The History and Virtues of the Qasidah Burdah
CA
The Qasīdah Burdah stands as one of the most beloved and widely transmitted works of Islamic devotional literature. For centuries it has been recited in homes, mosques, and circles of remembrance from the eastern reaches of the Muslim world to its western shores.
All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all worlds. Blessings and peace be upon our master and intercessor, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, upon his noble family, his righteous companions, and all who follow them in excellence until the Day of Reckoning.
The Qasīdah Burdah stands as one of the most beloved and widely transmitted works of Islamic devotional literature. For centuries it has been recited in homes, mosques, and circles of remembrance from the eastern reaches of the Muslim world to its western shores. To understand its power is to understand something essential about the relationship between love, intercession, and divine mercy.
I. THE NAME AND ITS MEANING
The word burdah (بُرْدَة) means a cloak or mantle , the garment with which the Prophet ﷺ, in the famous account, covered Imām al-Būṣīrī in his blessed dream. It is also associated with the word burʾah (بُرْءَة), meaning healing or recovery, and this dual resonance is no mere coincidence. The poem is itself a healing of the soul afflicted by distance from the Beloved, and, as the tradition attests, of the body as well.
II. THE AUTHOR AND THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF COMPOSITION
Imām Muḥammad ibn Saʿīd al-Būṣīrī (ra) was a distinguished scholar, a master of Arabic linguistics, and a poet of the highest order. In his earlier years, as was common among men of letters in his age, he composed panegyric verse in praise of rulers and nobles in exchange for material reward. The tradition preserves the account of how the Prophet ﷺ himself, in a dream, redirected the Imām’s pen: “You compose poems in praise of kings will you not compose verses in praise of me?”
In the latter part of his life, Imām al-Būṣīrī was struck with fālij ( partial paralysis )that rendered half of his body disabled. He sought the counsel of physicians, exhausted every available remedy, and yet found no relief. It was in this state of profound vulnerability that a brother in faith urged him toward the most noble recourse:
“You are among the scholars and masters of Arabic poetry. Why do you not compose verses in praise of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and seek help through that from Allah, the Most Generous? No one draws near to Allah Most High and to His Beloved, the Intercessor, except that he is not left disappointed.”
That very night, Imām al-Būṣīrī composed the Burdah. And that same night, he dreamed of the Prophet ﷺ who passed his noble hand over him and, according to another narration, draped him with his own cloak. When morning came, the Imām rose from his bed completely healed.
The poem was composed in ten chapters encompassing the full arc of Prophetic praise: repentance, the perils of the lower self, the praise of the Prophet ﷺ, his noble birth, his miracles, the Quran’s sublime eloquence, the Night Journey and Ascension, the Prophetic battles, tawassul and intercession, and the concluding supplication. This occurred, as the scholars have noted, approximately in the sixth or seventh century of the Hijrah.
III. A VERSE COMPLETED BY THE PROPHET ﷺ
Among the remarkable accounts related to the poem’s composition is that while writing, Imām al-Būṣīrī arrived at a verse he could not complete:
فَمَبْلَغُ الْعِلْمِ فِيهِ أَنَّهُ بَشَرٌ
“The utmost that knowledge can attain concerning him is that he is a human being “
The second hemistich eluded him. Then, in a dream, he beheld the Prophet ﷺ alongside his family and companions, and the Prophet himself completed the verse:
وَأَنَّهُ خَيْرُ خَلْقِ اللهِ كُلِّهِمِ
“ and that he is the best of all of Allah’s creation.”
What greater endorsement could any work of praise receive than this?
IV. THE SPREAD OF THE BURDAH AND ITS COMMENTARIES
After its composition, the Qasīdah Burdah spread across the Islamic world from the Maghreb to Khorasan, from Anatolia to the Indonesian archipelago. It became a cornerstone of Islamic education, recited in madrasas, Sufi lodges, and family gatherings alike. Approximately twenty major scholars wrote formal commentaries upon it. Among the most celebrated are those of Imām al-Shabarkhitī (ra) and Imām al-Bājūrī (ra), each bringing to the poem the full weight of their linguistic and spiritual insight.
V. THE VIRTUES OF THE BURDAH: TESTIMONIES FROM THE SCHOLARS
The virtues attributed to this poem by the recognized scholars of the tradition are numerous and far-reaching. They may be summarized under several categories.
Concerning healing: Shaykh ʿAbd al-Salām al-Marrākushī (ra) is reported to have said:
“Whoever recites the Qasīdah Burdah over a sick person, Allah Most High will cure him unless his appointed time has already arrived. And if it is recited over a child, the child will be protected from the disturbances of jinn, whisperings, Umm al-Ṣibyān, illnesses, and other harms.”
— Attributed in Khawāṣṣ al-Burdah by Ḥabīb Muḥammad bin ʿAlawī al-ʿAydrūs
He further remarked: “We have tried it and found great benefit in it, for it is a hidden treasure and a beautiful secret contained within the praise of the Prophet ﷺ.”
Concerning spiritual protection: It is recited in homes, schools, and settlements as a means of seeking protection from unseen harms, from fires and calamities, and from the disturbances of those who seek to cause harm. Some scholars recommended reciting it for seven consecutive days in places believed to be troubled.
Concerning intercession: Among the most frequently recited verses and among the most spiritually potent is the following:
هُوَ الْحَبِيبُ الَّذِي تُرْجَى شَفَاعَتُهُ لِكُلِّ هَوْلٍ مِنَ الأَهْوَالِ مُقْتَحَمِ
“He is the Beloved whose intercession is hoped for, against every terror and calamity that may descend.”
It has been related that this verse is inscribed upon a lock affixed to a door of the resting place of the Prophet ﷺ in al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah on the eastern side, near the area associated with Sayyidah Fāṭimah (ra). Shaykh ʿAbd al-Salām is reported to have said that whoever has a need , whether of this world or the next , and recites this verse one thousand and one times in a single sitting, Allah will accept it from him and fulfill his need, if He wills.
Concerning travelers: Any traveler who carries the Burdah among his belongings will, by Allah’s permission, be protected from the hardships of travel and from losses in trade.
Concerning times of calamity: The righteous predecessors regularly turned to the Burdah during outbreaks of disease, famines, eclipses, and other collective trials. Of this there is a particularly vivid historical example.
VI. THE BURDAH DURING THE FAMINE OF HADRAMAUT
When the land of Hadhramaut was afflicted by a prolonged and severe famine, and wild animals began to roam the streets, al-Ḥabīb ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Mashhūr instructed every household among the people to recite the Qasīdah Burdah. After they carried out this instruction, praise be to Allah, their homes remained safe from the disturbances of those wild animals. This account has been transmitted and cited by the scholars of the Ḥaḍramī tradition as a testament to the power of collective recitation performed with sincerity and proper condition.
VII. THE BURDAH IN THE PROPHETIC PRESENCE: THE DREAM OF AL-ḤABĪB ḤUSAYN AL-ḤABSHĪ
Al-Ḥabīb Ḥusayn bin Muḥammad al-Ḥabshī (ra) , the brother of al-Ḥabīb ʿAlī al-Ḥabshī, author of Simṭ al-Durar regularly led the recitation of Dalāʾil al-Khayrāt in the city of Mecca. He is reported to have dreamed of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, who instructed him to recite the Burdah in that gathering. In the dream, the Prophet ﷺ conveyed to him the immensity of the reward awaiting those who recite it such that one recitation of the Burdah was described as more virtuous than seventy recitations of Dalāʾil al-Khayrāt.
We do not relay this as a prescription to abandon the Dalāʾil which is itself among the most blessed of devotional works but as a testimony to the extraordinary station of the Burdah in the eyes of the one it praises.
VIII. THE QASĪDAH MUḌARIYYAH AND ITS SPECIAL REWARD
Imām al-Būṣīrī also composed the Qasīdah Muḍariyyah, in which occurs the remarkable verse: “I send blessings upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ as many times as the animals and plants that Allah has created.” It is related that the Prophet ﷺ appeared to him in a dream and said: “Indeed, the angels are unable to record the reward of that salawat.” Subḥānallāh , this is the nature of love: it overflows the capacity of accounting.
IX. ON THE CONDITIONS FOR BENEFIT
Al-Ḥabīb Sālim has stated, and the scholars have affirmed, that the Burdah is highly effective by Allah’s permission in the fulfillment of needs and the removal of difficulties. However, one does not approach so august a work carelessly. The following conditions have been stipulated by the masters of this tradition:
One should possess, or recite through, a connected chain of transmission (sanad) back to Imām al-Būṣīrī himself.
After several verses, one should repeat the salawat refrain: Mawlāya ṣalli wa sallim dāʾiman abadan / ʿAlā ḥabībika khayri al-khalqi kullihimi as Imām al-Būṣīrī himself never omitted, out of his immense love for the Prophet ﷺ.
One should be in a state of ritual purity (wuḍūʾ).
One should face the qiblah.
One should understand or endeavour to learn the meanings of the verses being recited.
One should recite with genuine spiritual aspiration (himmah) and presence of heart.
One should observe the proper etiquette and reverence befitting the praise of the Prophet ﷺ.
One should wear fragrance, as an expression of honour for the occasion.
The story of Imām al-Ghaznawī is instructive here. He recited the Burdah every night hoping to behold the Prophet ﷺ in dream, yet for many nights he did not. When he consulted a spiritual master, it was found that he had neglected the single condition of repeating the salawat refrain after each verse , the very practice that was Imām al-Būṣīrī’s personal mark of devotion. Once he rectified this, the matter resolved. The outward form and the inner spirit must be honoured together.
X. THE PRACTICE OF THE RIGHTEOUS PREDECESSORS
The scholars of the past , particularly those of the Hadramī tradition , gave great attention to the Burdah in their regular devotional lives. Among them, Sādah al-Aydrus and their descendants were known to recite it every Friday in Masjid al-Saqqāf after the Fajr prayer, following the completion of their regular litanies. Shaykh Ibrāhīm al-Dasūqī remarked that consistent recitation on the night of Friday is among the causes of being granted the vision of the Prophet ﷺ in dream.
There is also the account , transmitted in some of the Naqshbandī and Khalwatī circles , of a dervish whose love was so consuming as he recited the Burdah with his feet in a river that his heart’s heat caused the water itself to boil, such that a passing shaykh and his students could not perform their ablutions. The shaykh, recognising the station of the man, said gently: “You need to calm down a little — my students need to take their wuḍūʾ.” This anecdote speaks not to exaggeration but to the nature of true maḥabbah: it overflows the self.
XI. A WORD OF CAUTION AND CLARITY
It is the position of the Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamāʿah that all healing, protection, and fulfillment of needs come from Allah alone. The Burdah like the recitation of Quran over the sick, or the making of duʿāʾ at the grave of a righteous person is a wasīlah, a means through which the servant draws near to his Lord. It does not act independently, nor does it compel the divine will. Rather, it is a vehicle of love, and love , particularly love for the Prophet ﷺ , is among the most potent means of attracting divine mercy.
Those who have dismissed the Burdah and the tradition of loving praise for the Prophet ﷺ as innovation or shirk have, in the estimation of the overwhelming majority of Islamic scholarship across fourteen centuries, erred gravely. We affirm the tradition of our pious predecessors and continue it with gratitude.
Please download or save this if you have previously received the ijāzah (authorization/transmission permission) for the Qasidah Burdah from Habib, and you may also print the sanad (chain of transmission).
This ijāzah and sanad for the Qasidah Burdah were newly prepared by Habib in 2023. However, the chain of transmission is exactly the same as in the previous ijāzah; it has simply been rewritten by Habib.
Habib also grants ijāzah to everyone in this group (Majelis Nuurus Sa’aadah) who wishes to receive the ijāzah of the Qasidah Burdah together with its sanad through him. Furthermore, Habib authorizes you to grant this ijāzah of the Qasidah Burdah to others whom you wish to authorize.
Ajaztukum (“I have granted you authorization”).
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قَبِلْتُ الْإِجَازَةَ
Qabiltu al-Ijāzah
“I accept the authorization.”
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May Allah benefit us through the author of the Burdah, through those who recite it,
and through the one it praises — our master and intercessor, Muḥammad ﷺ.
Āmīn, yā Rabb al-ʿĀlamīn.
Note 1. Burʾah (بُرْءَة) — healing, recovery. Distinct from burdah but phonetically and spiritually intertwined in the tradition.
Note 2. Burdah (بُرْدَة) — a cloak, mantle, or outer garment worn across the shoulder.
Note 3. Al-Ḥabīb ʿAlī bin Muḥammad al-Ḥabshī (1259–1333 AH), author of Simṭ al-Durar (known popularly as Mawlid Ḥabshī), was among the great Ḥaḍramī scholars and awliyāʾ of his era.
Note 4. The grammatical criticism of the poem — that ending verses in kasrah (the lowered case) was undignified for the praise of the Prophet ﷺ — prompted al-Būṣīrī to compose the Qasīdah al-Hamziyyah, whose verses end in ḍammah (the elevated, marfūʿ form). This is a fine example of how even poetic grammar can be a matter of adab toward the Prophet ﷺ.
Note 5. Source: Being in the Garden of Paradise with the Grandson of the Prophet; Khawāṣṣ al-Burdah by Ḥabīb Muḥammad bin ʿAlawī al-ʿAydrūs; and transmitted lectures of al-Ḥabīb Sālim bin ʿAbdullāh al-Shāṭirī.