Synopsis "A Hijazi Gift of Love: Facets of Love in the Legacy of Muhammad"
The Hijazi Gift of Love is an inspired initiative from the Holy Land of Hijaz, Saudi Arabia, in response to the urgent need to present a fair representation of Prophet Muhammad. Through the medium of poetry and historical documentation, we present Islam's most revered and famed poem, Al Burda (The Mantle Adorned), in simplified English to Non-Arabic Readers as translated by Sidi Mostafa Azzam. Embedded in the book is a scholarly synopsis of the renowned historical covenant of Prophet Muhammad to the Christian Monks of Mount Sinai, otherwise knowns as the Ahadname by Dr John Andrew Morrow coupled with complimentary poetry on the Ahadname by interdisciplinary soul artist Alicia Ali. Islam is a religion which professes and proliferates pluralistic thought, love, universal harmony and respect for all faiths, people and traditions. Arabian Peninsula being the birthplace of Prophet Muhammad and hence Islam, the world's fastest growing religion, is in the midst of great shifts in conscious awareness and at this juncture point, we see a Love Revolution where Hijaz beckons its inhabitants to relearn the lyrics of her chosen son, Muhammad the Hijazi Prophet and final seal of all messengers. Divaan E Ishq The Royal Court of Love, is a non-profit initiative founded in the Hijaz. The second poem to receive the sobriquet of Mantle Ode is the most famous devotional poem in the Islamic world, the Mantle Ode (Qasīdat al-Burda) of the 12th-century poet of Mamlūk Egypt, al-Būsirī. The legend goes that the poet, afflicted with incurable hemiplegia, composed, out of 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-Būsiīrī 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 renowned 14th-century historian and sociologist of the Maghrib, Ibn Khaldūn, considered a copy of al-Būsiīrī's Burdah a fit gift to present to the Mongol conqueror, Tīmūrlank. With the nineteenth-century Ottoman restoration project, verses of the Burdah, along with those of the Qurān, adorned the domes of the Mosque of the Prophet in Medina. Al-Busīrī's Mantle Ode generated a massive production of manuscripts, commentaries, expansions, imitations, and translations, and continues to be widely performed and printed throughout the Islamic world. -Suzanne Pinckney Stetkevych Divaan E Ishq presents an unprecedented project in the Hijaz rooted in Abrahamic heritage and teachings and shares a common ground with humanity at large. Our heartfelt gratitude for coming in contact with a female professor from the School of Zulaikhiyya for her timely assistance, Fatima Qalandarjaan's intellectual creativity in selecting the subtitle, mentors and select scholars, family, friends and well-wishers who supported this publication. Most importantly, gratitude to the mirror who rekindled a love affair with the Burda.
