# Al Faswlu th-Thaaminu · الْفَصْلُ الثَّامِنُ

From [Qasida Al Burda · قصيدة البردة](https://qasaaid.zayfir.app/app/qasaaid/691c712ac9a45b73e98077a8) by [Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Sa'id al-Busiri](https://qasaaid.zayfir.app/app/authors/691c70fac9a45b73e980779f)

**1.** رَاعَتْ قُلُوبَ الْعِدَا أَنْبَاءُ بِعْثَتِهِ / كَنَبْأَةٍ أَجْفَلَتْ غُفْلاً مِنَ الْغَنَمِ

_Rāʿat qulūbal ʿidā anbāʾu biʿthatihi / Kanabʾatin ajfalat ghuflan minal ghanami_

The news of his being sent had cast fear into the hearts of foes
as heedless sheep are startled by sudden noise.

**2.** مَا زَالَ يَلْقَاهُمُ فِي كُلِّ مُعْتَرَكٍ / حَتَّى حَكَوْا بِالْقَنَا لَحْمًا عَلَى وَضَمِ

_Mā zāla yalqāhumu fī kulli muʿtarakin / Ḥattā ḥakaw bil qanā laḥman ʿalā waḍami_

He continued to meet them on every battleground
Until spears cut them, like meat on a butcher’s block.

**3.** وَدُّوا الفِرَارَ فَكَادُوا يَغْبِطُونَ بِهِ / أَشْلاَءَ شَالَتْ مَعَ الْعِقْبَانِ وَالرَّخَمِ

_Waddul firāra fakādū yaghbiṭūna bihi / Ashlāʾa shālat maʿal ʿiqbāni war rakhami_

They longed to flee, almost jealous of
The dead flesh carried off by hawks and vultures.

**4.** تَمْضِي اللَّيَالِي وَلاَ يَدْرُونَ عِدَّتَهَا / مَا لَمْ تَكُنْ مِنْ لَيَالِي الأَشْهُرِ الْحُرُمِ

_Tamḍil layālī wa lā yadrūna ʿiddatahā / Mā lam takun min layālil ash-huril ḥurumi_

The nights passed with them unaware of their number,
Apart from the nights of the Sacred Months.

**5.** كَأَنَّمَا الدِّينُ ضَيْفٌ حَلَّ سَاحَتَهُمْ / بِكُلِّ قَرْمٍ إِلَى لَحْمِ العِدَا قَرِمِ

_Ka annamad dīnu ḍayfun ḥalla sāḥatahum / Bi kulli qarmin ilā laḥmil ʿidā qarimi_

As if the religion were a guest that had arrived at their courtyard,
With every honoured chieftain eager for the flesh of their foes.

**6.** يَجُرُّ بَحْرَ خَمِيسٍ فَوْقَ سَابِحَةٍ / يَرْمِى بِمَوْجٍ مِنَ الأَبْطَالِ مُلْتَطِمِ

_Yajurru baḥra khamīsin fawqa sābiḥatin / Yarmī bi mawjin minal abṭāli multaṭimi_

Bringing forth a sea of soldiers on swift steeds,
Tossing wave upon wave of onrushing heroes.

**7.** مِنْ كُلِّ مُنْتَدَبٍ لِلهِ مُحْتَسِبٍ / يَسْطُو بِمُسْتَأْصِلٍ لِلكُفْرِ مُصْطَلِمِ

_Min kulli muntadibin liLlāhi muḥtasibin / Yasṭū bimustaʾṣilin lil kufri muṣṭalimi_

All responding to Allah’s call and anticipating reward,
Boldly charging on, and uprooting disbelief.

**8.** حَتىَّ غَدَتْ مِلَّةُ الإِسْلاَمِ وَهْيَ بِهِمْ / مِنْ بَعْدِ غُرْبَتِهَا مَوْصُولَةَ الرَّحِمِ

_Ḥatta ghadat millatul islāmi wahya bihim / Min baʿdi ghurbatihā mawṣūlatar rahimi_

Until the religion of Islam was, through them,
Reunited in kinship after being in exile.

**9.** مَكْفُولَةً أَبَدًا مِنْهُمْ بِخَيْرِ أَبٍ / وَخَيْرِ بَعْلٍ فَلَمْ تَيْتَمْ وَلَمْ تَئِمِ

_Makfūlatan abadan minhum bi khayri abin / Wa khayri baʿlin fa lam taytam wa lam taʾimi_

Forever protected from [foes] by the best of fathers and husbands,
So that she was no longer an orphan or a widow.

**10.** هُمُ الجِبَالُ فَسَلْ عَنْهُمْ مُصَادِمَهُمْ / مَاذَا رَأَى مِنْهُمُ فِي كُلِّ مُصْطَدَمِ

_Humul jibālu fasal ʿanhum muṣādimahum / Mādhā raʾā minhumu fī kulli muṣṭadami_

They were mountains! Ask those who came to blows with them
What they saw from them on every field of battle.

**11.** وَسَلْ حُنَيْنًا وَسَلْ بَدْرًا وَسَلْ أُحُدًا / فُصُولَ حَتْفٍ لَهُمْ أَدْهَى مِنَ الوَخَمِ

_Wa sal ḥunaynan wa sal badran wa sal uḥudan / Fuṣūla ḥatfin lahum adʾhā minal wakhami_

Ask Ḥunayn, ask Badr, ask Uḥud—
Seasons of death, more disastrous for them than the plague!

**12.** المُصْدِرِي البِيضِ حُمْرًا بَعْدَ مَا وَرَدَتْ / مِنَ العِدَا كُلَّ مُسْوَدٍّ مِنَ اللِّمَمِ

_Almuṣdiril bīḍi ḥumran baʿda mā waradat / Minal ʿidā kulla muswaddin minal limami_

White swords returned, dripping red after taking drink
From beneath the black heads of all their enemies.

**13.** وَالكَاتِبِينَ بِسُمْرِ الخَطِّ مَا تَرَكَتْ / أَقْلاَمُهُمْ حَرْفَ جِسْمٍ غَيْرَ مُنَعَجِمِ

_Wal kātibīna bi sumril khaṭṭi mā tarakat / Aqlāmuhum ḥarfa jismin ghayra munʿajimi_

Like scribes with wielded spears for pens,
Leaving no letter of a body unmarked with dots.

**14.** شَاكِي السِّلاَحِ لَهُمْ سِيمَا تُمَيِّزُهُمْ / وَالوَرْدُ يَمْتَازُ بِالسِّيمَا عَنِ السَّلَمِ

_Shākis silāḥi lahum sīmā tumayyizuhum / Wal wardu yamtāzu bis sīmā ʿanis salami_

Well-armed, they were distinguished by a clear sign,
as a rose differs from an acacia tree in its features.

**15.** تُهْدِي إِلَيْكَ رِيَاحُ النَّصْرِ نَشْرَهُمُ / فَتَحْسَبُ الزَّهْرَ فِي الأَكْمَامِ كُلَّ كَمِي

_Tuhdī ilayka riyāḥun naṣri nashrahumu / Fataḥsabuz zahra fīl akmāmi kulla kamī_

The winds of victory bring you their scent as a gift;
You would think each armed hero a flower in bud!

**16.** كَأَنَّهُمْ فِي ظُهُورِ الخَيْلِ نَبْتُ رُبًا / مِنْ شِدَّةِ الحَزْمِ لاَ مِنْ شِدَّةِ الحُزُمِ

_Ka annahum fī ẓuhūril khayli nabtu ruban / Min shiddatil ḥazmi lā min shiddatil ḥuzumi_

As if, riding their steeds, they were flowers on a hill-top
Held firm not by strong stirrups, but by strength of resolve.

**17.** طَارَتْ قُلُوبُ العِدَا مِنْ بَأْسِهِمْ فَرَقًا / فَمَا تُفَرِّقُ بَيْنَ البَهْمِ وَالبُهُمِ

_Ṭārat qulūbul ʿidā min baʾsihim faraqan / Famā tufarriqu baynal bahmi wal buhami_

Their forceful onslaught so put their foes’ hearts to flight
that you could not have told a herd from a warrior.

**18.** وَمَنْ تَكُنْ بِرَسُولِ اللهِ نُصْرَتُهُ / إِنْ تَلْقَهُ الأُسْدُ فِي آجَامِهَا تَجِمِ

_Wa man takun birasūliLlāhi nuṣratuhu / In talqahul usdu fī ājāmihā tajimi_

For the one whose help comes from the Emissary of Allah
Even lions finding him in their dens will be loth to face him.

**19.** وَلَنْ تَرَى مِنْ وَليٍّ غَيْرِ مُنْتَصِرٍ / بِهِ وَلاَ مِنْ عَدُوٍّ غَيْرِ مُنْقَصِمِ

_Wa lan tarā min waliyyin ghayri muntaṣirin / Bihi wa lā min ʿaduwwin ghayri munqasimi_

You will not see one saint who is not victorious through him;
Or a single foe of his who is not dealt mortal blows.

**20.** أَحَلَّ أُمَّتَهُ فِي حِرْزِ مِلَّتِهِ / كَاللَّيْثِ حَلَّ مَعَ الأَشْبَالِ فِي أَجَمِ

_Aḥalla ummatahu fī ḥirzi millatihi / Kal laythi ḥalla maʿal ashbāli fī ajami_

He gave his nation sanctuary in the stronghold of his faith,
As a lion settles in with its cubs in a thicket.

**21.** كَمْ جَدَّلَتْ كَلِمَاتُ اللهِ مِنْ جَدَلٍ / فِيهِ وَكَمْ خَصَمَ البُرْهَانُ مِنْ خَصِمِ

_Kam jaddalat kalimātuLlāhi min jadilin / Fīhi wa kam khaṣamal burhānu min khaṣimi_

How often have Allah’s words felled his opponents,
And how often the Qur’an has defeated its enemies!

**22.** كَفَاكَ بِالْعِلْمِ فِي الأُمِّيِّ مُعْجِزَةً / فِي الجَاهِلِيَّةِ وَالتَّأْدِيبِ فِي اليُتُمِ

_Kafāka bil ʿilmi fīl ummiyyi muʿjizatan / Fīl jāhiliyyati wat taʾdībi fīl yutumi_

The erudition of an unlettered one is miracle enough
in an Age of Ignorance, as is an orphan’s education.

Source: https://qasaaid.zayfir.app/app/qasaaid/691c712ac9a45b73e98077a8/book/691c7161c9a45b73e98077db/chapter/691c7283c9a45b73e9807806