About The Book

al-Hamziyya — formally Umm al-Qura fi Madh Khayr al-Wara (The Mother of Cities in Praise of the Best of Creation) — is Imam al-Busiri's great ode in praise of the Prophet (peace be upon him), comprising 457 lines all ending in the letter hamza. Where his Burda is the more famous of his two great qasidas, the Hamziyya is in many ways the more comprehensive: it traces the Prophetic story from the noble lineage through the lights that preceded him, his birth, his early life, his prophetic call, his message, his miracles, his ascension, his campaigns, and his closing days — a complete poetic sira in a single ode.

The Hamziyya has been recited continuously in Sunni gatherings since al-Busiri's lifetime and has generated dozens of commentaries, foremost those of Ibn Hajar al-Haytami, al-Bajuri, and al-Sunbati.

About The Author

Imam Sharaf al-Din Muhammad b. Said al-Busiri (608-696 AH / 1212-1296 CE) was an Egyptian Shadhili poet from Busir in the Egyptian Delta, the disciple of Abu al-Abbas al-Mursi (the second great Shadhili master). His two great qasidas in praise of the Prophet — the Burda and the Hamziyya — are the two anchoring odes of Sunni Prophetic devotional poetry.

عن الكتاب

"الهمزية" — اسمُها الكامل "أمّ القرى في مدح خير الورى" — قصيدةُ الإمام البوصيري الكبرى في مدح النبي ﷺ، في ٤٥٧ بيتاً قافيتُها الهمزة. وإذا كانت "البردة" أشهر القصيدتين، فالهمزية أشمل: تَتَتَبَّع السيرةَ النبوية من النَّسَب الشريف، فالأنوار التي سَبَقَتْه، فمولده، فنشأته، فبَعْثه، فدعوته، فمعجزاته، فإسرائه، فمغازيه، فأيامه الأخيرة — سيرةٌ شعرية كاملة في قصيدةٍ واحدة. وعليها شروحٌ كثيرة، أبرزها لابن حجر الهيتمي والباجوري والسنباطي.

عن المؤلف

الإمام شرف الدين محمد بن سعيد البوصيري (٦٠٨-٦٩٦ هـ) شاعرٌ شاذلي مصري من بوصير الدلتا، تتلمذ على أبي العباس المرسي. قصيدتاه الكبيرتان في مدح النبي ﷺ — البردة والهمزيّة — هما عمودا المديح النبوي السنّي.