Limited Edition · Only 2 Copies Remain in the United States

A museum-caliber calligraphic masterwork — handcrafted by eight master artisans across three countries, rendered in seven historic Arabic scripts with inks infused with real copper, silver, and gold, on custom handmade paper, bound in hand-tanned natural leather. Of the 100 copies produced worldwide, 98 have already been placed with collectors and institutions.

The illuminated opening pages — Mamluk-Ilkhanid geometric patterns in cobalt, gold, and vermillion

The Poem

A Tradition Spanning Thirteen Centuries

The story begins in the presence of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ himself. When the Companion Ka'b ibn Zuhayr recited his poem Bānat Su'ād and was honored with the Prophet's own mantle (burda), he set in motion a tradition of prophetic praise poetry that has endured for over fourteen hundred years.

In the 13th century, the Egyptian poet Imam al-Busiri composed what would become the most celebrated poem in the Islamic world: Qaṣīdat al-Burda — "The Poem of the Mantle." Its origin is miraculous: paralyzed by a stroke, al-Busiri composed the poem as a plea to the Prophet ﷺ. That night, the Prophet appeared in a dream and wrapped al-Busiri in his mantle. When he awoke, he was cured. For eight centuries since, the Burda has been memorized by millions, recited at gatherings across the Muslim world, transcribed by hundreds of master calligraphers, and translated into Persian, Turkish, Urdu, French, German, and Chinese. Its verses once adorned the walls of the Prophet's Mosque in Medina.

Nahj al-Burda — "The Way of the Mantle" — is the modern masterpiece that carries this tradition forward. Composed by Ahmad Shawqi, crowned the "Prince of Poets" (Amīr al-Shu'arā') in 1927, it is a mu'āraḍa: a poetic response written in the same meter and rhyme scheme as al-Busiri's original, honoring it while speaking with the voice of a new age. Where al-Busiri wrote from the depths of personal affliction, Shawqi wrote from the summit of the modern Arabic literary renaissance — bridging medieval devotion with the highest literary achievement of the 20th century.

It is this poem — the crowning work of the greatest modern Arabic poet, in the most revered tradition in Islamic literature — that now receives the monumental calligraphic treatment it has long deserved.

Seven historic Arabic scripts — Thuluth, Naskh, Rayhan, Tawqi', Muhaqqaq, Riqa', and Muselsel

The Poet

Ahmad Shawqi — Prince of Poets

Born in Cairo in 1868 to a family of Egyptian, Circassian, Turkish, Kurdish, and Greek heritage, Ahmad Shawqi rose to become the most important Arabic-language poet of the modern era. Educated in law and literature at Montpellier and Paris — where he absorbed the dramatic traditions of Molière, Racine, and Hugo — he returned to Egypt as court poet to Khedive Abbas II and became the voice of an entire civilization at the threshold of modernity.

When the British exiled him to Andalusia in 1914 for his nationalist poetry, the years in Spain only deepened his art. He walked the courtyards of the Alhambra, composed elegies for a lost Islamic golden age, and forged the pan-Arab poetic vision that would define a generation. Upon his return to Egypt in 1920, he entered his most transcendent period — turning from political verse to religious poetry praising the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, and to pioneering Arabic poetic drama.

In 1927, at a historic ceremony attended by King Fu'ad I and Prime Minister Sa'ad Zaghloul, Arab poets from across the region crowned Shawqi Amīr al-Shu'arā' — the Prince of Poets. No Arabic poet has held the title since. His verses were sung by Umm Kulthum and set to music by Mohammed Abdel Wahab. UNESCO celebrated his birth centenary in 1968. A statue in his honor stands in the gardens of Villa Borghese, Rome — the only Arab poet so honored in Europe.

Nahj al-Burda belongs to Shawqi's final, most spiritually refined period. It is collected in Al-Shawqiyyāt, his four-volume masterwork, and stands as the supreme modern expression of the Burda tradition — a bridge between the medieval devotional sublime and the full literary power of the Arabic renaissance.

The manuscript on display — a work created to be exhibited, studied, and treasured

The Craftsmanship

Every Detail, by Hand

This edition is modeled after a medieval Egyptian masterpiece from 804 AH — the work of the legendary calligrapher Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Sa'igh, preserved at the Egyptian National Library in Cairo. It presents the poem in the full constellation of classical Arabic calligraphic styles: Thuluth, Naskh, Rayhan, Tawqi', Muhaqqaq, Riqa', and Muselsel — seven historic scripts, revived for a new generation.

Unlike mass-produced facsimiles, every element of this book was made by hand — from the papermaking and burnishing to the ink formulation and leather tanning. Over years of labor by master artisans across Turkey, Egypt, and Lebanon went into its creation.

Grand folio format — 15″ × 22″ — on custom handmade paper with hand-tanned leather binding

The Master Artisans

Documented in the Shamsa

In the tradition of medieval Islamic manuscripts, a decorative rosette (shamsa) records every hand that shaped this work — a record for posterity.

Limited Edition

100 Copies Worldwide · No Reprints

This is not a book to be read and shelved. It is a museum-caliber work of art — a living document of a calligraphic tradition stretching back to the courts of the Mamluks. To hold it is to hold a piece of civilization itself.

Of the 100 numbered copies printed, 98 have already been placed with collectors and institutions worldwide. Only 2 copies remain available in the United States. There will be no second printing, no revised edition, no restocking. When these copies are gone, they are gone forever.

Original Mamluk-era calligraphic manuscripts routinely sell at Sotheby's and Christie's for $50,000 to $500,000 and beyond. This edition was produced using the same historic techniques, the same caliber of artisanship, inks infused with real precious metals — yet it is available at a fraction of what the originals command.