شرف الدين البوصيري
al-Busiri (RH)
Sharaf al-Din al-Busiri
Also known as: Imam Busiri
608–c. 694 AH · 1212–c. 1295 CE
Sufism & Theology Shafi'i Sufism
Poet of al-Burdah, the most famous poem in praise of the Prophet ﷺ.
Al-Busiri was a calligrapher, scribe and poet who became a disciple of the Shadhili master Abu al-'Abbas al-Mursi in Alexandria.
According to his own account, when he was struck by paralysis he composed a poem in praise of the Prophet ﷺ, then saw the Prophet ﷺ in a dream covering him with his cloak (burdah), and awoke cured. The poem, al-Kawakib al-Durriyyah, known as Qasidat al-Burdah, has been recited, copied and commented on throughout the Muslim world, from Morocco to the Malay world, for over seven centuries.
Life journey
- 1212 CE Dalas (Upper Egypt) دلاصBorn in Dalas in Upper Egypt; his family came from Abusir, hence his name.
- 1260 CE Alexandria (al-Iskandariyyah) الإسكندريةDied c. 1295 CE · c. 694 AHLived and died in Alexandria; the year he settled there is approximate.
Key works
- Qasidat al-Burdah البردةThe MantleThe most famous poem in praise of the Prophet ﷺ.
Places in their life
Photo: Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Sources
- Ibn Shakir al-Kutubi, Fawat al-Wafayat
- Suzanne Pinckney Stetkevych, The Mantle Odes (2010)
Draft, awaiting scholarly review.
Death reported between 694 and 697 AH.