d you, th eir m aster,

L ike stars arou n d the fu ll m oon , or tro op s a ro u n d th eir flag.
85. Each one o f noble station, th ey follow ed y o u in prayer,

For w h oever follow s G o d ’s beloved w ill trium ph .
86. Passing close by them , you traversed the heaven s— or what lies above th e m —
O n a lu m in o u s m ount w ith a bridle o f pearl.
87. Y ou rs w as a m ou n t that, due to y o u r m ig h t and d ign ity, has no equal

A m o n g sw ift steeds or h ard -tread in g sh e-cam els that leave traces on
the grou n d .
88. B u raq is o f the M a k e r’s w ill and o f H is m ake,

A n d G o d ’s p ow er is above all suspicion and doubt.
89. U n til you reached a heaven to w h ich

N o w in g can fly, no foot can w alk.
90. A s i f a vo ice had said, “ Let every prophet stand a cco rd in g to his ran k ,”
A n d , “O M u h a m m ad , this is G o d ’s thron e, so touch it!”
91. Y ou have w ritten out the sciences for b o th religion and the w orld,
O reader o f the Tablet! O h older o f the Pen!
92. Y o u r m in d com p reh ends the secrets o f b o th religion and the w orld;
The stores o f science and know led ge w ere laid open before you.
93. Y o u r closeness to G o d has m u ltip lied b eyon d reck on in g

The p en dan ts o f favor bestow ed upon you, and the n ecklaces o f grace.
[The Miracle o f the Cave]
94. Then ask the band o f polyth eists w h o w ere p astu rin g th eir herds
rou n d the cave
(W h o , except to pursue G o d ’s C h osen O n e, w o u ld not have pastured
there):
95. D id th ey see the pure trace or hear the w hisper

O f voices g lo rify in g G o d or recitin g the Q u r ’an?
96. D id th ey th in k the spider’s web w as a forest

A n d the dappled doves that hovered there w ere vu ltu res
97. So that they turned back, cu rsed by the very grou n d they traversed,
Like falsehood put to flight by the m ajesty o f truth?
98. But for G o d ’s hand, the tw o co m p an io n s w ould not have been safe;
But for H is w atch fu l eye, the p illar o f religion w ould not still stand.
i8 6 THE MANT LE ODES
99. T h ey w ere co n cealed an d covered b y the w in g o f G o d ,

A n d w h o ever is en folded in G o d ’s w in g w ill not be h arm ed.
[6 4 ]
In the structural configuration o f al-Busiri’s Burdah, as we saw in chap

ter 2, the Sirah-derived passages (BB parts 4-9) function primarily as
extensions o f the Prophetic Praise (BB part 3) and lead into Supplication
and Plea for Intercession (BB part 9). Shawqi configures his poem some
what differently: his Slrah themes (NB part 5) are also extensions o f the
Prophetic Praise (NB part 4), but they lead into a further Metapoetic
Recapitulation o f Prophet Praise (NB part 6). In part 5, which I have
labeled Sirah Themes, we find that in contrast to parts 1-3 of Nahj al-
Burdah (vv. 1-45), where Shawqi has expanded upon al-Busiri’s parts 1-2,
his treatment o f Sirah themes is more condensed than that of his prede
cessor, and, indeed, only three themes are developed in this part: The
Birth o f the Prophet (vv. 75-82); The Night Journey and Ascension (al-
Isra3wa-al-M icraj, vv. 83-93); and The Miracle o f Muhammad and Abu
Bakr in the Cave (vv. 94-99). Other Sirah themes o f al-Busiri’s Burdah
have been given condensed treatment elsewhere in Nahj al-Burdah—
such as the miraculous nature o f the Qurian and other, lesser, miracles
(NB part 5), and the Prophet’s Jihad and M ilitary Campaigns (BB part
8), which we find in Nahj al-Burdah thematically reconfigured in the
polemic-political section, part 8. The effect of Shawqi’s condensation is
to bring each Sirah theme to focus on a particular idea.
1) The Birth of the Prophet (vv. 75-82). Notice, that, especially com
pared with al-Busiri (BB part 4, vv. 59-71), who presents a rhetorically
dense passage designed to foreground the cosmic and miraculous effects
of the Prophet’s birth, Shawqi mentions only one of these— the cracking of
the Sasanian Arch of Chosroes at Ctesiphon (v. 77). Shawqi opens his pas
sage (v. 75) with the description of the birth of the Prophet as light penetrat
ing darkness. This sets the stage for the thematic focus of the passage
around the theme that Islam brought mankind “light,” that is “enlighten
ment” of truth, justice, and civilization, to replace the “darkness” of false
hood, tyranny, and chaos that had up until then oppressed them.
In fact, however, this passage does not deal much with the birth of
the Prophet, focusing instead on the chaos and tyranny that mankind
suffered before his coming.45 It is not rhetorically complex, but rather the
poet drives home his message by densely lading it with what we might
term the “ diction o f oppression”: zulam (darknesses, s. zulmah— closely
related to zulm, oppression) (v. 75); al-taghun (despots), al-baghun (ty
rants) (v. y6)\fawdd (chaos) (v. 78);jawr (persecution, injustice, oppres
sion), tdghiyah (despot) (v. 79); yabghi (oppress, tyrannize), asamm
([morally] deaf), cami (for camin; [morally] blind) (v. 80)— the last two
inevitably evoke the Qurânic condemnation o f those who refuse
M uham mad’s message as “deaf, dumb, and blind” (summun bukmun
cumyun [QK 2:18, 2:171]); yucadhdhiban (torture)— \yadhbahan (slaugh
ter) (v. 81); yaftiku (shed blood) (v. 82).
As contextualized in the poem, these catch-words o f violence and
tyranny are associated with Arab as well as foreign (or Persian, cajam)
despots, but the overall emphasis is on the Persian (Sasanian) and espe
cially Roman empires, the main contenders for power at the advent of
Islam, but especially the Romans. On the one hand, the Caesars of Rome
had become a byword for tyranny, and verse 81 in particular seems to
refer to their persecution o f the early Christians, especially in the gladi
atorial arena. More important for Shawqi, however, in the context o f the
British occupation o f Egypt, is that the British Empire and the Christian
West generally are perceived as the heirs to the Roman Empire. Therefore
Roman persecution, torture, and slaughter, of cibad Allah (God’s wor
shippers), that is, the early Christians (v. 81), reads allegorically as con
temporary British persecution of Muslims. Certainly, in the aftermath
of the Dinshaway Incident (1906,1907— see above) with its rigged courts,
brutal sentences, and barbaric public floggings and executions, for the
Egyptians of 1910 this reading is inescapable. This passage concludes its
description of the reign of injustice by citing the “ law o f the jungle”
whereby the strong shed the blood of the weak (v. 82).
Shawqi’s redirection of al-Busiri’s model to focus on the reign of
tyranny before the coming of Islam is clearly not arbitrary; rather, it is
intended allegorically to identify Persian and especially Roman tyranny
at the time of the advent o f Islam with the current state of Egypt and the
Islamic world generally under the yoke of Western domination. This
allegory entails a crucial corollary: that just as the light of Islam came to
dispel the darkness of pre-Islamic, Persian and Roman, oppression and
tyranny, so too should the revival o f Arab-Islamic civilization in the
twentieth century put an end to Western oppression o f the Islamic East.
i8 8 THE MA NT LE ODES
In this respect, then, the theme o f the Birth of the Prophet in Shawqi’s
Nahj al-Burdah is meticulously constructed to pave the way toward his
political-polemical formulation o f Ihya’ (Revival) in the final sections
o f the poem.
2) The Night Journey and Ascension (al-Isra’ wa-al-Micraj). We have
already seen in al-Busiri’s Burdah, Part 7: The Night Journey and Ascen
sion (vv. 105-117), how Shawqi’s predecessor narrowed the rich body of
material associated with the Prophet’s Night Journey from Mecca to
Jerusalem and back, and his Ascension from Jerusalem to the heavens,
where he approached G od ’s throne, to a precise poetic formulation of
those elements that highlight the poet’s central concern: the superiority
o f Muhammad to all other prophets and the concomitant superiority of
his Ummah to all other (religious) communities. Again, as we have noted
before, this performs the contractual obligation o f madih nabawi, estab
lishing and.confirming through its “praise” the unique authority o f the
Prophet Muhammad and the veracity o f his message. Shawqi follows
al-Busiri’s lead in likewise leaving aside much o f the vast lore associated
with the Prophet’s initiatory journey (see BB part 7) to focus on those
elements that establish M uham m ad’s unrivalled and unique authority
as the Seal o f the Prophets, and then further directs the topic toward his
own Ihya’-determined poetic-polemic purposes.
The Q u r’anic textual foundations for the Slrah literature and popu
lar lore o f the Night Journey and Ascension are, for the former, “Glory
to Him who took His servant by night from the Sacred Place o f Prayer
(masjid al-haram) to the Furthest Place o f Prayer (al-masjid al-aqsa),
whose precinct We blessed so that We might show him some o f Our
signs ” (ayatina = signs, also: miracles, Q u r’anic verses [QK 17:1]).
Associated with the Ascension are the verses:
B y the star w h en it falls, y o u r co m p an io n has not erred or gone astray,

an d he does not sp eak out o f p erson al desire, but rather from inspiration
that has com e d o w n to h im . There in stru cted h im one [Jibril or A llah ] o f
great pow er, im bu ed w ith stren gth , w h o stood on the h igh est h orizon ,
then app roach ed and d rew near, u n til he w as tw o bo w -len gth s aw ay or
closer. T hen he revealed to his servant his revelation. The heart has not
lied about w hat it saw. W ill yo u then dispute w ith h im over w hat he sees?
A n d he saw h im in an oth er descent by the Lote-Tree o f the F urthest Lim it
near w h ich is the G arden o f the Refuge. Then the Lote-Tree w as shrouded,
A H M A D S H A W Q i A N D T H E R E W E A V I N G OF T H E M A N T L E 189
but his sight did not sw erve or stray. H e saw the greatest o f th e signs o f
his Lord. (Q K 53:1-11)
This second Q u r’anic passage with its short rhymed verses (sajc/fawasil)
has a lapidary, incantatory style that is extremely rhetorically effective
in its evocation o f the mystery and majesty o f divine revelation. How
ever, in strictly prosaic expository terms (which, o f course, are not the
purpose of the Q u r’an) it is somewhat obscure, especially as regards the
antecedents of pronouns.
At this point, Q u r’anic commentary, Sirah literature, and popular
lore take over to generate cohesive prose narratives o f these events.46
From the Q u r’an itself, though, the essential message is clear and strik
ingly phrased. For the first passage, God has taken his servant Muhammad
on a nocturnal journey and showed him some o f His signs. For the sec
ond, the antecedents o f the pronouns are open to interpretation, but
again, it strikingly conveys the message that M uham mad’s revelations
are of divine inspiration. The prose narratives add the miraculous mount,
Buraq, described as a white riding beast between the size o f a donkey
and a mule, whose hoof-steps carry it as far as its eye can see.47 This beast
carries the Prophet to Jerusalem, where he leads in prayer, that is, serves
as leader or imam to, the other prophets, specified in some narratives as
Ibrahim, Musa, cIsa, D a’ud, and Sulayman.48 M uham mad’s superiority
to the other Prophets is presented quite explicitly in the Ascension nar
ratives where, leading a procession of angels, he systematically greets
and then bypasses each o f the seven heavens with its associated Prophet
(1, Adam; 2, Tsa and Yahya; 3, Yusuf; 4, Idris; 5, Harun; 6, Musa; 7,
Ibrahim), until he comes within two bow-lengths o f Allah and ap
proaches His throne, where he receives knowledge that has been im
parted to no human being but him (see chapter 2, BB part 7).
Like the Q ur’anic text, the poetic text eschews the narrative cohesion
of the prose renditions in favor of a rhetorically focused insistence on the
message. In the case of madih nabawi, of course, both literary and popular
versions of al-Isra’ wa-al-Micraj are already well known to the poet’s audi
ence and require merely to be evoked, not reiterated. Against this back
ground, then, as well as such well-known poetic antecedents as al-Busiri’s
Burdah, Shawqi’s verses 83-85 effectively encapsulate the Night Journey.
He conveys the superior status of Muhammad through his images o f ritual
190 THE MA NT LE ODES
or bodily practice. The communicative effect of such postures is termed by

Connerton “the choreography o f authority,” as he explains:
The im p o rta n ce o f p ostu re for co m m u n a l m em o ry is evident. Pow er and

ra n k are co m m o n ly expressed th rou gh certain postures relative to others;
fro m th e w a y in w h ich people grou p them selves and from the position o f
th eir b o d ies relative to th e b o d ies o f others, w e can deduce the degree o f
a u th o rity w h ich each is th o u gh t to en joy or to w h ich th e y lay claim . W e
k n o w w h at it m eans w h en one p erson sits in an elevated position w hen
everyo n e a ro u n d th em stands; w h en one person stands and everyon e else
s i t s .. . . There w ill o f co u rse be disparities betw een cu ltu res in the m ea n
in gs ascrib ed to som e p ostures, but, in all cu ltures, m uch o f the ch o reo g
rap h y o f a u th o rity is expressed th ro u gh the body.49
It is just such postures and positions that the poet exploits to convey the
superior status o f the Prophet Muhammad: v. 83: the angels and prophets
stand in attendance, waiting to receive Muhammad; v. 84 Muhammad
strides before them, as we would imagine a general surveying his troops,
and they throng around him as stars around a full moon, or troops around
a flag. Finally, in v. 85, the angels and prophets, however exalted their own
status, are ranked behind Muhammad as they follow him in prayer, where
he serves as leader, imam. The emphasis on bodily practice as an expression
o f rank and authority in the images and diction of these verses should re
mind us of Shawqi’s similar methods in describing his own submission and
clinging to the Prophet in verses 42-44, as discussed above. The final
hemistich o f v. 85, with its inverted expression (qalb), succinctly encapsu
lates in its antithesis of triumph (yafuz) and submission (ya^tamimi) of the
hierarchy o f power: to triumph, even for prophets and angels, one must
submit to the authority of A llah’s chosen Prophet.
Verses 86-90 constitute Shawqi’s reprise o f M uhammad’s Ascen
sion. The first three verses, much to al-Bishri’s consternation, feature
M uham m ad’s magical mount, Buraq. Al-Bishri is at pains to insist that
Buraq served as the Prophet’s mount for the Night Journey from Mecca
to Jerusalem, but that the Ascension was accomplished by means of a
ladder or stairway (micraj) (W N vv. 86,89). For poetry, however, popular
imagination trumps theological learning. We can appreciate Shawqi’s
choice when we consider the iconographic primacy in manuscript il
lustrations o f Muhammad mounted on Buraq (often portrayed with a
female human face) and surrounded by angels. Although technically this
may be meant to illustrate the Night Journey (and other pictures show
Muhammad being carried on the back of Jibril ascending the heavens),
it has become in popular Islam the emblematic referent to al-Isra3 wa-
al-M icraj and an iconic representation o f M uham m ad’s exalted status.
We can understand, too, that the image o f Muhammad mounted on
Buraq does not merely serve as a pictorial illustration o f a narrative ele
ment, but comes to function iconographically as an Islamic religious
equivalent of the equestrian statue: that is, the monumental representa
tion o f power and authority. Now translated from a horse to a divinely
created mythical-magical mount and from the earth to the heavens with
an entourage o f angels, the image o f Muhammad mounted on Buraq
adds to the political and military authority conveyed by the equestrian
statue an apotheotic aura entirely consistent with the belief in
Muham mad’s unrivalled status among G od ’s creatures. The Ascension
culminates in verses 89-90, in which M uham m ad’s preeminent rank is
conveyed through his reaching a heaven that no wing or foot has ever
reached before (89), and he alone o f all the prophets approaches and, it
seems, touches G od ’s throne. Again, al-Bishrl is concerned with the
theological detail and insists that Muhammad could not really touch
G od ’s throne (W N v. 90). Poetically, o f course, what is intended is
M uhammad’s unique proximity to and favor with Allah (see v. 93).
The most interesting verses of this passage in terms of the Ihya3Project
are verses 91-92. The culmination of the Ascension, as the original Qur 3anic
passage states quite explicitly, is A llah ’s revelation/inspiration to
Muhammad, that is, revealing some of His ayat— “signs” in this context,
but otherwise equally miracles or Q ur3anic verses. Shawqi, in accordance
with the Ihya3imperative, eschews the common esoteric and/or mystical
readings of such “signs” to interpret them rather in Enlightenment terms
o f both moral and practical science, knowledge, and wisdom. The dis
course of the Western-influenced thinking of the nineteenth- and early
twentieth-century Egyptian liberal intellectuals commonly associated tra
ditional Islamic concepts of al-Lawh al-Mahfuz (the Preserved Tablet) and
al-Qalam (the Pen), whereby all G od’s decrees have been written,30 with
the poplular fatalism of the Islamic world which they saw as the main
source of its backwardness (jum ud) and the major obstacle to modern
enlightened development. Quite remarkably, Shawqi has reconceived the
Preserved Table and the Pen in such as way as to identify them with pre
192 THE MANTLE ODES
cisely those terms that have in his day become associated with progressive
and liberal modern thinking: culum (sciences) (v. 91), cilm (science), hikam
(knowledge) (v. 92). By invoking the otherwise cliched expression of Islam
as al-din wa al-dunya (“religion and world”— that is, as offering precepts
both for religious and practical, political, life) in verse 91, Shawqi trans
forms or extends its sense to embrace the religious sciences and moral
precepts on the one hand, and the modern sciences on the other. This
continues in verse 92, where the secret (sirr) revealed to the Prophet now
conjoins religious and scientific precepts, as does the store of knowledge
that has been uncovered for him.
The importance of Shawqfs interpretation of Islam in these verses
should not be underestimated. What he has done is to resolve the conflict
between those Muslims who cling to traditional religion and reject modern
secular liberalism as godless and those modern liberal secularists who
condemn Islam as a stronghold o f backwardness, fatalism, and supersti
tion. Shawqi does this in the manner of the IhyaVNahdah intellectuals and
Islamic reformers, such as Jamal al-DIn al-Afghani and Muhammad
cAbduh, by defining Islam as essentially enlightened, scientific, and just—
and this, in turn, he accomplishes by a quite stunning conjoining (w. 91-
92) of the most traditional Islamic terms al-din wa al-dunya, al-Lawh, al-
Qalam, al-sirr, inkashafat (religion and world, the Tablet, the Pen, the
secret, be revealed) with terms such as culum, cilm, hikam (sciences, science,
knowledge), which, however rooted they are in the religious tradition, have
become by the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries bywords for
Western science and learning. In brief, Shawqi has achieved in poetry the
Islamic Reformist identification of Islamic tradition and Western Enlight
enment humanism and science, which he will develop at length in the later
sections o f the poem (especially parts 9,10, and 11).
Verse 93 seals this passage by invoking M uhammad’s closeness to
Allah as the source o f the countless favors and graces bestowed upon
him. Although this verse sounds altogether lyrical in its metaphors of
“pendants o f favor,” “necklaces o f grace,” it is interesting to note that
al-Bishri takes these favors and graces to be culiim (sciences or knowl
edge) (W N v. 93).
3) The Miracle o f Muhammad and Abu Bakr in the Cave. In the
prose accounts o f the Prophet’s miracles, G od’s protection of the two
companions as they hid in the cave from the pursuing Meccan polythe
ists is quite simply presented. A l-Q adi Tyad writes:
It is related on the a u th o rity o f A n as, Z ayd ibn A rq a m , and a l-M u g h ira h
ibn S h u 'b ah that the P rophet (pbuh) said: “O n the night o f the C ave, G o d
co m m a n d ed a tree to g ro w in front o f th e P rophet (pbuh) and co n ceal
him ; and he ordered tw o doves to stop at th e m o u th o f the cave.” A n d
an oth er hadith says, “ the spider w ove its w eb at the cave’s entran ce, so
that w h en his pursuers cam e and saw th is th e y said, ‘I f there w ere an yon e
inside the cave the tw o doves w ould not be at its entrance,’ and the Prophet
(pbuh) heard w hat th ey said. Then th ey dep arted .” 51
Shawqi, in his poetic rendition, follows in part al-Busiri’s cognate pas

sage (BB part 5, vv. 76-81), where this event serves to undergird the poets
oath that he has never come as a supplicant to the Prophet except that
his request, for justice, protection, physical or spiritual bounty, has been
granted. At the same time, however, Shawqi changes the rhetorical em
phasis to begin by first foregrounding the Meccan polytheists who re
jected and persecuted G od ’s Chosen Prophet (vv. 94-97). To his rhetori
cal question, following al-Bishri’s interpretation, “Ask the polytheists
what frightened them away— did the Prophet’s footprints or the voices
reciting the Q u r5an strike fear in their hearts?— In their terror, did they
think the spider’s web a forest? The doves vultures?” (W N vv. 94-97), he
answers that it was God alone that protected them.
Much as al-Busiri did, Shawqi extends this one-time miracle to an
abiding religious principle. In each of verses 97-99, the first hemistich
refers specifically to the Miracle of the Cave, while the second presents
an abiding Islamic truth (hikmah or aphorism). Thus the fleeing Meccan
polytheists (97a) are “like falsehood put to flight by the majesty of truth”
(97b); G od ’s hand protecting Muhammad and Abu Bakr (98a) is fol
lowed by the aphoristic: “But for His watchful eye, the pillar of religion
would not stand” (98b); finally, in a lovely lyrical verse in which the poet
extends the doves’ wings to a metaphor of divine protection: the “wing
of G od” conceals the Companions (99a), and moreover, the passage con
cludes, “Whoever is enfolded in G od’s wing will not be harmed” (99b).
The careful rhetorical structure of verse 99 gracefully balances the rep
etition of “wing of G od” (jinah Allah) in the middle o f each hemistich
and brings the passage to a sonorous and semantically concise closure
19 4 THE MANT LE ODES
through the alliteration o f liquids (/, m, n) and the combined jinas and
tibaq oiyadummu (protect, enfold) andyudam/ (be harmed).
The effect of the repeated movement from the particular to the general
in verses 97-99 is to extract a permanent truth from even the passing mir
acle. Further, within the colonial context of Shawqi’s day, the polytheists
who persecute Muhammad and Abu Bakr find an analog in the British
occupation and its persecution of contemporary Muslims. The Miracle of
the Cave thus is transformed from an episode in the Sirah of the Prophet
to an exemplar of A llah ’s abiding protection of the Believers.
P A R T 6: M E T A P O E T I C R E C A P I T U L A T I O N OF
PROPHETIC PRAISE ( w . IO O -II7 )
100. O A h m a d o f g oo d n ess, I have the d ig n ity o f bein g nam ed for you,

A n d h o w can on e n am ed for the M essenger not reach exalted rank?
101. The p an eg y rists an d the lords o f passion* are all follow ers [* = Sufis]
O f the p reem in en t M aster o f the redolent M antle.*
[* = al-B u siri, al-Burdah]
102. H is praise for yo u sp rings from sincere love and passion,

For tru e love dictates tru e w ords.
103. A s G o d is m y w itn ess, I do not strive to surpass h im ,

For w h o co u ld v ie w ith the d o w n p o u r o f so w idespread a cloud?
104. I am m erely on e o f those w h o em ulate h im , and surely he w h o tries

To em ulate y o u r saint is not to be rebuked or blam ed.
105. P raise o f the Prophet is a station con ferred b y the M ost M erciful;
Its a w fu l d ig n ity strikes d u m b even the m ost silver-ton gu ed Sahban,
106. For the fu ll m o on falls sh ort o f y o u in beauty and nobility;

The sea falls short o f y o u in b o u n ty and m unificence.
107. The h a u gh ty m o u n tain s, i f y o u ch allen ged them in height, w o u ld sink;

If y o u vie d in b eau ty w ith the g lea m in g stars, yo u w o u ld ou tsh ine them ;
108. The lion w h en it p ou n ces is not as bold as you

W h e n y o u m arch again st an iron -clad w a rrio r b ristlin g w ith w eapons.
109. T h o u gh in w ar you m ake the h earts’ black grain s bleed,

Yet the h earts o f the brave and va lia n t yearn for you.
110. W h e rev e r arm ies clashed, G o d th rew H is love and dread

B eh in d A m in a h ’s son, M u h am m ad .
111. Y o u r face am id st the battle-d u st is lik e the fu ll m o on [badr] on a

d a rk night:
W h e th e r it is veiled b y clouds or not, it shines.
112. L ike a fu ll m o on [badr], M u h a m m a d rose at Badr and his radiant

co u n ten an ce
W as lik e the new m oon o f v ic to ry sh in in g th ro u gh the g lo o m o f night.
113. In the Q u r ’ an you w ere called an o rp h a n to h on o r you,

For the u n iq u ely p recious pearl is called an “o rp h a n .”
114. W h e n G o d a p p ortio n ed H is blessings am o n g m a n k in d ,

Y ou w ere allow ed to ch oo se y o u r blessings and yo u r lot.
115. W h e th e r you say “ n o” co n ce rn in g an a ffair or “yes,”

G o d ’s ch oice is in that “n o ” and in that “yes.”
116. Y o u r broth er Jesus called a dead m an b ack to life and he arose,

But you revived w h ole generations o f d eca yin g bones.
117. Ign oran ce is death, so i f an oth er m iracle is gran ted you,

Then raise m a n k in d from ign oran ce or from the grave.
[65]
Part 6 forms not only both climax and metapoetic recapitulation of the
theme o f Prophetic praise, but also the completion o f movement I o f the
poem. As such, it concludes the more traditional madih nabawi themes
and structure (with the partial exception of part 12) that follow the model
o f al-Busiri’s Burdah and sets the stage for Shawql’s new IhyaMnformed
political-polemical passages (NB parts 7-11, and 12) that form the second
movement o f the poem. We are alerted to the heightened emotional
urgency of this passage by the change from the third-person “ he” that
has dominated parts 4 and 5, to the second person “you” and the dra
matic apostrophe, “O Ahm ad!” that opens part 6.
Shawqi’s evocation in verse 100 o f his base-text, al-Busiri’s verse 146,
both establishes the cognation between the two texts and highlights the
dramatic effect of Shawqi’s rhetorical choices. The metapoetic substance
of the opening passage (NB vv. 100-105) concerns the complex dynamic
between the identities o f Ahm ad Shawqi, Ahmad/Muhammad the
Prophet, and Muhammad al-Busiri, the Master of the Burdah. The initial
“O Ahmad!” thus has three possible referents, until further defined. For
just as we noted above (NB part 4) that Shawqi sees himself as the poetic
counterpart to the Prophet in bringing a message of redemption /1 hya’
196 THE MANTLE ODES
to the Islamic Ummah, a shared name suggests some measure o f shared

identity, as the blessing traditionally associated with being named after
the Prophet, Muhammad or Ahm ad, indicates.52 This (con)fusion of
identities on the principle that nomen est omen is rhetorically mimicked
in the three-fold root-play o f v. 100: tasmiyah and sami (“naming” and
“namesake,” from the root s-m-y) and yatasama (“reach exalted rank”
from the root s-m-w). The other issue o f identity is one o f imitation, that
Shawql (NB v. 101), like all the other poets o f madih nabawi and the pas
sionate devotees o f the Prophet (Sufis), is following the model o f the
“preeminent Master o f the Burdah,” that is, al-Busiri. The intensity of
the praise passage and the intimate association o f the Prophet with
madih nabawi and its practitioners is further suggested in the metathetic
root-play (the roots h-m-d and m-d-h both denote “praise”) o f the open
ing words ofvv. 100-102: yd 3Ahmadu, al-madihuna, madihuhu (Ahmad
“the most praiseworthy,” “the praise-poets,” “his praise”). Furthermore,
in a manner that is, no doubt, intended to reflect Shawqfs own motiva
tions and intentions, he states in v. 102 that al-Busiris praise for the
Prophet is a pure, sincere expression o f his love for him, unadulterated
by any worldly or material motives or goals.
Inasmuch as the Arabic term mucaradah (contrafaction) conveys
opposition and challenge— to try to outdo a rival— Shawql is careful to
define his present poetic undertaking with regard to al-Busiri. He insists,
therefore, in vv. 103-104 that Nahj al-Burdah is an attempt not to surpass
al-Busiri’s masterpiece, but merely to emulate M uhammad’s “saint” or
“ friend” (wali). Finally, in v. 105, Shawql concludes this metapoetic pas
sage on the nature o f madih nabawi by declaring that to praise one so
great as the Prophet is beyond human capacity; it is, rather, an awful
dignity conferred by God, or, as we might say, a humbling responsibility.
As al-Bishrl explains, even the greatest of proverbial orators, Sahban,
would be struck dumb by this task, which can only be accomplished with
divine help (W N v. 105).
In metapoetic terms, Shawqi has defined the elements o f the formi
dable double challenge that he faces in composing a madih nabawi follow
ing the model of al-Busiri’s Burdah. The first is the undisputed preemi
nence o f that work in the genre of madih nabawi. Shawqi claims that he
would not presume to try to surpass it, but what, we should ask, would be
the point of composing a lesser poem? Clearly there is a poetic competition
involved, for poetic contrafaction by its very nature calls for a comparison
and evaluation of the base-text and the new text, and Shawqi has followed
al-Busiri’s Burdah so closely that such a comparison is inevitable, as we will
discuss in the conclusion. The second challenge has to do with the
mamduh— that is, that the subject and recipient of the praise is the Prophet
Muhammad, who surpasses all mankind in every praiseworthy quality
and virtue, whose enumeration and description therefore exceed the poet’s
expressive capacities. Shawqi’s response or resolution to this double chal
lenge, that to compose madih nabawi is a “station conferred by the All-
M erciful” (maqamun min al-rahmani muqtabasun), is then altogether
stunning, For just as the synonymity of his name and the Prophet’s of verse
100 has insinuated some level of identification or correspondence between
the two, so too “a station conferred by the All-M erciful” is a phrase emi
nently applicable to prophethood as well as to the composition of prophetic
praise poetry. Thus, Shawqi is at once establishing a bond of identification
between himself and the Prophet and suggesting that his poem is the result
o f divine inspiration or aid. The latter proposition has the effect of under
mining Shawqi’s modest demurral of vv. 103-104. However much his per
sonal modesty or sense of intimidation may make him refrain from chal
lenging the Master o f the Burdah, divine aid, needless to say, makes
anything possible.
In light of this reading of vv. 100-105, then, the remaining verses of
part 6 (106-117) in particular, and the entire Nahj al-Burdah in general,
constitute Shawqi’s response to this double challenge: one whose out
standing (even superior) poetic beauty he does not attribute to his own
presumption of superior talent, but rather to divine aid— what we might
otherwise understand as “(poetic) inspiration.” It is as if, after v. 105, he
says, “Here goes!” as he throws all his poetic and rhetorical skills, par
ticularly the badic-sty\e rhetoric of High cAbbasid court panegyric, into
demonstrating the impossibility of describing that which is above and
beyond all description. The rhetorical sleight of hand he engages in here,
especially in vv. 106-108, is that in ostensibly demonstrating the impos
sibility of expressing the Prophet’s virtues, he in fact expresses them. In
other words, the poet achieves the impossible, a sort of poetic uicjdz.n
This he accomplishes through a negation of all the conventional similes
of beauty, generosity, etc. The effect of the simplicity and beauty of verse
106 with its parallelism of the two hemistichs and its emphatic reitera-
tion o f dunaka (“ falls short o f you,” literally, beneath you, below you) is J
not merely to express the unrivalled beauty and generosity of the Prophet,
but to declare the inadequacy o f the Arabic poetic idiom to express it.
The verse is a conundrum inasmuch as it beautifully expresses this idea
and thereby contradicts it. Verses 107-108 follow a similar logic, declar
ing that the Prophet’s (metaphorical) height makes lofty mountains sink;
that he outshines the stars and is bolder than the lion. That is, all the
conventional similes fall short.
Verses 109-112 describe the Prophet’s valor on the battlefield, cul
minating in verses 111-112 with a dense word-play centering around the
full moon (badr) as a symbol o f the Prophet and the miraculous early
Muslim victory over the Meccan polytheists at the Battle o f Badr (2 a h ),
and related terms for luminosity and darkness. This picks up the light
versus darkness imagery and diction of the Birth of the Prophet passage
(NB part 5, vv. 75-82); thus, v. 111, badru dujan (full moon of a dark
night); yudVu (shine), multathim (veiled [twice]); v. 112, with even more
intensity: badr (full moon), tatallca (rise [of a heavenly body]), Badr ;
(proper name o f the battle-place), ghurrah (bright face, luminosity
[twice]), tajlu (appear, shine), daji (dark), al-zulami (darknesses). The !
imagery o f luminosity is joined to the concept o f M uham mad’s unique *
status in verse 113 through a pun and root-play on yatim (“orphan,” but
also “unique, peerless,” here in the substantive form yutm/yutum). In
voking the Qurianic verse that refers to M uhammad’s orphanhood (his
father, cAbd Allah, died before Muhammad was born), “Did He not find
you an orphan (yatim) and give you shelter?” (QK 93:6), the poet then
proceeds to adduce another meaning for yatim, that is “a matchless,
precious pearl.” In verse 115 Shawqi invokes al-Busiri’s v. 35 about the
justice o f the Prophet’s judgments (“no” and “yes”), adding, through the
near parallelism and repetition o f “no” and “yes” in each hemistich, a
divine choice that undergirds and confirms the Prophet’s decisions.
Perhaps the most interesting verses of this passage are 116-117, in
which Shawqi concludes part 6 with an IhyaMnspired plea for the revival
and recuperation of the Islamic Ummah, thereby forming a transition
to movement II o f Nahj al-Burdah, Shawqi’s poetic rendition of the Ihya5
Project. Verse 116 reiterates the standard Icjaz al-Q ur5an doctrine (above
NB vv. 69-70 and BB v. 93) that the miracles o f other prophets are one
time events, whereas M uham m ad’s message and miracle (the Qurian)
is forever and continuously in force to guide and save mankind. At the

same time it invokes, through the key terms “revive” (ahya, ahyayta) and
“decaying bones” (al-rimami— the rhyme-word), verse 46 o f al-Busiri’s
Burdah and its Q u ra n ic referent (see chapter 2). The “generations of
decaying bones” refers to the generations of mankind who, through the
salvific effect o f M uham m ad’s message, will be called back to life on
Resurrection Day. However, in the present context, as al-Bishri explains
with great concision, Shawqi is using “revival” (al-ihya*) and “revive”
(ahyayta) metaphorically to mean “awaken men’s hearts and lead them
out from the darkness o f ignorance to the path of following Islam” (W N
v. 116). Shawqi’s ihya* (revival) clearly refers to the Iliya* Project o f the
cultural revival of the Islamic Ummah, and forcefully echoes in both
sense and diction the Ihya* proclamation of verse 74. Verse 117 then closes
this passage with a rhetorically complex and powerfully condensed for
mulation of the Ihya* Project: it equates ignorance (jahl) with death and,
therefore, political and cultural revival with resurrection. This is par
ticularly effective because, as we saw with verse 66, jahl, with its etym o
logical relation to Jahiliyyah, the Age o f Ignorance prior to the coming
o f Islam, bears a religious significance in this context— ignorance or
denial of the true religion (Islam). But further, in the IhyaVNahdah con
text, it conveys the idea that the contemporary fatalism and superstition
of the Muslim masses and the backwardness of Islamic society constitute
a falling away from true Islam, which in turn has now become identified
with Western-derived concepts of science, progress, and civilization— as
we will see in movement II.
This constitutes a dramatic change of direction and orientation for
madih nabawi. For whereas the sort of madih nabawi that al-Busiri’s Bur
dah exemplifies and has spawned has an otherworldly goal, the plea for the
Prophet’s intercession on Judgment Day, Shawqi changes the focus from
otherworldly concerns to worldly political, intellectual, and cultural “re
vival.”53Opening the verse with the proclamation that “Ignorance is death,”
Shawqi employs a network of antithesis (tibdq) and repetition (takrdr): jahl
(ignorance) occurs twice, as does the imperative fa-ibcath (resurrect, re
vive); death occurs as mawt (death) and rimam (decayed bones) to equate
the (earthly) eradication of ignorance and backwardness with the (other
worldly) raising of dead bodies from the grave on Resurrection Day.34This
then paves the way thematically for most of the remainder of the poem,
our parts 7-12, in which Shawqi sets out his vision of an essentially Islamic
humanism that serves as the foundation for his Ihya5Project.
In structural terms, we can observe that part 6, for all its metapoetic
preoccupations, nevertheless performs a recapitulation of the supplicatory
ritual, beginning with the direct address to the one supplicated, “O
Ahm ad!” o f v. 100, Shawqi’s (poetic) Self-Abasement: “I do not strive to
surpass... I am merely one of those who emulate...” (w . 103-104), Praise
of the mamduh (w. 105-116), and, finally, the Supplication: “ .. if [a] miracle
is granted you, // Then raise mankind from ignorance...” (v. 117).
Nahj al-Burdah M ovem ent II: The Ih ya5 Project— Parts 7-12
In a radical restructuring of his base-text, Shawqi subordinates the other

worldly concerns (the Prophet’s intercession on Judgment Day) that
dominate the supplicatory framework o f al-Busiri’s Burdah to complete
the Nahj al-Burdah supplicatory pattern with elements based on the
Islamic Manifest Destiny themes o f al-Busiri’s SIrah-derived parts, es
pecially Part 8: The Messenger’s Jihad and M ilitary Campaigns, to create
what I have labeled movement II o f Nahj al-Burdah. Shawqi begins with
a poetic polemic against Western Christian imperialism as a preamble
to his vision o f an idealized and paradigmatic Islamic past; he then pre
sents in his supplicatory closing a plea for the restitution in this world
o f the dignity and dominion of the Islamic Ummah. Hourani offers a
concise formulation o f the traditional Sunni Muslim view o f Islamic
history and thereby provides a prose context for our reading of Shawqi’s
poetic work in movement II:55
For an o rth o d o x M u slim , h isto ry w as the process by w h ich the so ciety o f

religious ign oran ce, d irected to w o rld ly ends, held togeth er b y natural
so lid a rity and ruled b y k in gs, w as replaced by the ideal M u slim society.
In a sense the stru ggle had been g oin g on th ro u gh o u t history, w herever
and w h en ever G o d had sent prophets to a specific umma. In a sense too
it w as still h ap p en in g, w h erever the umma faced the un con verted w orld.
There had h ow ever been one p eriod o f p articu la r im p ortan ce, w hen the
fin al revelation w as fu lly em b od ied in the institution s o f society. To d e
vo u t M u slim s, at the tim e and later, there lay a special sign ifican ce in the
early h isto ry o f Islam , w hen the co m m u n ity w as e xp a n d in g and flo u rish
ing, the Q u ra n and the P rop het’s w ords were taken as principles o f action,
and the um m a w as on e in outer m an ifestation as w ell as in spirit. For the
m oral im a g in a tio n o f Sun n is, th e early cen tu ries o f Islam have alw ays
been a co m p ellin g d ra m a in three acts: the early days o f the Prophet and
his im m ed iate successors, the golden age w hen the um m a w as as it should
be; the U m ayyad period w hen the principles o f Islam ic piety w ere overlaid
b y the n atu ral h u m an ten d en cy tow ards secu la r k in gsh ip ; and the early
'A b b asid age w h en the p rin cip les o f the um m a w ere reasserted and e m
b o d ied in in stitu tio n s o f a u n iversal em pire, regu lated b y law, based on
the e q u a lity o f all believers, an d e n jo y in g pow er, w ealth , and cu ltu re
w h ich are the rew ard o f ob edien ce. In later ages th is p eriod o f h isto ry
served as a n orm for rulers and ruled alik e, a lesson o f w hat G o d had done
for H is people, a lesson to o o f the evils o f d ivision and the rejection o f
G o d ’s w ill.56
P A R T 7: P O L E M I C A G A I N S T C H R I S T I A N I T Y ( VV. 1 1 8 - 1 2 8 )
118. The C h ristia n s say that y o u co n d u cted raids, but that G o d ’s M essengers
W ere not sent to k ill souls nor to shed blood.
119. This is ign oran ce, the delusion o f dream s, and sophistry,
For you conqu ered b y the sw ord o n ly after you con qu ered by the pen.
120. O n ly after every m an o f h ig h degree cam e to you o f his ow n accord,

W as the sw ord ch arged w ith su b d u in g the ign oran t m asses,
121. For i f you m eet evil w ith goodn ess, you w ill not w ith stan d it;
But i f you m eet it w ith evil, it w ill be cut dow n.
122. So ask m eek C h ristia n ity h ow often it has d ru n k

The bitter co lo cyn th o f w anton ty ra n ts’ lusts,
123. A prey to p aganism that persecuted it

A n d at every tu rn attacked w ith fury.
124. W ere it not for the protectors w h o to o k up the sw ord in its defense,
Its kin d n ess and m ercy w o u ld have been to no avail.
125. W ere it not for Jesus’ h igh ran k w ith H im w h o sent h im

A n d a sacred bond established to the Spirit from the b e g in n in g o f tim e,
126. H is noble and inviolate b o d y w ould have been nailed to the cro ss’s
tw o boards
A n d his torm entor w ould have felt no dread or fright.
127. But the M essiah was too great for this! It was his enem y w h o suffered
on the cross,
For punishm ent is in p roportion to o n e ’s sins and crim es.
128. Jesus, the P ro p h et’s b ro th er and insp ired b y G o d , holds an honored

ra n k
A b o v e the heavens but b elo w G o d ’s Throne.
[66 ]
Part 7: Polemic against Christianity serves largely as an introduction— or

apologia— for Part 8: Defense/Praise of Jihad and the Prophet’s Military
Campaigns (ghazawat). It is particularly interesting to compare Shawqi’s
part 8 with al-Busiri’s counterpart (BB part 8), which is pure and unabashed
praise and celebration of the Prophet’s military prowess and accomplish
ments without any need for apology or explanation, as indeed the tradi
tional prophetic epithet “Prophet of Fierce Battle(s)” (nabi al-malhamah/
al-malahim) indicates.57 It is indicative of the degree to which the colonial
subject’s identity is formed by the colonizer58and the defensive anticolonial
posture o f Neo-Classical poetry that Shawqi feels obliged to preface his
praise of the Prophet’s jihad with a refutation of Christian anti-Islamic po
lemic, namely their claim that God’s messengers should promote peace (like
Jesus), not war (like Muhammad). Shawqi exposes the hypocrisy of their
deluded claims in a largely self-explanatory argument (118-128). The poet’s
vindication o f Islam is set out in two basic steps: Muhammad conquered by
the sword only after he conquered by the pen— that is, as a last resort— while
men o f rank converted to Islam of their own accord (119-120); and that
meekness cannot prevail in the face of violence, but rather violence must be
met with violence for the sake of righteousness— as, indeed, the persecution
of the early Christians has shown (121-124). He concludes in verses 125-128
with a reiteration of the Islamic doctrines concerning Jesus: that he was a
prophet, but was not crucified, and his rank, though exalted, is below that
of Muhammad, as verses 128 so succinctly states (see this in light of v. 90:
Muhammad, alone of G od’s prophets, approached the Throne).
par t 8: d e f e n s e /p r aise of jih ad a n d th e
p r o p h e t ’s m i l i t a r y c a m p a ig n s (v v . 129-141)
129. Y ou, M u h a m m ad , taught the M u slim s e ve ry th in g o f w h ich th ey w ere

ign oran t,
Even h ow to d o battle and h on or the covenants o f war.
130. Y ou called them to a jih a d by w h ich th ey w on do m in io n ,

For w a r is the basis o f the order o f the w orld and o f its nations.
131. But for jih a d we never w o u ld have seen, th ro u g h tim e ’s calam ities,
L o n g -sta n d in g co lu m n s nor steadfast buttresses.
132. The evid en ce for this is clear in age after age,

W h e th e r eras o f en ligh ten m en t or b en igh ted tim es.59
133. O f old, som e th ron es d eclin ed w h ile oth ers w ere erected;
W ith o u t bo m b s th e y w o u ld never have been breach ed or cracked.
134. The follow ers o f Jesus have prepared every w eapon o f d estru ctio n ,
W h ile w e have prepared for n o th in g but to be destroyed.
135. M u h a m m ad , w h enever y o u w ere called to battle, you arose

H u rlin g w arrio rs lik e lion s, w h ile G o d hurled dem ons like m eteors
from the sky.
136. Beneath y o u r battle-stan d ard there gathered e very w arrio r

A v en g in g for G o d , a d va n cin g to m eet H im , determ in ed ,
137. G lo rify in g G o d , his h eart ablaze w ith passion to m eet H im ,

M oun ted on a battle-steed lik e lig h tn in g ’s blaze,
138. W h o , if he encountered tim e itself try in g to get past h im ,

Then shot the a rro w o f his d eterm in ation at its m oun t, tim e w ould
not budge.
139. T hey are g lea m in g w h ite sw ords, notched from com bat;
They are the sw ords o f G o d , not Indian blades.
140. H ow m an y a m an, w hen you searched the battle-dust for dead,

D ied true to his solem n p rom ise and loyal to his oath!
141. W ere it not that G o d bestow ed H is gifts on som e m ore than on others,
M en w o u ld not differ in ra n k and w orth .
[67]
It is only after the poet has refuted imperialist Christian claims, pointing
out that the early Christianity’s kindness and meekness led only to perse
cution until its protectors took up the sword in its defense (vv. 123-124), that
Shawqi feels free to launch into his praise of Muhammad’sghazawat (raids,
military campaigns) and the role of jihad in establishing and spreading
Islam. Even here, however, verses 130-134 are essentially defensive and po
lemical. Declaring that war is the way of the world and the means by which
dominions are won and civilizations developed, Shawqi clinches his argu
ment in verse 134, exposing with bitter sarcasm the hypocrisy of “Christian
meekness.” The irony of Christian violence versus Islamic passivity is cap-
tured with biting rhetorical, in this case morphological, precision in the

contrast o f the active (Form I active participle: fa cil) qasimah “crushing,
destroying, shattering” [blow or weapon]) for the Christians, as opposed
to the passive (Form V II— this form is passive in meaning— active parti
ciple: munfaHl) munqasim “crushed, destroyed, shattered” for the Mus
lims: the Christians have all the weapons of destruction, while the Muslims
wait passively to be destroyed. Shawqi s morphological contrast of active
and passive forms provides a stunningly accurate formulation of the colo
nial experience, one that finds its prose counterpart in Albert Houranis
epitome (cited above), “The essence of imperialism is to be found in a moral
relationship— that o f power and powerlessness... ”
This passage, and verse 134 in particular, elicits from al-Bishri a com
pelling and vehement prose diatribe against the hypocrisy of the Chris
tian West (which, in light o f the intervening century, seems almost
prophetic):
In th is verse the p oet intends to com p are the people o f the C h ristia n re
lig io n w ith those o f the Islam ic religion. So he m entions that tod ay the ,
adherents o f C h ristia n ity, “the religion o f tra n q u ility and peace,” are the
p eople o f m ilita ry p ow er w h o devote them selves to p rep arin g ligh tn in g- ■
lik e w eapon s o f d estru ctio n in w ars, u n til it seem s as i f th ey have no o c
cu p atio n oth er th an e x tra ctin g gold from the bow els o f the earth and
sp en d in g it on iron and steel factories to p roduce the in stru m en ts o f w ar
th ro u gh o u t the len gth o f the land and the breadth o f the sea. They have
m astered the m a n ifo ld form s o f d estru ctio n and dem olition , and n o th
in g — not the oaths th e y have sw orn nor an y virtu e s o f their ch aracter—
has p reven ted th em fro m d estro yin g the people and visitin g scourges
u p on them , from b eh in d th eir backs or un der th eir feet, until they have
subjugated the very winds (taskhir al-riyah) so th ey can rain d ow n upon
th eir heads every cru sh in g disaster. W h ile the people o f the Islam ic reli
gio n , w h om th eir oppressors accu se o f lo vin g conquest and jih ad , and
w h ose reputation th ey besm irch by claim in g th ey love n o th in g m ore than
figh tin g and battle and the taste o f h um an blood, today they are the people
o f tra n q u ility and peace. Far be it from them to even com e close to the
p eople o f the C h ristia n religion in a contest for love o f conquest and war,
or even beg in to m atch them in am assin g w eapons or in d evisin g the
in stru m en ts o f war. (W N v. 134) [em phasis mine]
The passage is especially effective for the Muslim reader in its use of
expressions associated with the unfettered might and dominion of
Sulayman (King Solomon) as he is described in the Q u r’an, Q u r’anic

commentary, and popular Islamic legends o f the prophets (qisas al-
anbiya3). In the Islamic tradition Sulayman was endowed by Allah with
supernatural powers. He knew the language o f birds and animals (QK
27:16,19); unruly winds were subjected to his command (“Then We sub
jected the wind to him so that it would blow gently according to his
command wherever he directed it” [fa-sakhkharna lahu al-riha tajri bi-
3amrihi rukhcfan haythu 3asaba), QK:38:36); a fountain of molten brass
was put at his service (QK 34:12); and he subdued the jinn to do his bid
ding, to work on his building projects (QK 34:12-13). His vast and irre
sistible army was composed o f men, jinn, and birds (QK 27:i7).60The awe
and horror that the Muslims feel at the (almost) supernatural power o f
European economic, industrial, and military might are intensified by
the evocation o f the cosmic and God-given “superpower” o f its Islamic
analog and the realization that such might is not in the hands o f a
prophet o f Islam and forerunner o f Muhammad, but rather in those of
their arch-foe— the Christian West. In other words, the battle takes on
cosmic proportions. There is also a subliminal logic evinced by al-Bishri’s
shrewd phraseology. For inasmuch as Sulayman is a mythic-symbolic
prefiguration or analog o f the Prophet Muhammad, al-Bishri’s Q u r’anic
phrase points to Muhammad as the Islamic counterforce to the Chris
tian West, which is precisely where the poem takes us.
The humiliation and passivity of the contemporary Muslim world pro
vides the perfect foil for the Prophet’s bold military action. Thus, with verse
135 there is a dramatic transition from the first person contemporary Mus
lim submissiveness of verse 134 to direct address of the Prophet responding
to the call to war. The rhetorically effective contrast of active and passive
voices (“whenever you were called by God to battle. . . you arose”) stresses
both the Prophet’s divine mission and military action. The parallel struc
ture of the Prophetic and divine “hurling” (tarmi. . . yarmi Allahu) of
weapons (v. 135) again reinforces the divine agency behind the Prophet’s
actions, in a manner that invokes both Q ur’anic and poetic antecedents:
“It was not you who slew them, but God slew them, and you did not hurl
when you hurled, but God hurled ” (Ja-lam taqtuluhum wa-ldkinna
Allaha qatalahum wa-ma ramayta 3idh ramayta wa-lakinna Allaha rama
[QK 8:17]) and Abu Tammam’s famous Amorium qasidah (v. 41):
G o d h urled you again st A m o riu m ’s tw o tow ers and destroyed them ;

If an yon e oth er th an G o d had h urled you, he w o u ld have m issed the
m ark.61
[6 8 ]
Verse 135 opens a passage (135-140) describing the Prophet and his Mus
lim warriors in battle that stands out for its explicit employ of the height
ened rhetorical style o f the High cAbbasid panegyric. W hat is most in
teresting here is that we are dealing with a double-layered imitation. For
Shawqi’s model al-Busiri, as we have seen in chapter 2, casts his Burdah
Part 8: The Messenger’s Jihad and M ilitary Campaigns quite precisely in
the style and motifs terms o f a High cAbbasid military panegyric. Thus
Shawqi is imitating al-Busiri, who is in turn imitating Abu Tammam
and his ilk. W hat is curious about this is that the Neo-Classical poets
most often preferred to emulate and write contrafactions of High
cAbbasid panegyrists in the first place. Therefore, although Shawqi has
initially chosen a medieval Post-Classical model for his contrafaction,
he shares with his model al-Busiri the appropriation of High cAbbasid
“hegemonic discourse.” This is true for even the lyrical sections o f Nahj
al-Burdah, as discussed above, but is particularly striking in this martial
section, as is likewise true o f the martial sections of al-Busiri’s Burdah
and Safi al-Din al-Hilli’s Badiciyyah (chapter 2, BB part 8).
Achieving its consummate expression in his celebrated ode to the
Caliph al-Muctasim on the conquest o f the Byzantine city o f Amorium
(223/838), Abu Tammam’s distinctive style of self-confident and robust
rhetorical derring-do, termed badic, and the Amorium Ode in particu
lar, came to be synonymous with Islamic triumph and triumphalism.62
Therefore, not only is the use o f this distinctive style in itself rhetorically
powerful, but it inevitably, and indeed essentially, evokes the Islamic
triumphalism of the Amorium Ode, and in particular the spectacular
and eternal victory o f Islam over Christianity that that ode conveys.
Verse 136 recalls Abu Tammam’s oft-cited and oft-imitated “signature
verse” describing the caliph al-Muctas!m (Amorium, v. 37):
D irected by one relyin g on G o d , aven gin g for G o d ,

S trivin g and y ea rn in g tow ard G o d .63
[6 9 ]
Likewise, in verse 138, the convoluted playing with abstractions—

personifying time, giving it a mount, then shooting “determination” at
it— are typical of Abu Tammam’s al-madhhab al-kalami (“ dialectical
mannerism”), what I have termed elsewhere “mental gymnastics.” What
is involved in such expressions, however, is not an empty rhetorical dis
play. Rather, in Abu Tammam’s and other 'Abbasid panegyrists’ verses
of caliphal panegyric, the ability o f the patron (mamduh) to defeat (the
personifications of) time/fate (dahr, zaman [=death]) conveys a message
o f foreordained victory, cosmic power, and im mortality (see chapter 2
and the introduction). It is not surprising that such rhetoric should make
its way into madih nabawi. Al-Bishri cites as an antecedent o f Shawqi’s
verse 138 another example from Abu Tammam:
Y ou rained d o w n upon them such arrow s o f resolve

That i f you had shot them in battle at fate’s foun dation , it w o u ld have
cru m bled . (W N v. 138)64
[70]
What needs to be noted here is that the tradition o f transposition of the

High cAbbasid badic style to the passages describing the military cam
paigns of the Prophet in madih nabawi seems to have been initiated, or
at least popularized, by al-Busiri and to have become a standard stylistic
practice of the genre, as we see, for example, in the Abu Tammamian
style o f badic that dominates the passages on the Prophet’s battles in Safi
al-Din al-Hilli’s Badiciyyah.65
Verse 139 employs the convention of terming the Muslim warriors who
fight in the path of Allah “G od’s swords” (asyufAllah), evoking verse 48 of
Kacb ’s Sucad Has Departed, which describes Muhammad as “one of the
swords of God, an Indian blade unsheathed” (muhannadun min suyiifi
Allahi maslulu). But curiously, Shawqi denies them the equally conven
tional epithet muhannad (Indian, referring to the prized Indian tempered
steel), declaring them emphatically “not Indian” {la al-hindiyyatu). Yaseen
Noorani has suggested in a similar Neo-Classical context that the conven
tional muhannad has now become associated with Britain’s Indian subal
terns who fight on her behalf.66Thus with his own badic-twist, Shawqi adds
a contemporary colonial political commentary: the Muslims fight out of
commitment to their religion (as is indeed made emphatic in verse 140),
208 t h e m a n t le o d es
whereas British Indian troops are— as the (subliminal) change o f a dot in

khudhum (cutting) to khadam (servants) suggests— mere servile subal
terns. As we observed in our discussion of the cognate passage of al-Busiris
Burdah (BB part 8) and as Shawqi’s anticolonial stance requires, the Mus
lim warriors fighting at Muhammad’s side serve synecdochically for all
Muslims fighting jihad in the service o f Islam.
Verses 140 and 141 work in combination to convey the idea that the
highest rank and glory are achieved by those who fall in jihad— who give
their lives to honor their promise to fight unflinchingly// sabil Allah (in
the way o f God). If we insist on our reading o f verse 139, then this must
be read in contrast to those subalterns, such as the Indians, who fight
and die in abject service to their British overlords.
PART 9: T H E S H A R f cA H ( w . 142-154)
142. M u h a m m a d , w ith y o u r S h arP ah y o u m ade the m in d s o f m en

B urst fo rth w ith all k in d s o f k n ow led ge, lik e a b o u n d in g sea.
143. Its g em -lik e essence sp arkles rou n d G o d ’s resplendent U n ity

A s jew els adorn a sw ord, o r em b ro id ery a banner.
144. It is a law o f toleration , arou n d w h ich h over souls and m inds;

H e w h o th irsts for w isd o m is d raw n to its sw eet water.
145. It is the ligh t on the path, b y w h ich the w orlds are guided;
It is m en ’s su rety in th e yo u th o f tim e and tim e ’s old age.
146. Fate and its decrees ru n a cco rd in g to the sentence it han ds dow n,
W h ic h is forever in force and in scrib ed upon creation.
147. W h e n the d o m in io n o f Islam arose and spread

Its k in gd o m s w a lk ed in the S h a rP a h ’s perfect light.
148. It tau gh t a nation o f desert-dw ellers,

A fte r h erd in g sheep an d cam els, to herd C aesars.
149. H o w m a n y a do m ain , proud in its m ight, east and west,

D id the R eform ers, en actin g the S harP ah , build?
150. For the sake o f kn ow led ge, ju stice, and civiliza tio n ,
T h ey resolved upon th eir action s and gird ed their loins.
151. H ow q u ic k ly th e y con qu ered the w orld for th eir religion

A n d led m a n k in d to d r in k o f the S h a rP a h ’s co o l sw eet water.
152. A s m a n k in d ’s g u id es, th ey follow ed the SharTah;

T h ro u gh them it b ecam e m a n ’s clear path to prosperity.
153. T im e can n o t topple the co lu m n th eir ju stice erected,

But the w a ll o f tyran n y, i f y o u touch it, w ill collapse.
154. T hey ob tain ed felicity in b o th abodes,

A n d all p a rto o k o f the general d istrib u tion o f G o d ’s favor.
[7 i]
Shawqi pursues his polemic with a twelve-verse passage devoted to the

Sharicah (Islamic law). This passage is the thematic counterpart to the first
passage of Part 5: Sirah Themes, on the Birth of the Prophet (vv. 75-82),
where Shawqi dwelt on the tyranny, oppression, and ignorance that reigned
before the coming of the Prophet. In part 9, by contrast, he demonstrates
the justice, prosperity, and learning brought by Islamic rule under the
Sharicah. The choice and meaning of the term in this context require some
clarification— or at least exploration. In many ways, this passage seems to
be Nahj al-Burdah s counterpart to al-Busiri’s Burdah Part 6: The Noble
Q ur’an (BB vv. 88-104). For al-Busiri, in keeping with classical and medi
eval Islamic theology, as well as rhetorical precepts, the Q u r’an is
Muhammad’s evidentiary miracle, the proof of his Prophethood and of
the Islamic faith. In my reading of al-Busiri’s Burdah, part 6 constitutes the
culmination of the panegyric and the literary centerpiece of the poem.
Although Shawqi duly recognizes the preeminence o f the Q u r’an as
Muhammad’s evidentiary miracle (NB part 4, vv. 69-71), nevertheless the
SharTah is given pride of place. Shawqi has essentially shifted the balance
of his poetic intentions in Nahj al-Burdah to the politics of this world— the
dunya half of the al-din wa-al-dunya formulation. Hence his emphasis on
the SharTah— that is, the institutional means for the establishment of Is
lamic dominion and the perpetuation of an Islamic polity. I argue, in other
words, that Shawql foregrounds the SharTah rather than the Q u r’an be
cause of his concern, in Nahj al-Burdah, with the Ihya’ Project of the recu
peration of the worldly dominion of Islam.
What does Shawqi mean by the SharTah? When we examine the
attributes promulgated in this passage, it becomes clear that Shawqi’s
vision, as we would expect from the Neo-Classical era, is deeply in
formed by the values of the Nahdah, the Arab Awakening, what we could
probably accurately term Enlightenment values, i.e., Western humanistic
1
ideas. In Shawqi s intellectual formation these have been received as part

o f the Nahdah and Islamic reformist discourse concerning contempo
rary Western enlightenment, humanism, social justice, science, and
progress, as opposed to current Eastern superstition, despotism, igno
rance, and backwardness. His achievement here is to create, as did the
Islamic reformers, an Arab-Islamic vision or model o f justice, knowl
edge, and prosperity— in a word, civilization— that conceives o f these
values as essentially Islamic and as recuperable from Arab-Islamic his
tory, especially o f the Golden Age of the cAbbasid caliphate. What is
perhaps most interesting here is that by his exposure of the hypocrisy
and violence o f the Christian West in parts 7 and 8, Shawqi has stripped
them o f their moral claim to these liberal values, which he now reassigns
to, or projects back upon, the Islamic past. This he accomplishes in two
steps. First, in Part 9: The Sharlcah, he establishes the principle; and
second, in Part 10: The Glory of Baghdad, he adduces the historical evi
dence and model.
In its general understanding, the term SharPah, “W ithin Muslim
discourse . . . designates the rules and regulations governing the lives of
Muslims, derived in principal [sic] from the Kur3an and hadith”67 Shawqi
refines this general usage to create his own Ihya3 Project vision of the
SharPah as embodying the highest ideals o f justice, knowledge, and civi
lization as understood in Western-derived humanist terms. His formula
tion is more intellectual or ideological than historical, but his purpose
is clear: to propose an Arab-Islamic model— one for which he claims or
creates a historical precedent— o f enlightenment, humanism, and prog
ress to counter both the current climate of oppression and backwardness
o f the Islamic world and the Christian West’s current domination and
claim to a superior (vision of) civilization. Here we should cite once more
H ourani’s remark cited above that these Reformist ideas “took place
under the stimulus o f European liberal thought, and led to the gradual
reinterpretation o f Islamic concepts so as to make them equivalent to
the guiding principles o f European thought.”
However much it is informed by contemporary Western expressions
o f enlightenment and humanistic values, Shawqi’s formulation must be
understood above all in the context of his twin experience of the brutal
ity, injustice, and hypocrisy o f Western colonial domination, which pro
fessed universally recognized values such as knowledge, justice, etc., on
the one hand, and the appalling backwardness and ineptness o f O tto
man rule, which claimed the Islamic caliphate, on the other.
It is worth noting, first o f all, that Shawqi opens this section by bind
ing the idea o f the Sharicah to knowledge and learning. This is themati
cally consistent with his understanding of M uham m ad’s message, as he
has described it toward the end o f the Night Journey and Ascension pas
sage of Part 5: Sirah Themes: “You have written out the sciences for both
religion and the world,” etc. (vv. 91-92). Here in part 9, Shawqi employs
a subtle etymological manipulation to combine sharVah in the sense of
“path to water” with the image o f a (metaphorical) “sea o f knowledge”
(v. 142). His further images, too, are grounded in the classical lexical and
etymological understanding of sharVah:
SharVah signifies a place o f descent to water or a way to water, and sig n i

fies al-D in ([Islamic] religion), because it is a w ay to the m eans o f eternal
li f e .. . . The religious law o f G od; consisting o f such ordinances as those o f
fa stin g and prayer and pilgrimage and the giving the poor-rate and m ar
riage and other acts ofpiety, or o f obedience to God, or o f duty to H im , and
to m en [italics in o rig in al]68
In terms of images, Shawqi’s passage plays on this well-established etym o

logical and semantic link: depictions of the SharPah as “the way to water”—
that is life, nourishment, eternal life, salvation, etc. Thus the SharPah is
depicted as “a bounding sea bursting with all kinds of knowledge” (zajirin
bi-sunufi al-cilmi multatimi) (v. 142); “sweet water of wisdom” {salsalan min
hikmatin) (v. 144); “cool sweet water” (salsaliha al-shabimi) (v. 151); and
further, as a “light on the path by which the worlds are guided” (nuru al-
sablli yusasu al-calamuna biha) (v. 145), and again, the Islamic kingdoms
walked “in its perfect light” (Jt nuriha al-tamimi) (v. 147). The most striking
rhetorical achievement is Shawqi’s use of the lexicon of humanistic values
in his poetic formulation of the SharPah to create a total fusion of the
concepts of humanism and SharPah: “minds bursting with all kinds of
knowledge” (fajjarta al-cuqula. . . bi-sunufi al-cilmi) (v. 142) must perhaps
first be read as a response to the poet’s lament for the current state of igno
rance of the Islamic world (v. 117); “wisdom” (hikmah) (v. 144); “ knowledge,
justice, civilization” (lil-cilmi wa-al-cadli wa-al-tamdini) (150); and ulti
mately, in a term intimately associated with the Islamic call to prayer, but
also in the Ihya5 context of combating contemporary material as well as
spiritual backwardness and poverty, “prosperity” (al-faldh) (v. 152).
Two particular elements can be highlighted as specific responses to

the standard Christian and Western polemic against Islam: “tolerant”
(samha5, the adjectival form o f the more common Form VI verbal noun
tasamuh, “ [religious] tolerance”) (v. 144), in the first place evokes the
traditional epithet o f Islam as al-hanifah al-samha3 (“the true tolerant
religion,” i.e., Islam); but in the colonial context it takes on a further
urgency in countering Christian claims to the contrary, and Christian
cooption o f the term. The second is the invocation o f zaman (time or
fate), which operates poetically as a synonym for dahr, thereby invoking
the poetic convention o f fate or time controlling all things (v. 146). Here,
however, Shawqi follows the same badic-inspired model on which he
constructed verse 138, in which the convention is overturned. There
Shawqi declares that M uhammad can stop inexorable fate dead in its
tracks— that is, the divinely appointed and inspired Prophet determines
the course o f events, not blind fate. Similarly in verse 146, in Shawqi’s
Ihya3 formulation o f the course o f history, “time” or “fate” itself and its
decrees (ahkam) are subject to the decision or sentence (hukm) that the
Sharicah hands down. That is to say, Islamic dominion and governance
in accordance with the Sharicah (now understood to promote justice,
prosperity, and the promotion o f culture and science [below, part 10]),
not inexorable fate, determines the course o f events.
Conversely, we are to understand that the current state o f decline of
the Islamic world is not an act of fate, nor even something divinely pre
ordained, but rather the result o f failure to enact the Islamic principles
o f the SharTah. Shawqi meticulously constructs his verse 146 not to con
tradict divine determination o f events; the second hemistich refers to a
divine sentence (law, decree) that does not take the form of predestina
tion resulting in fatalism and passivity. As I understand Shawqi’s formu
lation, in the Sharicah, Allah has instituted or inscribed a law that is in
force or effective (nafidh, literally “piercing”— almost an antonym of
“passive”) among His creation. Therefore, like “natural law,” divine law
is inexorable (“W hat goes up must come down”; if a polity enacts and
follows the Sharicah, it w ill prosper), but it is not predestined. Verse 146
must therefore be understood as Shawqi’s Nahdah/Ihya3 response to
Western Christian claims that Islam is responsible for the fatalism and
passivity, the mentality of blind imitation (taqlid), and the resultant stag
nation (jum ud) that characterize the Islamic world of his day. For Shawqi,
Islam— particularly the SharTah as the embodiment or enactment of
Islam in the world— is not the problem, but the solution.
In keeping with Shawqi’s political vision, the elements o f dominion
and conquest are included here (vv. 147,149, and 151). W hat is of note,
however, is that, in contrast to the brutality, materialism, and hypocrisy
o f Western imperialism, Islamic dominion is presented as the vehicle for
the promotion o f justice, prosperity, and civilization. (In fairness, I can
think o f no empire in history that claimed to be spreading oppression,
poverty, and ignorance, though many did, and are.) In Shawqi’s formula
tion, the Islamic worldly conquest was “for the sake o f knowledge, jus
tice, and civilization” (v. 149-150). Ironically, the concept of “civilization”
(1al-tamdin) is itself a derivation from the West. Hourani writes, concern
ing the seminal Reformist thought o f al-Afghani:
A t th is poin t w e becom e aw are o f a n ovelty in a l-A fg h a n i’s th o u gh t, or at

least a new em phasis. The centre o f attention is no longer Islam as a reli
gion, it is rather Islam as a civ iliza tio n . The aim o f m an ’s acts is not the
service o f G o d alone; it is the creation o f h um an civ iliza tio n flo u rish in g
in all its parts. The idea o f civ iliza tio n is indeed one o f the sem in al ideas
o f n in eteen th -cen tu ry Europe, and it is th ro u gh a l-A fg h a n i above all that
it reaches the Islam ic w orld. It w as given its classical expression by G u izo t,
in his lectures on the h isto ry o f civ iliza tio n in Europe, and a l-A fg h a n i
h ad been im pressed by h im . The b o o k w as translated into A ra b ic in 1877,
and al-A fg h an i inspired 'A b d u h to w rite an article w elcom in g the tran sla
tion and e x p o u n d in g the d o ctrin e o f the b o o k .69
It is of note, too, that the builders of the Islamic empire(s), what we

would normally term “conquerors” or “rulers,” are termed muslihun (v.
149), which conveys the meaning o f “reformers,” “restorers,” “those who
bring peace and prosperity.” In Shawqi’s vision of Islamic dominion,
might and justice are inseparable. Here, too, we can see Shawqi’s formu
lation as derivative of the ideas of al-Afghani as they had penetrated
Egyptian intellectual thought of his time. Hourani writes o f al-Afghani’s
formulation o f Islamic civilization;
In its great days, the umma had all the necessary attributes o f a flourishing
civilization: social developm ent, individual developm ent, b elief in reason,
u n ity and solidarity; later it lost them . B eing o f fiery and p olitical tem
p eram ent, he tended to see both the greatness and the declin e in p olitical
and m ilita ry term s, but in reality the m ilitary successes o f early Islam
w ere for h im o n ly a sym b o l o f the flow ering o f Islam ic civiliza tio n . W h a t

h ad on ce been ach ieved co u ld be ach ieved again: on the one han d by ac
ce p tin g those fru its o f reason, the sciences o f m o d ern Europe, but also,
and m ore fu n d am en tally, by restorin g the u n ity o f the um m a.70
As I see it, in ShawqI’s case at least, particularly within the context of the
British military occupation o f Egypt, the political and military successes
o f early Islam were not merely symbolic o f the flowering o f Islamic civi
lization, but part and parcel o f it, just as any recuperation of Islamic
civilization would require a political and/or military solution to the Brit
ish occupation and Western domination in general.
In historical terms, then, Shawqi sees the Sharlcah, the earthly em
bodiment or enactment o f Islam, as both the means and the ends for the
rise o f Arab-Islamic civilization, through which the sheep- and camel-
herders of the desert learned how to “herd Caesars” and rule over a just
and prosperous realm (v. 148). Al-Bishri spells this out for us in his com
mentary on verse 148:
This verse and the one before it serve as p ro o f for the p reced in g verses
about the u n iv ersa lity o f the Islam ic S h arP ah and its revealin g the m eans
for success an d p ro sp erity [al-fawz wa-al-falah] for all m a n k in d in every
age and in every circu m stan ce. For the first o f m a n k in d to receive it w ere
th e A ra b s, w h o w ere at that tim e a p eople o f the barren desert,71 m ired in
u tter ign oran ce, and abased by g rin d in g poverty. T hey had becom e so
fa m ilia r w ith the m eans o f death and d estru ctio n and co m m ittin g ou t
rages again st one an oth er that there w as no one left am on g them w h o was
not seek in g ven gean ce or sought for it— so m uch so that i f it w ere not for
th eir p ayin g the bloo d -w ite, there w o u ld not have been a m an left stan d
in g in the A ra b P eninsula. Such w as their state w hen A lla h the M ost H igh
sent them the S h arP ah o f Islam : then the co rru p t am on g them becam e
virtu o u s, the p o o r b ecam e rich, the ign oran t becam e learned, their few
b ecam e m any, th eir h um bled b ecam e m ighty. So, w hen A lla h granted
them victo ry, subjected the nations o f the earth to them , and put the reins
o f k in gd o m s in th eir han ds, th ey ad m in istered their dom ain s so u n d ly on
the basis o f religion , treated th eir subjects w ell in acco rd an ce w ith the
S h a ricah, and led them to the utm ost felicity and p rosperity.— N o t to
m ention the b rillia n t civ iliza tio n th ey ach ieved in th eir rule over al-A n-
dalus, the flo u rish in g o f the sciences and arts in their age, and the in d u s
tries th ey prom oted for the people, etc., all o f w h ich the people o f the W est
to o k from them and m ade the basis o f th eir civ iliza tio n w ith w h ich they
try to subdue an d co n fo u n d us [yucajizunana\ today. (W N v. 148)
AHMAD S H A W Q I A N D T H E R E W E A V I N G OF T H E M A N T L E 215
O f note are al-Bishri’s subtle rhetorical employ o f evocative Islamic diction

in support of his Ihya5anticolonial manifesto. In Q u r5anic usage, the word
fawz (success, triumph, victory) is invariably, in the formulae al-fawz al-
cazim (the great triumph; QK 4:13, etc.), al-fawz al-mubin (the clear victory;
QK 6:16, etc.), al-fawz al-kabir (the big success, QK 85:11), an expression of
salvation and felicity in the heavenly garden. The word falah denotes sim
ply prosperity or success, but through its use in the call to prayer (hayya
cala al-salah, hayya cala al-falah / Come to prayer, Come to salvation) has
also come to connote salvation. In the Ihya5-determined context of al-
Bishrfs commentary, these words are redirected (or directed back) to their
ordinary denotations to express the worldly success and prosperity, i.e.,
dominion and civilization, that the application of the SharTah has con
ferred upon the Arabs. Likewise he effectively employs the Form III verb
cajaza (to attempt to confound or debilitate) for Western attempts to sub
due the Muslim world, as opposed to the Form IV verb Wjaza (to con
found, debilitate), which in Islamic parlance is used for the confounding
or debilitating effect of the Q ur5an on those who would dare to imitate it
(the doctrinal principle of the inimitability of the Q ur5an, Tjaz al-Qur5an).
Al-Bishri is well aware of the irony of the West’s borrowings, especially in
science and technology, from Arab-Islamic civilization now being turned
against their source, but his subtle juxtaposition of the attemptive Form III
cajaza for the West as opposed to the causative/effective Form IV ifd z of
the Q ur5an/Islam leaves no doubt in our minds that he has put his faith in
the ultimate victory of Islam.
Needless to say, Shawqi is presenting an idealized vision o f Islamic
history, one that derives from the Islamic Reformist and Arab Nahdah
identification of Islamic civilization with Western humanistic ideals.
Verse 153 states with compelling eloquence the permanence of justice as
opposed to the fragility of tyranny— a hopeful message to an oppressed
people. Finally, part 9 concludes by declaring that those who conquered
in the name of Islam and ruled in accordance with the SharLah “achieved
felicity in both abodes” (nalu al-sacadata f i al-darayni, v. 154). Again, we
can understand this as an expression o f Ihya5 or Nahdah ideas that re
jected the backwardness and fatalism that aimed at felicity solely in the
next world while settling for political, moral, and physical degradation
in this one. At the same time, this celebration of a past Islamic dominion
characterized by “ knowledge, justice, and civilization” serves as a “silent
i
I
216 • THE MA N T L E ODES
h ijtf” or implied invective against the failed Islamic polities o f Shawqi’s

own day— his own Khedive and his despotic Ottoman sovereign.
In sum, we must understand Shawqi’s attempt to identify Islam with
justice and knowledge as his response to the colonial period’s character
ization o f Islam, or Islamic societies, as despotic and backward. In this
regard, it is o f note that Shawqi makes no attempt to defend the Islam of
his own day, and its rulers, from these charges, but feels compelled to
return to an idealized image o f a Golden Age. Above all, in Shawqi’s
formulation, justice, knowledge, and civilization are not presented as
borrowings from Western humanist thought; rather he has construed
them through a process o f rhetorical fusion as essential, historically
grounded, Islamic values. This he seeks to demonstrate in part 10.
PART 10: T H E G L O R Y OF B A G H D A D ( w . 155-164)
155. Forget the glo ries o f R om e an d A th en s,

For all th e sapphires are in B aghdad, and all the pearls.
156. Let C h o sro e s an d th e A rc h in w h ich he to o k such pride

G o up in sm oke on the ashes o f the Z o ro a stria n fires!
157. D o n ’t sp eak o f R am ses, for the true sign o f d o m in io n

Is in stitu tin g ju stice, not erectin g p yram id s.
158. W h e n e ve r B agh d ad , th e H ouse o f Peace, is m entioned,

R om e, the H ouse o f Laws, th row s up her han ds in surrender.
159. R om e co u ld not equal B agh d ad in eloquence at co u n cil,

N o r co u ld she m atch h er adju dication o f disputes.
160. A n d the ra n k s o f her C aesars never con tain ed

A R ashid, o r a M a ’ m u n , or a M u 'ta sim ,
161. O f those w h o, w h en th eir battalio n s w ent forth to conquer,

Im p osed th eir w ill upon the borders and the b o u n d aries o f the earth.
162. T h ey held co u n cils d evoted to science and know ledge;

T heir in tellect and u n d erstan d in g no m an approached.
163. The sch olars, w h en th ey addressed a session, bow ed th eir heads

In awe o f know led ge, not in awe o f sovereign power.
164. T hey p ou red forth so p rofuse a rain o f b o u n ty

That th e lan d k n e w no drou gh t; its people k n e w no w ant.
[ 72 ]
In part 10, Shawqi takes the battle to the enemy to address the West and/
or its supporters. He moves the celebration o f justice and knowledge
from the generalized depiction o f Islamic civilization o f Part 9: The
SharPah to a more explicit celebration of what he sees as the pinnacle of
Islamic civilization (dominion, justice, learning) in the early “Abbasid
Caliphate at Baghdad. In this respect we should keep in mind that the
Nahdah and Ihya3movement for the recuperation o f the Islamic Ummah
did not take the period o f the Prophet and his Companions as their
model, but rather, in keeping with their need to respond to current West
ern humanistic ideas o f civilization, they turned to the periods o f great
est “worldly” achievement, in terms o f dominion, learning, and scientific
and literary production. For this they chose the cAbbasid and Andalu
sian periods.72The poet perfunctorily dismisses the boasts o f the West—
Rome and Athens— and also the Persian Chosroes and his Arch at Cte-
siphon, and even Ramses and the Pyramids of Ancient Egypt. Baghdad
outshone them all in the two principles Shawqi most esteems: justice and
the promotion o f science and knowledge. Am ong the cAbbasid caliphs
he singles out three for special mention: Harun al-Rashid (r. 170/786-
193/809), whose name, perhaps more in the popular imagination o f the
Thousand and One Nights than in the historical record, is associated with
the Golden Age of Islamic glory and justice;73 al-M a5mun (r. 198/813-
218/833), who is renowned for the scientific and cultural accomplish
ments o f his rule, notably the establishment of the Bayt al-Hikmah
(House of Wisdom) academy for science, especially the translation of
Hellenistic philosophical and scientific works from Greek into Arabic,
and the theological debates at his court;74 and al-Muctasim (r. 218/833-
227/842), whose name suits the rhyme, but also, through whose military
conquests, such as that over the Byzantine Christian city o f Amorium,
or more precisely their poetic celebrations by panegyrists such as Abu
Tammam, became proverbial of Arab-Islamic dominion (see above). In
brief: Harun al-Rashid, especially in his folkloric persona, exemplifies
justice; al-MaTnun, the promotion of science; and al-Muctasim, military
conquest, particularly against a Christian aggressor. The three together
thus epitomize Shawqi’s Ihya’-based conception o f ideal Islamic rule.
The three-verse passage 161-163 encapsulates Shawqfs vision of the
early cAbbasid period as a model Islamic polity: it begins with military
conquest and the expansion of Islamic dominion (v. 161), but joins this
2x8 T H E M A N T L E ODES
immediately to the holding o f scientific councils and the expansion of

knowledge (v. 162). Perhaps the most compelling expression o f Shawqi’s
vision o f an Islamic Enlightenment is verse 163, describing scholars bow
ing their heads as they addressed the caliphs’ sessions: “In awe of knowl
edge, not in awe o f sovereign power.” The last two o f these verses are
striking for the sheer intensity o f IhyaMnspired diction of science and
learning: science, knowledge, intellect, understanding, scholars, knowl
edge (cilm, macrifah, caql,fuhum, culama:>
, al-cilm) (vv. 162-163).
The concluding verse (164) works at several levels to encapsulate the
virtue o f “Abbasid rule: in the more immediate sense, the “pouring forth
o f profuse rain” means the lavish gifts and prizes that the cAbbasid ca
liphs bestowed on the scholars and men of letters who adorned their
courts and attended their sessions. The meaning quickly expands, how
ever, to refer more broadly and archetypally to the fertility and prosper
ity, both literal and figurative, o f their realms. At this point we should
notice that Part 9: The SharTah and Part 10: The Glory o f Baghdad both
follow the same three-step conceptual trajectory: the Islamic conquest
o f vast domains; the institution o f an Islamic rule that promotes justice,
science, and civilization; and, as a result, an Islamic polity that prospers
both materially and spiritually.
We must keep in mind, however, that Shawqi’s presentation of the
early cAbbasid caliphate is idealized, or at least extremely selective, and
does not reflect the political, military, and religious turmoil of the period
in question: Harun al-Rashid’s massacre o f the Barmakid vizierial fam
ily and the roots o f the disintegration o f the empire under his rule; the
civil war between his sons al-Am in and al-Ma3mun; the perennial Is
lamic controversy over the M uctazilite doctrines, with the accompany
ing M ihnah (inquisition) introduced by al-Ma3mun and pursued by al-
M uctasim; as well as the many m ilitary uprisings o f the period, to give
but a few examples. That is, Part 10: The Glory of Baghdad falls under
the rubric o f panegyric, not history, and like all Arab-Islamic panegyric
presents a “legitimizing vision” (Tarif Khalidi’s term) o f its subject. It is
worth noting that the original vision of an cAbbasid Golden Age is the
creation o f the great cAbbasid court panegyrists.75 What is striking in
Nahj al-Burdah is that the subject o f the panegyric o f part 10 is not the
dedicatee o f the poem, Shawqi’s patron the Khedive cAbbas Hilmi II, but
a long-gone Golden Age.
Taken together, Part 9: The SharTah and Part 10: The Glory of Baghdad,
one more conceptual, the other more historically embodied, constitute
Shawqi’s vision o f an alternative empire or imperialism, one that com
bines the enlightened humanist values professed but not enacted by the
West with the Islamic legitimacy and divine sanction currently claimed
by the backward, debilitated and debilitating, Ottomans. That is, within
the contemporary political context, Shawqi on the one hand challenges
the hypocrisy of the West/British by establishing a historical (Islamic)
precedent for the political enactment and realization o f the values to
which they merely give lip service. W ith respect to the Ottomans,
Shawqi’s reaching to the distant Islamic past for a vision o f legitimate
and enlightened rule constitutes an unstated challenge to— or denial
of— their legitimacy. Certainly as official panegyrist to the Khedival
court, Shawqi would have been expected to portray the Islamic legiti
macy and effectiveness o f his patron’s rule, and his allegiance to it,
through an idealized, indeed adulatory, vision o f his realm. His silence
in this respect is an eloquent condemnation. We are reminded in this
respect of al-Buhturi’s renowned Siniyyah describing the Arch of Cho-
sroes, a similar case in which, I argue, the poet’s silence concerning his
contemporary cAbbasid masters and rhapsodic praise o f the lost Persian
past can only be read as a complaint against or condemnation o f his
erstwhile cAbbasid patrons.76
P A RT 11: T H E O R T H O D O X C A L I P H S ( VV. 165-176)
165. G o d ’s C a lip h s are too great to be m easured against others,

So d o n ’t com p are them w ith m ere w o rld ly kings.
166. For w h o am on g m a n k in d resem bles al-Faruq* [*=cU m ar ibn

al-K hattab]
In ju stice, or hum ble, m odest Ibn cA b d a l-'A ziz?* [*=cU m ar II]
167. O r the Im am cA lI w hen he scattered a crow d

W ith tears that gathered in the corners o f his m en ’s eyes?
168. cA li, abun dant sweet w ater in science and letters,

V icto rio u s and vig o ro u s in w ar and peace.
169. O r cU th m an ibn ‘A ffa n , in his hand the Q u r 'a n

O v e r w h ich he bends, y ea rn in g like a m other over her new -w eaned
babe,
170. G a th e rin g its verses in order, and a rra n g in g them

In a strin g o f pearls, never to be scattered, on the n eck o f the nights.
171. T w o w o u n d s in the heart* o f Islam have never healed: [*lit. “ live r”]
The w o u n d o f the m a rtyre d 'U th m a n and the w o u n d that bloo d ied
the H oly B ook.
172. The v a lo r o f A b u B a k r can never be doubted

A fte r h is glo riou s ach ievem ents in deeds and services.
173. W ith resolve and d eterm in ation he p rotected R eligion

From trials that tested the p atien ce o f m ature, forb earin g m en.
174. T rials that led astray even the righ t-gu id ed cU m ar al-F aruq
C o n c e rn in g death, w h ich is certain and not subject to doubt.
175. 'U m a r con ten ded w ith the people, d ra w in g his In dian blade,
C o n c e rn in g the greatest o f prophets, h ow co u ld he not live forever?
176. D o n ’t blam e h im for bein g bew ildered:

The beloved P rop het had died, and an ardent lover, despite h im self,
erred.
[73]
Verse 165, on the superiority o f G od ’s caliphs to ordinary rulers, serves

as a transition from the 'Abbasid caliphs o f Baghdad in the preceding
part 10 to the Orthodox Caliphs (al-Khulafa3al-Rashidun), i.e., the first
four caliphs to succeed the Prophet M uhammad in leading the Islamic
state, in part 11. These are, in chronological order: Abu Bakr (r. 11-
13/632-634); 'U m ar ibn al-Khattab (r. 13-23/634-644); 'U thm an ibn
'Affan (r. 23-35/644-656); and 'A ll ibn Abi Talib (r. 35-39 or 40/656-659
or 660). The invocation o f the Orthodox Caliphs serves to complement
the praise o f the 'Abbasids o f the preceding section. For although the
'Abbasid and also Andalusian periods are celebrated as the pinnacles
o f Islamic civilization and its attendant accomplishments in arts, sci
ences, and governance, etc., the Sunni Islamic construction o f history
norm ally gives precedence to the Orthodox Caliphs in terms o f close
ness— physical, moral, and spiritual— to the Prophet and o f establish
ing the foundations o f the Islamic polity. Further, inasmuch as the rec
ognition o f all four Orthodox Caliphs is Sunni as opposed to Shi'i
doctrine (the Shi'ah consider the Prophet’s cousin and son-in-law 'All
ibn Abi Talib the rightful successor to the Prophet and hence reject the
first three Orthodox Caliphs), part 11 serves as the poet’s Sunni credo
and pledge o f allegiance, in keeping with the staunch Sunnism o f the
Ottoman Empire.
At this point we should note that the Ottoman sultans had long
entertained claims to the title o f caliph, which was explicitly proclaimed
by Sultan cAbd al-Hamid II. Although as suzerain o f Shawqi’s patron,
Khedive cAbbas Hilmi II, Sultan cAbd al-Hamid II had been the recipient
of the poet’s panegyric, by the time of the composition of Nahj al-Burdah
he had just been deposed by the Young Turks (1909) and replaced with
Sultan Muhammad V. Shawqi, while praising the Arab Orthodox and
cAbbasid caliphs, is as remarkably mute on the subject o f the contempo
rary Ottoman title-holders as he is on his patron the Khedive.
Shawqi does not present the Orthodox Caliphs in a historical, chron
ological, or narrative form. Rather he presents rhetorical epitomes of
their significance to Islamic history that, in the end, move chronologi
cally backward to conclude with their response to the death o f the
Prophet. In verse 166, employing a rhetorical form of riddle with the pun
word omitted, he invokes the two celebrated caliphs named cUmar with
out mentioning their shared name: “al-Faruq” (traditionally taken to
mean “he who distinguishes between truth and falsehood”) is the epithet
o f the second Orthodox Caliph, the stern and uncompromising cUmar
[I] ibn al-Khattab, “a driving force behind the early conquests and the
creation of the early Islamic empire.”77 “Ibn cAbd al-cA ziz” is cUmar I’s
Umayyad namesake, the proverbially pious cUmar [II] ibn cAbd al-cA ziz
(r. 99-101/717-720), traditionally considered the saving grace o f the
otherwise worldly and self-indulgent Umayyad “kings.”78 Verse 167 in
troduces the Prophet’s cousin and son-in-law, the fourth caliph, cAli ibn
Abi Talib, through a complex word-play involving a pun on fadda (mean
ing both to shed tears and to disperse a crowd) and jinas (root-play) of
muzdaham (crowded, gathered, crowded place) and muzdahim (crowd
ing, gathering). Al-Bishri’s commentary is silent concerning the occa
sion to which this refers. It is related however, that when battles against
“erring” Muslims ended, cAli “showed his grief, wept for the dead, and
even prayed over his enemies.”79 Further, as verse 168 relates, he was
renowned for his eloquence, his learning, and his bravery in battle, the
last evidenced by his epithet Haydar, “ lion.”80
Verses 169-171 encapsulate the identity o f the third Orthodox Caliph,

cUthman ibn cAffan (r. 23-35/644-656), who is credited with ordering the
first recension of the Q ur5anic text. It is said that his murder, which set off
Islam’s First Civil War (al-Fitnah al-Ula), took place while he was reading
the Q ur5an, so that his blood spilled on the Holy Book.81In Nahj al-Burdah,
these events are not narrated, but rhetorically encapsulated. In verse 170,
using diction and similes more often applied to poetry, Shawqi describes
the now-ordered verses of the Q ur3an as forming a necklace on the neck
o f the nights (i.e., of time or fate), which is to say, an eternal order, never to
be broken. Similarly, in a complex rhetorical interplay o f figurative and
literal wounds, Shawqi expresses not merely the “facts” of cUthman’s mur
der but also its profoundly disturbing effect on the Islamic community. The
image of spilled blood defiling the Q ur5an, here grammatically inverted
for rhetorical emphasis, as al-Bishri notes (W N v. 171; literally, “a wound
bloodied by the Book,” jurhun bi-al-kitabi dami), serves metonymically to
express an outrage against Islam itself.
The closing verses (172-176) o f part 11 open with the first caliph, who
had also been during the Prophet’s lifetime his closest friend and staunch
est ally and defender, Abu Bakr (r. 11-13/632-634; cf. The Miracle of the
Cave, NB Part 5: Sirah Themes, vv. 94-99), before returning to the second
caliph, cUmar ibn al-Khattab. Verse 173 may refer primarily to the major
accomplishment of Abu Bakr’s caliphate, that is, his preserving the Islamic
community through his dealing with the Hurub al-Riddah (Wars of Apos
tasy) against tribes that withdrew their allegiance to the nascent Islamic
state and religion when the Prophet died.82 However, the following verse
(174) connects these “trials” to the crucial moment of Islamic religion and
history. The death o f the Prophet in the year 11/632 triggered a profound
spiritual and political crisis in his community. Al-Bishri relates from the
Sirah of the Prophet that cUmar ibn al-Khattab, when he heard people say
that the Prophet had died, took up his sword and threatened to cut off their
hands and feet. It was Abu Bakr who then arose and famously declared:
“Let him who worships Muhammad know that he is dead; let him who
worships Allah know that He lives forever.” (W N v. 175).83
It is revealing to compare Ibn Hisham’s Al-Sirah narration with
Shawqi’s poetic presentation. In Al-Sirah, cUmar’s disbelief expresses the
incredulity o f a religious community that, up until that moment, was
defined by its Prophet’s guiding presence among them. The violence of
cUmar’s response is an expression o f his passion and devotion. However,

in doctrinal, as well as narrative, terms it serves as a dramatic foil for
Abu Bakr, the closest and most loyal of M uham m ad’s followers, to make
the pronouncement that defines the Islamic faith— and that ultimately
distinguishes it from Christianity— that the Prophet Muhammad is a
mortal and that Allah alone is immortal and divine. In Shawqfs passage
the dramatic tension o f the scene and the lapidary eloquence o f Abu
Bakr’s formulation are replaced by a subdued and sympathetic explana
tion of, or excuse for, cUmar’s error. The word-play in verse 174— con
cerning right guidance and error, certainty and ambiguity— sets the
stage for the confusion and error o f al-rashid al-Faruq (the rightly-
guided one who distinguishes between truth and falsehood), and the
closing verse, 176, then offers a plea for forgiveness for him, on the grounds
that his fervent love for the Prophet was what led him to err.
Curiously, Part 11: The Orthodox Caliphs opens with the exaltation of
the caliphs (v. 165) but, unlike Part 10: The Glory of Baghdad, does not
present an idealized vision of the justice and prosperity of their age. In
stead, the blasphemous murder of the third caliph, cUthman, is mourned
as a wound to Islam that will never heal (v. 171), and, moreover, the final
lines about cUmar’s response to the Prophet’s death close the section on a
melancholy note of ardent love, bewilderment, and error— and a plea for
forgiveness, “Don’t blame him” (vv. 174-176). We can now begin to under
stand the reason for this curious emotional trajectory. The poet asks for
giveness for cUmar for the greatest of all Islamic sins, shirk (polytheism,
assigning partners to Allah, which is how Muslims understand the Chris
tian belief in the divinity of Jesus, and how they would understand a claim
for the immortality of Muhammad); he pleads for this forgiveness on the
grounds that the source of this error was ardent love for the Prophet.
In the context of the Nahdah and the Islamic Reformist ideology of his
period, Shawqi’s description of <Umar’s mistake is identical to that of the
devout Muslims of the Post-Classical “Age of Decline” (cAsr al-Inhtat) and
of the popular Islam o f his own day, who were excessive in their veneration
of the Prophet: they are ardent lovers of the Prophet who have nevertheless,
out of bewilderment, erred. As the poet pleads for forgiveness for cUmar,
it is really the excesses of the Post-Classical veneration of the Prophet that
he has in mind. For certainly if the pious and noble rightly guided {al-
rashid) al-Faruq, “ he who distinguishes between truth and falsehood,”
224 T HE M A N T L E ODES
(v. 174) can fall into error, how much more can an ordinary believer? Shawqi J
is commenting on the Modernists’ criticism of the medieval and popular
tradition o f madih nabawi, o f which al-Busiri’s Burdah is the preeminent
example, as entailing an excessive veneration of the Prophet Muhammad
that is dangerously close to shirk and intimately bound up with the sort of
khurafat (popular superstitions) evidenced in the khascfis (Burdah-based
philters and amulets) we saw in al-Bajurl’s Hashiyah (chapter 2).84 At this
point we must reconsider ShawqI’s claim (part 6, w.103-104) that he is not
competing with al-Busiri’s Burdah, but merely emulating it. Clearly Shawqi
has coopted the Burdah, with its associations with what were in the Islamic
Reformists’ eyes the fatalism, superstition, and backwardness of popular
piety, in an attempt to redirect it toward a Reformist formulation of Islamic
humanism. In this light, we are prepared for the moving and eloquent plea
for the recuperation o f Islamic dignity and dominion that seals Nahj al-
Burdah.
P A R T 1 2: B E N E D I C T I O N A N D S U P P L I C A T I O N ( w . I77-I9 0 ) ,
177. O L ord, Y o u r blessin g and peace for as long as Y ou desire i

U p o n h im w h o dw ells at Y o u r thron e, the best o f all M essengers. ,
178. W h o kept prayer alive th ro u gh the night,

U n in terru p ted except b y tears o f apprehension flo w in g dow n,
179. G lo rify in g Y ou ben eath the w in g o f night,

E n d u rin g sleeplessness and the p ain o f sw ollen feet.
180. H is soul content, w ith no co m p lain t o f w eariness,

For i f y o u r love is tru e, it never grow s w eary. J
181. A n d bless, m y L ord, his fam ily, the elect, am on g w hom

Y ou set M u h a m m ad , the ban n er o f the H ouse o f the K acbah and o f
M ecca ’s Sacred P recin ct,
182. T heir faces w h ite w h en fate’s face is pitch-black;

T heir heads a lo o f from hot-headed fo rtu n e ’s blows.
183. B estow y o u r best blessin g on those four o f the P rop h et’s C om p a n io n s

W h o se frien d sh ip w as a bo n d inviolate,
184. W h o rode forth w h en the P rophet su m m o n ed them

To d rea d fu l exploits and fearsom e deeds,
185. W h o stood fast w h en the v e ry earth w as sh akin g;

W h o laugh ed as th ey plunged, reckless, into perils.
186. O L ord, peoples before have risen from death,

A n d nations have aw akened from the slu m b er o f p rivation.
187. G o o d - and ill-fo rtu n e and d o m in io n , Y ou are th eir m aster!

Y o u r decree confers b o th blessings and chastisem ents.
188. In its w isd o m Y ou r d iv in e decree has passed its ju d g m en t on us.

H ow noble is y o u r co u n ten an ce as ju d ge and as avenger!
189. So, for the sake o f the M essenger o f the w orlds, be gracio u s un to us;
D o not deepen the h u m ilia tio n o f his p eople and th eir disgrace.
190. O Lord, in h im you gave the M u slim s a go o d b e g in n in g ,

N o w com plete y o u r grace and gran t them a g o o d end.
[74]
In the final part of Nahj al-Burdah Shawqi returns to and completes the
ritual and poetic requirements specific to madih nabawi, especially as they
have been established in the paradigm for the genre and the base-text for
his poem, al-Busiri’s Burdah. At the same time, o f course, he is fulfilling
the broader generic dictates of the classical Arabic qasidat al-madh (pan
egyric ode) of the supplicatory sort, that vast literary tradition to which he,
the major proponent of Arabic Neo-Classical poetry (Shicr al-IhyiP), and
his Nahj al-Burdah belong. The Benediction (duca:>), whereby the poet calls
on Allah to bless the mamduh, grant him long life and prosperity, etc., is a
standard feature of Arab-Islamic court panegyric. It is worth noting that
despite its explicitly religious formulation, the dtfa* functions, perhaps
above all politically, as a sort of declaration or oath of allegiance. This is
especially clear if we keep in mind the awful efficacy attributed to such
speech acts as the blessing and curse in traditional societies.
It is crucial to remember that in Arabic panegyric the Benediction
is a prayer to Allah to bless, protect, and prolong the life o f the patron to
whom the praise poem is addressed— that is, the mamduh, as well as his
progeny, etc. In court panegyric, the Supplication (stated or otherwise)
consists of the poet supplicating the patron. In madih nabawi, then, the
standard as set by and seen in al-BusIri’s Burdah is that the Supplication
consists of the poet asking the Prophet for intercession (shafacah) on
Judgment Day, and the Benediction is, in the first place, for Allah to bless
the Prophet Muhammad and, further, his family. The benediction is then
often extended to call down A llah ’s blessing upon the Companions of
the Prophet, upon the Orthodox Caliphs in Sunni madih nabawi, to the
Muslims in general, and often to the poet him self and his family. Let us
remember, too, that, as we have established in general (see chapters 1 and
2, and chapter 3, Part 3: Repentance, Submission, Supplication, vv. 39-46)
the parts that I have termed the “ritual core” o f the poem, which are
performative in nature, are characterized by rhetoric that is simple, di
rect, transparent, and highly emotively charged.
In Part 12: Benediction and Supplication, then, Shawqi achieves a
strikingly moving and effective ritual and emotional climax in what is
perhaps both the most traditional and, at the same time, most original
passage o f Nahj al-Burdah. Part 12 is clearly set off from the preceding
Part 11: The Orthodox Caliphs. Part 11 is constructed of third-person
encapsulations o f the Orthodox Caliphs and thus addressed to the
reader. The change o f tone and direction is signaled in the opening of
part 12 by the emotive and dramatic second-person address to Allah, “O
Lord” (yd Rabbi, literally “O my Lord” [v. 177]), a phrase whose repetition
in this part o f the poem (vv. 186,190) serves to build momentum toward
the final climax. This use o f apostrophe is comparable to Shawqi’s “O
A hm ad” (v. 100) to create an effective and dramatic opening to Part 6:
Metapoetic Recapitulation o f Prophetic Praise.
The Benediction (cft/d5— the term denotes as well any personal
prayer) begins with the tasliyah (God bless him [the Prophet] and give
him peace), the speech act that, as we discussed with regard to al-Busiri’s
Burdah, is an essential ritual component in traditional Islam to guaran
tee the efficacy o f a prayer (chapter 2, part 10). In verse 177, therefore,
Shawqi is explicitly following obligatory religious as well as poetic (rit
ual) practice. At the same time, the Benediction (vv. 177 to 185), which
like all benedictions and curses is a speech act, is a carefully formulated
declaration o f religious and political allegiances. Again, this is not de
scription, but the performance o f the speech act of declaring allegiance,
that is, establishing a spiritual and political bond of mutual obligation
between the poet and those upon whom he calls down A llah ’s blessing.
The poet’s allegiances are hierarchically ranked and exclusive.
Allah, as the source of all the blessings for which the poet pleads, is
first. At the head o f the list to be blessed comes, of course, the Prophet
A H M A D S H A W Q j A N D T H E R E W E A V I N G OF T H E M A N T L E • 227
Muhammad, the prophet nearest to G od ’s throne and the best o f G od ’s

Messengers (v. 177). Muhammad is invoked here, not for his miracles or
message or military prowess, as in earlier parts of Nahj al-Burdah, but
as the exemplar o f pious devotion stemming from his sincere love for
God. Al-Busiri’s image and diction o f the Prophet’s praying through the
night until his feet became swollen (BB v. 29) is quite explicitly echoed
in verses 178-179: ahya/muhyi (revive, keep alive); durr (harm, pain),
waram (swelling). W ith verses 181-182 Shawqi adds the Prophet’s family
(Al al-Bayt), conveying their nobility and superiority with precisely the
diction and image we found in Kacb ibn Zuhayr’s (chapter 1) description
o f the Emigrants (Muhajirun) toward the end o f Sucad Has Departed
(vv. 51-52): “ haughty, high-nosed” (shumm) and “white” {bid), that is,
noble. The next three verses (183-185) confirm or establish Shawqi’s Sunni
allegiance with the plea for G od’s blessing on the four Orthodox Caliphs.
Here, too, verses 183-184 remind us o f Kacb ’s Su'ad Has Departed verses
54-55 in their description of the reckless heroism of those fighting in the
way of God. Once more, it is noteworthy in the context o f Shawqi’s prose
dedication o f Nahj al-Burdah to the Khedive cAbbas Hilmi II that there
is no mention in this “pledge o f allegiance” section o f the poet’s worldly
patron or his Ottoman overlords.
The ritual and poetic climax o f the poem comes at the end, verses
186-190, which fall under the heading of Supplication. What is extraordi
nary in Nahj al-Burdah is that it does not end with the Benediction—
neither for the Prophet, nor the Muslims altogether, nor the poet and his
family. Nor is the Supplication what we have come to expect in madih
nabawi. In al-Busiri’s Part 10: Fervent Prayer and Petition (BB vv. 152-160)
the first three verses are Supplication to the Prophet for intercession on
Judgment Day (BB vv. 152-154), followed by a plea to God for forgiveness
and mercy on Judgment Day, and His grace in both abodes (BB vv. 156-158).
Al-Busiri closes his Burdah with an exquisitely lyrical nasib-derived Bene
diction (vv. 159-160), appealing for G od’s blessing upon the Prophet,
For as long as the eastern breeze stirs the bough s o f the ben-tree
A n d the cam el-d river stirs his light-hued beasts w ith song. (BB v. 160)
Shawqi, by contrast, does not provide a final lyrical resolution or emo

tional release; rather he maintains, indeed intensifies, the highly charged
emotive urgency right through to the end. By reiterating in verse 186 and
228 T HE M A N T L E ODES
again in verse 190 the “O Lord” o f verse 177, he builds his poem toward
its conceptual and emotional climax. Here he gathers the Ihya5 threads
that run throughout Nahj al-Burdah to seal the poem with an eloquent
and moving plea for the revival o f the Islamic Ummah. The diction of
this section achieves through its eloquence and transparency a direct
and forceful expression o f the Ihya5 or Nahdah call for cultural revival
and awakening. Thus verse 186, with its “peoples before have risen from
death” (habbat shucubun min maniyyatiha) and “nations have awakened
from the slumber o f privation” or o f “nonexistence.” (wa-istayqazat
5umamun min raqdati al-cadami), echoes the key formulations o f part 4
verse 74 (“bring dead aspirations back to life”) and part 6 verses 116-117
(“revive whole generations o f decaying bones,” “raise mankind from ig
norance or from the grave”) o f the spiritual and cultural revival and
renewal o f the Islamic world. Whereas in parts 4 and 6 the plea for re
vival is addressed to the Prophet, in the closing passage the plea is ad
dressed directly to Allah (vv. 186-190). Verse 186 is a plea by indirection:
other peoples have arisen from [cultural] death, so why not we?
There follows in verses 187-188 a careful formulation o f divine power
with respect to the rise and fall o f nations. In terms o f the panegyric
component o f the supplicatory ritual, these two verses recognize A llah ’s
power and authority and the concomitant submission of the Islamic
Ummah, and the poet, to it. Verse 187 invokes A llah ’s mastery of the fate
o f nations through distinctly Q u r5anic diction and locutions. Thus: “a
dominion” of which “You a re . . . master” (mulkun 5anta malikuhu) evokes
the Q u r5anic verse: “Say: ‘O God! Master o f Dominion. You confer do
minion on whomever You will and you strip dominion from whomever
you w ill.. . . ’” (quli Allahumma malika al-mulki tu^ti al-mulka man
tashaû wa-tanzicu al-mulka mimman tashaû.. . . [QK 3:26]). Likewise
the verb tudilu (Form IV = to confer [ascendency]) evokes the Form III
verb of the same root, dawala (to make alternate between) in the Q ur5anic:
“. . , those days [of good- and ill-fortune] We give to men by tu rn s..,
( . . . wa tilka al-âyyamu nudawiluha bayna al-nasi. . . . [QK 3:140]; see
W N v. 187). Through what is essentially a double entendre on the loaded
word qada\ which can mean either “ divine decree” or “ fate,” verse 188
performs an Ihya5-inspired verbal feat o f establishing A llah ’s qada5 not
as predestined fate, but as an expression o f His wisdom (hikmah) and
judgment. In brief, Shawqi makes it clear that the so-called “vicissitudes
o f fate” are not the work of “ blind fate” but o f divine decree and judg
ment. Further, by invoking A llah ’s might and justice, the poet implies
that the current degraded state o f the Islamic Ummah is a divine judg
ment for their having abandoned true Islam. Having established a divine
judgment in this world, the poet then appropriates for himself the role
o f intercessor and pleads for mercy for his community.
Perhaps the most moving verse o f Nahj al-Burdah is verse 189, the
poet’s IhyaMnspired plea, not for mercy on Judgment Day, but for the
Islamic Um m ah’s release in this world from its current state of “hum ili
ation” and “disgrace” (khasf). In the context o f Shawqi’s Egypt, that dis
grace is the combination o f the failure o f the Ottoman and Khedival
states to create an advanced, prosperous, and powerful Islamic polity
and the particular humiliation experienced by Egypt under British
(Western, Christian) occupation. In terms of the panegyric pact o f the
ritual o f supplication, we can perceive in these verses o f praise to Allah
not only the elevation of the deity but also the self-abasement o f the
worshipper. In other words, a supplicatory ritual— now addressed to
Allah rather than to the Prophet— is being performed in this brief but
extraordinarily powerful passage. A llah ’s omnipotence (vv. 187-188) and
His worshipper’s humiliation (v. 189), define the two in their respective
roles as supplicated and supplicant. The role o f Muhammad as Interces
sor is presented in inverted form, as the poet, who appropriates the role
of intercessor for the earthly judgment, beseeches Allah for Muhammad’s
sake to be gracious unto his, that is, M uham mad’s, people. The poet’s
employ o f the first person plural adds poignancy and intimacy, but also
a communal element, to this verse.
Shawqi’s prayer for the restitution of Islamic dignity and dominion
in this world reaches its climax in the closing verse. Verse 190 opens
reiterating the “O Lord” o f verses 177 and 186 to bring the poem to its
emotive peak. The structure of this verse itself, however simple it ap
pears, provides an encapsulated panegyric pact: the first hemistich is
praise: “You gave the Muslims a good beginning”; the second is the peti
tion, “now grant them a good end.”
Perhaps the most striking element of the closure (vv. 186-190) is the
manner in which Shawqi establishes a worldly judgment as the earthly
counterpart to the Last Judgment and then appropriates for himself the role
of intercessor that the Prophet will perform on Judgment Day, pleading for
G od s mercy on the community of believers. This is the culmination of the

identification or correspondence o f poetic and prophetic roles that Shawqi
introduced in Part 6: Metapoetic Recapitulation of Prophetic Praise.
The simple transparent diction o f verse 190 combines with a rhetori
cally complex but eminently lucid verbal play— the antithesis between
“ beginning” and “end” (badVmukhtatam), the root-play between “make
good or beautiful” and “goodness or beauty” (ahsanta/husn)— that pro
vides a striking example o f the type o f directness and transparency of
expression that typifies the ritual core o f supplicatory poetry. At the
same time, however, Shawqi is invoking, however lightly and elegantly,
the tradition o f the badiciyyah, that distinctive subgenre of madih nabawi
which, like Shawqi’s Nahj al-Burdah, consists o f a mucaradah imitation
o f al-Busiri’s Burdah, but with the added programmatic requirement
that each verse must exemplify a particular rhetorical (balaghah or
badic) device. In fact, Shawqi here invokes the later development o f this
subgenre, first produced by Tzz al-Din al-Mawsili (d. 789/1387), in which
each verse must, additionally, contain a pun (tawriyah) on the name of
the device being demonstrated (chapter 3, introduction). In Shawqi’s
closing verse, then, he pays homage to this Post-Classical poetic tradition
through his word-play on the rhetorical devices of husn al-ibtida5 (beau
tiful opening) and husn al-khitam (beautiful closure) are employed in
the form o f a pun (tawriyahâhsanta al-badâ, husna mukhtatami) to
provide a “beautiful beginning” and “beautiful ending” not merely for
the verse and the poem, but for the Islamic Ummah.
At first glance it seems ironic that Shawqi would seal his Ihya5Project
with a rhetorical turn so distinctive of the poetics of what was termed cAsr
al-Inhitat (the Age of Decline). However, a comparison of his closure with
that of Ibn Hijjah al-HamawI’s (d. 837/1434) closure of the badiciyyah
around which he composed his celebrated Khizanat al-Adab (Storehouse
o f Literature) has the effect of highlighting the difference between the oth
erworldly concerns of the cAsr al-Inhitat and the earthly political goals of
the Ihya5 Project o f the Nahdah. Ibn Hijjah closes his badiciyyah:
B y m y b ea u tifu l b e g in n in g [husnu ibtidaya] o f this poem , I hope to

escape [al-takhallus]
From H ellfire, and I hope for a b eau tifu l end [husna mukhtatami].*5
[75]
In it, Ibn Hijjah, following his model al-Mawsili, first puns on the names
o f three rhetorical figures: beautiful beginning or opening (husn al-
ibtida5), beautiful transition (husn al-takhallus), and beautiful closure
(husn al-khitam): thus, he at once sums up and seals the poem with an
epitome o f its poetic structure. At the same time, however, these terms
refer to the final disposition o f his immortal soul, for through this poem
of madih nabawi with its praise of the Prophet and petition for his In
tercession on Judgment Day, the poet hopes to escape (takhallus) Hellfire
and perdition and to achieve salvation— a “ beautiful end” in the heav
enly Garden. In sum, Ibn Hijjah’s closing verse encapsulates the entire
madih nabawi project of the Post-Classical Age.
Taken out o f its Nahdah-period poetic context, Shawqi’s closure
verse, with its puns on “ beautiful beginning” and “ beautiful end” reads
much like Ibn Hijjah’s:
O Lord, in h im you gave the M u slim s a go o d b e g in n in g Cahsanta

badâ),
N o w com plete yo u r grace and gran t them a goo d end (husna
m ukhtatam i).
W ithin the context of the Ihya3 Project of Nahj al-Burdah, however, we

understand that here the “good beginning” is the mission of the Prophet
Muhammad and the “good end” for which the poet pleads is not other
worldly salvation on Judgment Day, but the restoration o f Islamic m ili
tary, political, and cultural dominion in this world. This redirection of
Burdah-derived madih nabawi away from the Post-Classical concern
with otherworldly intercession and salvation toward a Neo-Classical
Nahdah-inspired call for the restitution of an Islamic Golden Age is
brilliantly and movingly achieved in Shawqi’s closing verse.
Conclusion
U M M K U L T H U M , A L - Q A R A D A W I, A N D N A H J A L - B U R D A H
The power of Shawqi’s Nahj al-Burdah has not diminished with the passage
of time, nor, conversely, have the political events of the past century made
its message obsolete. In addition to its appearance in the several editions
of Al-Shawqiyyat, its separate publication with al-Muwaylihi’s introduc

tion and al-Bishri’s commentary has never gone out of print. It has been
adapted, too, to the arts and technologies of the century since its composi
tion. Throughout the Arab-Islamic world, Shawqi’s Nahj al-Burdah is best
and most widely known through recordings of its rendition by the beloved
and immensely popular Egyptian songstress, Umm Kulthum (d. 1975).86
Composed by Riyad al-Sunbati and first performed by Umm Kulthum in
1946, its plea for the restoration of Arab-Islamic political power and dignity
coincided with the aspirations of Arab and Egyptian nationalism, through
the Nasserite era, and resonates all the more in the period o f sustained
demoralization the Arab world has suffered since the 1967 defeat. As Huda
Fakhreddine has established in her analysis o f Umm Kulthum s perfor
mance of al-Sunbati’s musical composition, the thirty verses that al-Sunbati
has selected from Shawqi’s 190-verse text belong to what I have termed the
“ritual core” o f the poem and are performed in such a way that “the anti
colonial polemic is transformed into a profound spiritual performance
through which the audience is guided.”87
A search o f the Internet reveals that Shawqi’s Nahj al-Burdah con
tinues to inform the contemporary understanding o f the anticolonial
situation o f the Arab-Islamic world. The same self-defensive stance
against Western Christian attacks that shaped both Shawqi’s poem and
al-Bishri’s commentary informs in the 2002 discussion o f the Egyptian
Islamic scholar Shaykh Yusuf al-Qaradawi on the A 1Jazeera T V channel
program, “Al-Sharicah wa-al-Hayah” (The Sharia and Life), a transcript
o f which has been translated and posted on the website of “U K Charity
Organisation, Jam’iat Ihyaa’ Minhaaj al-Sunnah (JIMAS),” as the site
says, “due to the continued and increasingly virulent attacks now being
directed against the honour and sanctity of the final messenger o f God
to mankind, Muhammad (pbuh).”88 Posted under the title: “Weapons
Used by the Other Religions to Wage War on Islam,” an excerpt reads:
Som e o f them say that Islam was spread by the sword. O u r Shaykh a l-G h a za li—
m ay A lla h have m ercy on h im — used to say, “O n the contrary, Islam was not
victoriou s by the sword, it was victorious over the sword, because the sword was
raised to it, and it countered the sword w ith the sword, for force can on ly be
defeated w ith force.” A n d Shaw qi— m ay A lla h have m ercy on h im — has a few
beautifu l lines o f p oetry in N ahj al-Burdah in w hich he says,
They said the battles, and the Messengers o f A lla h were not sent
To kill a person, nor did they com e with bloodshed,
Lies and misguidance, dreams and sophistry,
Conquests with the sword cam e after conquests with the pen.
I f you m eet evil with good, it cannot bear it,
A n d i f you m eet it with evil, it will be erased. [Italics in o rig in al].89
252 APPENDIX OF A R A B I C TEXTS
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280 NOTES TO PAGES 151-152
3. Ahmad Shawqi and the Reweaving of the Mantle

1. U nder the title “Im perialism s and Identities: A h m ad Shawqi’s N ahj al-Bur
dah,” parts o f this study, in earlier versions, were presented at the annual m eetings
o f the A m erican C om parative Literature A ssociation , A n n A rbor, M ichigan, 17
A p ril, 2004 , and the M iddle East Studies A ssociation , M ontreal, C anada, 17 N o
vem ber 2007 .
2. In the present study I have relied prim arily on the first printing o f Nahj al-Bur
dah, w ith M uham m ad al-M uw aylihi’s introduction and Shaykh Salim al-Bishri’s
com m entary: A h m ad Shawqi, Nahj al-Burdah wa-calayh Wadah al-Nahj lil-Shaykh
Salim al-Bishri (Cairo: M atba'at al-Islah, 1328/1910). There are num erous later editions
and reprints. It appears in the editions o f Shawqi’s diwan w ith standard philological
and explanatory com m entaries, but w ith no reference to the occasion or circum stanc
es o f its com position. See, e.g., A h m ad Shawqi, Al-Shawqiyyat, intro. M uham m ad
H usayn H aykal, 4 vols. in 2 (Cairo: A l-M aktabah al-Tijariyyah al-Kubra, 1970 ), 1:190 -
208 ; A h m ad Shawqi, Al-Shawqiyyat, ed. and com m ent. cA li cA b d al-M uncim cA b d al-
H am id (Cairo: A l-Sh arikah al-M isriyyah al-'A lam iyyah lil-Nashr/Longm an: 2000 ),
212 - 28 , where it falls under the rubric o f “Islam iyyat.”
3. M oun ah A . K h ou ri, Poetry and the M aking o f M odern Egypt, 55- 57 ; and,
further, 54 - 102 . For an extensive bibliography, see A rth u r G oldschm idt, Jr., Bio
graphical Dictionary o f M odern Egypt (London and Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner
Publishers, 2000 ), 193- 9 4 .
4. For a literary and historical overview o f Shawqi’s life and work, see Shawqi
D ayf, Shawqi: Shacir al-cA sr al-H adith, 11th ed. (Cairo: D ar al-M acarif, 1986 ).
5. For an overview o f the m ajor characteristics and m odernist literary disputes
co n cern in g A rabic N eo-C lassical poetry, see S. M oreh, “ The N eoclassical Qasida:
M od ern Poets and C ritics,” in G. E. von G runebaum , ed., Arabic Poetry: Theory and
Development, Third G iorgio Levi D ella V id a Biennial C onference, U niversity o f
C a lifo rn ia, Los A ngeles, 1971 (W iesbaden: O tto H arrassow itz, 1973), 155- 79 ; lik e
w ise, see S. Som ekh, “ The N eo-C lassical Poets,” in M . M . Badawi, ed., The Cam
bridge History o f M odern Arabic Literature (Cam bridge: C am bridge U niversity
Press, 1992 ), 36 - 81. R ecently several im portant studies have brought A rabic N eo-
C lassical p o etry fu lly into the p u rview o f contem porary literary th eory and inter
pretation. M ost im portant in the present context are: H ussein N. K adhim , The Po
etics o f A nti-Colonialism in the Arabic Qasidah (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2004 ), w hich
deals w ith A rabic N eo-C lassical and M odern p oetry as a response to W estern im
perialism ; Yaseen N ooran i, “A N ation Born in M ourning: The N eoclassical Funeral
E legy in E gyp t,” Journal o f Arabic Literature 28 no. 1 (M arch, 1997 ): 38- 67 ; Yaseen
N oo ran i, “ The Rebellious Subject: Political Self-Fashioning in A rabic and Persian
P oetry o f the C olo n ia l Period,” Journal o f Arabic Literature 29 no. 2 (July 1998 ):
1- 30 ; Yaseen N oorani, “The Lost G arden o f al-A ndalus: Islam ic Spain and the Poet
ic Inversion o f C olon ialism ,” International Journal o f M iddle East Studies 31 no. 2
(M ay 1999 ): 237- 54 . These three articles treat A rabic N eo-C lassical p oetry in term s
o f the form ation o f nationalism in the colonial context; the last especially is p erti
nent to the present study. See also A k ik o M otoyoshi Sum i, “ Poetry and A rch itec
ture: A D ouble Im itation in the S in iyyah o f A h m ad Shawqi,” Journal o f Arabic Lit
erature 39 no. 1 (2008 ): 72 - 122 , w hich offers a reading o f Shawqi’s N eo-C lassical
NOTES TO PAGES 152-158 281
m asterpiece in term s o f Interarts T heory as an im itation o f al-B u h tu ri’s S in iyyah ,

on the one hand, and an ekphrastic p ortrayal o f the Islam ic m onum ents o f al-A n-
dalus, on the other.
6 . G. D elanoue, “al-M arsafi, al-H usayn,” E h .
7. K h ouri, Poetry and the M aking o f M odern Egypt, 9 , 13-14-
8 . A lb ert H ourani, Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age 1798-1939 (Cam bridge:
C am brid ge U niversity Press, 1998 [O xford, 1962 ]), 344 ; and passim for a general in
tellectual backgrou nd for the period under discussion, especially on al-Tahtaw i (ch.
4 ), al-A fgh an i (ch. 5), cA b d u h and his disciples (chs. 6 and 7 ), E gyp tian nationalism
(ch. 8).
9. M ah m ud Sam i al-B arudi, K a sh f al-G hum m ah f i M adh Sayyid al-Ummah,
ed. and intro., Sacd al-Z alam ([Cairo]: M atbu 'at al-Shacb, 1978 ).
10. A l-B aru d i, K a sh f al-G hum m ah, 43 .
11. See Sacd al-Zalam , introduction to al-B arudi, K a sh f al-Ghum m ah, 32 . A n
extended discussion o f al-B aru d i’s K a sh f al-G h um m ah and its relationship to
Shawqi’s Nahj al-Burdah is beyond the p u rview o f the present study. Z a k i M ubarak
has undertaken the com parison and evaluation o f the three madaHh nabawiyyah,
al-B usiri’s Burdah, al-B aru d i’s K a sh f al-G h um m ah , and Shawqi’s N ahj al-Burdah;
see Z ak i M ubarak, Al-M uwazanah bayn al-Shtfara* (Cairo: D ar al-cA rabi lil-Tiba'ah
w a-al-N ashr, n.d.), ch. 19 (al-Busiri wa-Shawqi), 171- 80 ; and esp. ch. 20 (Bayn al-
Busiri wa-Shawqi w a-al-Barudi), 181- 95 . H is discussion does not go m uch beyond
com paring in dividual lines or passages o f the nasib, especially for the first two; but
he does have som e interesting com parative exam ples from other poets.
12. Al-Shawqiyyat, ed. H aykal, 1:34 - 41 ; and see chapter 2 .
13. For exam ple, the collection o f five badViyyat, o f Ibn H ijjah al-H am aw i,
T m ad al-D in A b u al-Fida, T zz al-D in al-M aw sili, cA 5ishah al-B a 'u n iyya h and Safi
al-D in al-H illi, respectively; in Al-BadViyyat al-Kham s ft M adh al-N abi al-M ukhtar
wa-al-Sahabah al-Kiram (Cairo: 1897). Likew ise, Ibn H ijjah ’s literary and rhetorical
com pendium organized as a com m en tary to his badViyyah was published in Egypt
in this period: Taqi al-D in A bu Bakr ibn cA li Ibn H ijjah al-H am aw i, K hizanat al-
Adab wa-Ghayat al-Arab (Cairo: A l-M atb acah al-K h ayriyyah , 1304 /1887).
14. A l-M uw aylihi, introduction to Shawqi, N ahj al-Burdah, p. ‘ ayn (= iii).
15. Shawqi, Nahj al-Burdah, frontispiece. In later editions, such as the C a iro
1994 , the frontispiece w ith the K hedival seal is gone, and the dedication is relegated
to a footnote to al-M u w aylih i’s introduction. Shawqi, Nahj al-Burdah (Cairo: Mak-
tabat al-Adab, 1994 ), 9 .
16. For a brief biography o f Salim al-Bishri and references, see G oldschm idt, Bio
graphical Dictionary o f Modern Egypt, 37- 38. It is o f note that as a student at al-A zhar
al-Bishri studied with al-Bajuri, whose com m entary on al-Busiri’s Burdah I discussed
in chapter 2. W hat is most curious is that M ubarak notes a literary controversy over
w hether it was actually Salim al-Bishri who com posed the W adah al-Najh com m en
tary or his son, Shaykh cA bd al-'A ziz al-Bishri. The latter vehem ently denies this (this
is from after Salim al-Bishri’s death). See M ubarak, Al-Muwazanah bayn al-ShiTariV,
180. M y point here is that Salim al-Bishri undoubtedly put his name to the W adah al-
Nahj and it is therefore his authority that the W adah al-Nahj invokes.
17. Al-Shawqiyyat, ed. H aykal, 1:98 - 102 . Dayf, Shawqi, 132.
18. See notes 15 above and 31 below.
282 • NOTES TO PAGES 159-168
19. This is a m ajor them e o f S. Stetkevych, The Poetics o f Islamic Legitimacy.

20. R. M . A . A llen , “al-M uw aylih i, M uh am m ad,” E h ; D ayf, Shawqi, 95- 96 .
21. M uh am m ad al-M u w aylih i, introduction to Shawqi, N ahj al-Burdah, pp.
alif-za\
22. For in-depth coverage o f these circum stances, see A fa f Lutfi A l-Sayyid,
Egypt and Cromer: A Study in Anglo-Egyptian Relations (N ew York: Praeger, 1969 ),
passim , and Peter M ansfield, The British in Egypt (N ew York: Holt, Rinehart and
W in ston , 1972 ), chs. 14 - 17.
23. H ussein N. K ad h im , in his discussion and analysis o f Shawqi’s poetic re
sponses to these tw o incidents, offers an eloquent and com p elling form ulation o f
the colon ial experience in E gypt and the A rab w orld in light o f post-colonial theory
and provides an excellent backdrop and references. See K adhim , The Poetics o f A n
ti-Colonialism , preface and ch. 1 .
24. H ou rani, Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age, 201 . See also K houri, Poetry and
the M aking o f M odern Egypt, 65 .
25. A s cited in K h ou ri, Poetry and the M aking o f M odern Egypt, 83.
26. Ibid., 65 - 75 .
27. Ibid., 88 - 98 . O ddly, K h ouri, in tracing the p olitical p oetry o f precisely this
p eriod — indeed, the very year 1910 — m akes no m ention o f Shawqi’s Nahj al-Burdah.
He w rites, su m m arizin g Shawqi’s poetic production o f the period from 1907 - 14 :
The reversal o f C rom er’s policies after his retirem ent and the co n cil
iatory attitude adopted by G orst tow ard the K hedive, w ho was able
to reassert his authority, left their m ark on Shawqi’s poetry. From the
violent attacks on C rom er in the early poem s, the poet shifted grad
u ally to the less bitter criticism reflected in the D inshaw ay poem s.
These were follow ed by a long overwhelming silence interrupted
sh ortly after the dethronem ent o f 'A bbas by an am biguous poem ,
w hich, as w ill be show n later, actu ally precipitated Shawqi’s exile to
Spain in Decem ber, 1914 . [p. 88; em phasis mine]
28. A lb ert H ourani, “ The D eclin e o f the W est in the M iddle East— I,” Interna
tional Affairs 29 (1953): 22 - 4 4 , at 29 - 31. See K adhim , The Poetics o f A n ti-C olonial
ism, vii.
29. M oreh, “ The N eoclassical Q asida”; K houri, Poetry and the M aking o f M od
ern Egypt, 135-95 passim ; M . M . Badawi, A Critical Introduction to M odern Arabic
Poetry (Cam bridge: C am b ridge U niversity Press, 1975), 6 8 -114 passim.
30. A l-G h a zzi, Al-Zubdah f i Sharh al-Burdah, 6 and passim.
31. I have relied on the text o f the first p rinting (1910) o f Nahj al-Burdah w ith
M uh am m ad al-M u w aylih i’s introduction and Shaykh Salim al-Bishri’s com m en
tary: Shawql, Nahj al-Burdah, and have consulted H aykal, Al-Shawqiyyat, 1:190 -
208 ; cA b d al-H am id, Al-Shawqiyyat, 212 - 28 .
32. A l-B ish ri takes this verse to m ean that the girls have red cheeks that inflam e
m en’s hearts. I take it to m ean rather that the sight o f the beautiful m aiden’s m ake
the m en’s cheeks blush, revealing the passion in their hearts. A l-B ishri, Wadah al-
Nahj, v. 15.
33. G ian Biagio C onte, The Rhetoric o f Imitation: Genre and Poetic Memory in
Virgil and O ther Latin Poets, trans. Charles Segal (Ithaca, N.Y.: C orn ell U niversity
NOTES TO PAGES 169-196 283
Press, 1986 ), 35 n. 5, 70 , 7 6 - 77 . See m y discussion o f C o n te ’s ideas as they apply to

the pre-Islam ic qasidah o f al-N abighah al-D h ubyani in S. Stetkevych, The Poetics o f
Islamic Legitimacy, 25- 26 .
34. See above, note 13.
35. A lth ou gh he does not explicitly divide Nahj al-Burdah into sections, al-
Bishri notes in his com m en tary to verse 25 that there is a transition (takhallus) here
as the poet m akes an abrupt cu t-o ff from ghazal and tashbib (lyrical and am atory
verse) to censu rin g w orldly pleasures and w arn in g against their tem ptations
(1dhamm al-dunya wa-al-tahdhir min kaydiha . .. ) . A l-B ishri, Wadah al-Nahj, v. 25.
36. A s cited in A m id i, Al-M uw azanah, 1 :269 .
37. C on n erton , How Societies Remember, 59. See, further, m y discussion o f
C o n n erto n ’s ideas w ith regards to al-M utanabbi and the A rabic tradition, S.
Stetkevych, The Poetics o f Islamic Legitimacy, 185- 86 .
38. G erhard B ow ering’s phrase, see chapter 2 , part 3, vv. 52- 53, and n. 55.
39. A l-Q a d i T yad, A l-Shifa’, 1:455 (part 1, ch. 3 , sect. 13).
40. A l-B ishri, Wadah al-Nahj, v. 48 . A l-B ishri, typical o f his theological nitpick
ing, notes that, tech n ically speaking, angels do not thirst.
41. For a sum m ary o f the literature/lore con cern in g M u h a m m ad ’s ancestors,
see al-Bishrl, Wadah al-Nahj, v. 51.
42. See also Schim m el, A n d M uham m ad Is His Messenger, 109 ; A b d u llah Y u su f
A li,. The Holy Qur'an: Text, Translation, Commentary, (Elm hurst, N.Y.: T ahrike
Tarsile Q u r ’an, 1987), 385 n. 1127 ; a l-Q ad i T yad, A l-Shifa', 1 :4 4 5-4 6 (part 1, ch. 3 ,
sect. 13).
43. O n the m iracles o f M uh am m ad o f this sort, see a l-Q ad i T yad, A l-Shifa ', 1:
550-80 (part 1, ch. 5, sects. 15- 17), and Schim m el, “ Legends and M iracles,” in A n d
M uham m ad Is His Messenger, 67 - 80 .
44. V. 81 is in the dual, referring, apparently, to both the Rom ans and the Per
sians o f v. 80 .
45. This correlates quite precisely to H o u ran i’s form ulation o f the Sunni co n
ception o f Islam ic history. See H ourani, Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age, 7.
46. See the discussion o f and references for the N ight Journey and Ascension,
chapter 2 , part 7, and notes.
47. See R. Paret, “al-B urak,” EI 2 .
48. A l-Q a d i T yad, A l-Shifa’, 1:351 (part 1, ch. 3 sect. 2).
49. Connerton, How Societies Remember, 73 - 74 . See m y discussion o f C onnerton
in the context o f Arabic and Andalusian court cerem ony and poetry, S. Stetkevych,
The Poetics o f Islamic Legitimacy, 247.
50. A s it occurs in the Q u r ’an, lawh m ahfuz (preserved tablet) appears to refer
to the origin al heavenly Q u r ’an (Q K 85:22), but further, it was believed to be the
tablet upon w hich were w ritten all the decisions o f the divin e w ill, past, present,
and future. Likew ise al-qalam (the pen; Q K 68 :1; 96 :4 ) is said in hadiths cited by
al-Tabari to be the first thing that G od created, so He could w rite down events to
com e. See A . J. W ensinck and C . E. Bosw orth, “ Lawh” and C l. H uart and A. G roh-
m ann, “K alam ,” E h .
51. A l-Q a d i T yad, A l-Shifa’, 1:602 (part 1, ch. 4 , sect. 19).
52. Schim m el, A n d M uham m ad Is His Messenger, p. 109 ; al-Q ad i ‘ Ivad, Al-
Shifa', 1 :445-46 (part 1, ch. 3 sect. 13).
284 N O TES TO PAGES 1 9 9 - 2 1 8
53. It is also quite distin ct from the sort o f A n dalusian madih nabawi that
pleads for m ilitary intecession, w hether divin e or M ashriql, against the m ilitary
advances o f the Reconquista.
54. In his co m m en tary al-Bishri takes ja h l to be shirk, as though the verse is re
ferring to M u h a m m ad ’s era; I take the verse to be referring p rim arily to the ign o
rance and backw ardness o f the Islam ic East in ShawqI’s ow n tim e. See al-Bishri,
Wadah al-Nahj, v. 117.
55. This is not to say that I have interpreted Shawqi’s N ahj al-Burdah in light o f
H o u ra n i’s form ulation, but rather that, after reading Shawqi’s poem , it seem ed to
m e to em b od y— perhaps m ore precisely to shape and/or enact— the Sunni con cep
tion o f Islam ic h istory that H ourani has so concisely expressed. I by no m eans in
tend to suggest that N ahj al-Burdah is m erely a p oetic rendition o f these ideas.
56. H ourani, Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age, 7. This passage also applies quite
particularly to Shawqi’s passage on the Birth o f the Prophet, N B part 5, vv. 75 - 82.
57. A l-Q a d i cIyad, Al-Shifa\ 1 :452-53 (part 1, ch. 3 sect. 13).
58. This issue as it applies to Shawqi is discussed by N oorani, “ The Lost G arden
o f al-A n dalus,” esp. 239 and references.
59. In the second hem istich I have follow ed al-B ish ri’s com m entary, W N v. 132.
60. See J. W a lk er— [P. Fenton], “ Sulaym an b. D aw ud ,” EI 2; Suzanne P inckney
Stetkevych, “ Solom on and M yth ic K ingship in the A rabo-Islam ic Tradition,” Solo
m on K atz D istin gu ish ed Lecture in the H um anities, U niversity o f W ashington, Se
attle, 13 M ay 1999 (in preparation for publication).
61. A b u T am m am , Diwan, 1 :4 0 - 74 ; v. 41 .
62. For a translation o f the fu ll poem and a discussion o f A b u T am m am ’s p oeti
cal transform ation o f a h istorical event, the conquest o f A m oriu m , into a legitim iz
ing m yth o f the 'A b basid caliphate and a vehicle for the prom ulgation o f an ideolo
g y o f A rab-Islam ic “m anifest destiny,” see. S. Stetkevych, The Poetics o f Islamic
Legitimacy, ch. 5 “ P olitical D o m in ion as Sexual D om ination ,” esp. 152- 79 .
63. A b u T am m am , Diwan, 1:4 0 - 74 ; v. 37.
64. Ibid., 3 :120 ; v. 21 .
65. A l-H illi, Diwan, 6 9 3 -9 7 (approx. vv. 65 - 99 ).
6 6 . N ooran i, “A N ation Born in M o u rn in g,” 49 .
67. N. Calder, “ SharP a,” EI 2 .
68 . Lane, sh-r-c; see also, Lisan, sh-r-c; Calder, “ SharPa.”
69. H ourani, Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age, 114 - 15. The w ork to w hich he re
fers is F. G u izo t, Histoire de la civilisation en Europe (Paris, 1938).
70. H ourani, Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age, 115.
71. R eading jarda* (1994 ed.) for harda 3 (1910 ed.), al-Bishri, Wadah al-Nahj, v.
148 .
72. O n the N eo-C lassical and N ahdah vision, and appropriation, o f al-A ndalus,
see N oo ran i, “The Lost G arden o f al-A ndalus,” and Sum i, “ Poetry and
A rch itectu re.”
73. F. O m ar, “ H aru n al-Rashid,” EI 2 .
74. M . Rekaya, “al-M aT nun b. H aru n al-Rashid,” E h .
75. See Stefan Sperl, “Islam ic K ingship and A rabic Panegyric P oetry in the
Early N in th C entury,” Journal o f Arabic Literature 8 (1977 ): 20 - 35; and S. Stetkevych,
A b u Tammam, part II, 109 - 235, passim .
NOTES TO PAGES 2 1 9 -2 3 3 285
76. A l-B u h tu ri, Diwan, 2 :1152-62 (poem no. 470 ).

77. G. Levi della V id a -[M . Bonner], “ cU m ar b. al-K h attab,” E h .
78. P. B. C obb, “ 'U m a r b. cA b d al-cA z iz ,” E h .
79. L. V eccia V aglieri, “ 'A li b. A b i T alib ,” EI 2 .
80. Ibid.
81. G. Levi della V id a, “ 'U th m a n b. 'A ffan ,” EI 2 .
82. W. M ontgom ery W att, “A b u Bakr,” E l 2 .
83. A l-B ish ri’s version is a variant o f that found in Ibn H isham , Al-Sirah al-N a
bawiyyah, 4 :1513- 14 .
84. This com plaint about al-B u siri’s Burdah is m ade quite precisely and co n
cisely by M ubarak. See M ubarak, Al-M uw azanah bayn al-Shucaray, 178 .
85. A b u Bakr M uh am m ad ibn 'A ll ibn H ijjah al-H am aw i, K hizanat al-Adab
wa-Ghayat al-Arab, 2 vols., intro., ed., ann., Salah al-D in al-H aw w ari (Beirut: A l-
M aktabah al-'A sriyyah , 2006 ) 2 :477 ; for al-M aw sili’s closure, 2 :486 . See also, Al-
BadViyyat al-Khams, 8 (Ibn Hijjah) and 22 (al-M awsili). I have follow ed the latter
version o f Ibn H ijjah ’s second hem istich.
86 . U m m K ulthum , N ahj al-Burdah, Sono Cairo/Saw t a l-Q ah ira h no. 144 , 1946 .
O n U m m K ulth um ’s perform ances o f qasidahs by A h m a d Shawqi, in cluding W uli-
da al-H uda, see V irg in ia D anielson, The Voice o f Egypt: Umm Kulthum , Arabic
Song, and Egyptian Society in the Twentieth Century (Chicago: U niversity o f C h ic a
go Press, 1997 ), 110-21 passim; on Nahj al-Burdah, 112 - 14 ; 148 - 49 .
87. H uda Fakhreddine, “ U m m K ulthum Sings Shawqi’s Nahj al-Burdah: The
Spiritualization o f Polem ics” (unpublished sem inar paper, Indiana U niversity, fall
2007 ), 9 and passim .
88 . The site attributes the translated transcript, titled, “ W eapons Used by the
O th er Religions to W age W ar on Islam ,” as follows: posted on 18 O cto b er 2002
from an A1 Jazeera interview o f Dr. Y u su f al-Q aradaw i, “ D aci and Islam ic T h in ker”
aired on 13 O ctober 2002 by M ah ir 'A b d u llah on the program , “ Shari'ah and Life.”
Available at w w w .jim as.org/defence.htm (accessed 26 A u gust 2009 ).
89. A l-Q arad aw i, “W eapons Used by the O th er Religions,” 17. The verses quoted
are N B 118, 199 , 121 .
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Suzanne Pinckney Stetkevych is Professor o f Near Eastern Languages
and Cultures and Adjunct Professor o f Comparative Literature at Indi
ana University, Bloomington. She is author o f Abu Tammam and the
Poetics of the cAbbasid Age; The Mute Immortals Speak: Pre-Islamic
Poetry and the Poetics of Ritual; and The Poetics of Islamic Legitimacy:
Myth, Gender, and Ceremony in the Classical Arabic Ode (Indiana Univer
sity Press, 2002) and editor of Reorientations: Arabic and Persian Poetry
(Indiana University Press, 1994) and Early Islamic Poetry and Poetics.

Poems of Mantle

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The Mantle Odes

SUZANNE PINCKNEY STETKEVYCH

Indiana University Press

w w w .iupress.indiana.edu Stetkevych, Suzanne Pinckney.

Kacb ibn Zuhayr’s Sucad Has Departed • 30

The Mantle Ode • 90

The Beginning o f the Supplicatory Pattern: Parts 1-3 • 92

The Sirah-Derived Passages: Parts 4-8 • 106

Completion o f the Supplicatory Pattern: Parts 9-10 • 141

Shawqi’s Nahj al-Burdah: The Thematic Structure • 163

Nahj al-Burdah Movement I: In the Path o f al-Busiri— Parts

Nahj al-Burdah Movement II: The Ihya3Project: Parts

Al-Busiri’s Mantle Ode generated a massive production o f manuscripts,

terpretation o f The Way o f the Mantle as ShawqI’s literary formulation

(Consult the bibliography for complete references)

BB al-BusIri’s Qasidat al-Burdah

Ahmad Shawqi and the

the poetry and piety o f the Post-Classical era, al-Busiri’s Burdah, or

O h arb in ger o f lig h tn in g , m ake y o u r w a y to D arat al-cA la m

Although it begins with a lyrical nasib or “ghazal” section, it is, as al-

Shawqi’s quest for authority— political and religious as well as poetic—

The Exalted K in g, M y Lord the H ajji cA bbas H ilm i II:

G o d has th o u g h t it best for th is h um ble servant, the poet o f y o u r noble

The prose dedication is composed in a rhetorically ornate stylized idiom

conventional formulae of self-abasement, Shawqi first invokes the madih

Hajj will be remembered as often as people recite the poem, there is no

In sum, in light of the 1,500-year court panegyric tradition of which

this respect, M uwaylihi’s exuberant approbation in his Nahj al-Burdah

1907 resignation, marked by his offensive and insulting Farewell A d ­

the fam ou s incident o f D a n ish w ay (D inshaw ay) b ro u gh t to the surface

The Egyptian reaction to the brutal and disproportionate British response

E very m an I m et had a broken h eart and a lu m p in his throat. There was

Lord Cromer’s Farewell Address was humiliating and patronizing:

First o f all, it w as im p osed by acts o f force, in op position to such articulate

In light o f this background, the categorization o f Nahj al-Burdah

As we shall see, Shawqi’s poem and the vitriolic political-polemical pas­

Shawqi’s Nahj al-Burdah: The Thematic Structure

The thematic structure of Shawqi’s Nahj al-Burdah can best be under­

Al-Busiri’s Burdah: Thematic Parts

1: Prophetic Nasib (vv. 1-11) = lyric-elegiac prelude

In chapter 2, on al-Busiri’s Burdah, I proposed that parts 1, 2, 3, 9

S h aw q l’s N ah j al-B u rd ah : T h em atic P arts

M ovem ent I: In the Path o f al-B u siri

M ovem ent II: D eviation and T ransform ation

counterpart of al-Busiri’s part 8, in which he presents his own new political

p art 1: n a s Ib : c o m p la in t o f u n r e q u ite d lo ve (vv. 1-24)

2. W ith the g la n ce o f faw n ’s eyes fate has shot a lion:

3. W h e n the gazelle tu rn ed its gaze upon me, m y soul said to me,

5. Y ou are endow ed w ith the noblest o f virtu es

6. O y o u w h o blam e m e for this love, th o u gh love is fate,

7. I have lent y o u m y ear, but it pays no heed;

8. O you w ith d row sy eye, m ay y o u never taste passion!

9. A th o u san d tim es w o u ld I be y o u r ransom , and y o u r

10. Y ou r p h an tom cam e to m e b y night, foun d a b leed in g w o u n d ,

11. A m o n g the m aidens that sw ay lik e ban-trees on a h ill and, like

12. Those w h o, in the late m o rn in g , reveal faces lik e fu ll m oons,

13. Those w h o, w ith eyelids sick w ith languor, slay th eir lo v e r—

14. Those w h o trip over the h earts o f m en, and there is n o th in g

15. Those w h o in flam e m en ’s cheeks u n til th ey glow , revealin g

16. Those w h o bear the b an n er o f beauty, w h ich ,

17. E very m aiden, pale or dusky, adorned to the eye’s delight,

18. H ow stran ge that th ey are frigh ten ed by a m ere raised glance,

19. I abased m y ch eek to the gazelles and d ivid ed m y heart am on g

20. O d aughter o f the fu ll-m an ed lion o f the w ell-gu ard ed lair,

1907 resignation, marked by his offensive and insulting Farewell A d

As we shall see, Shawqi’s poem and the vitriolic political-polemical pas

The thematic structure of Shawqi’s Nahj al-Burdah can best be under

In the structural configuration o f al-Busiri’s Burdah, as we saw in chap