Ahmed Shawqi on Muhammad

“If my sin is too grave to be forgiven, Yet I have hope that God will grant me the best of refuges. When God the Savior appears in His terrible might, I will place my hope In Muhammad, the dispeller of cares and sorrows in this world and the next. When I lower the wing of submission before him, asking for the precious gift Of intercession, to him my request will be a paltry thing. And if the pious man comes before him with good deeds, I will present before him tears of remorse. I hereby cling to the door of Muhammad, the Prince of Prophets, For he who holds tight to the key of God’s door will prosper. For every act of virtue, charity, or favor, whether performed freely Or compelled, comes through him. I hereby grab tight to the rope of praise for him, which will avail me on a day When bonds of lineage and kinship are of no avail. My poetry, when I praise the Prophet, disdains Zuhayr’s, For the dew of Harim’s gifts cannot compare with the bounty that will pour down on me.”

“Glad tidings of the Guide and his birth spread east and west, Like light that penetrates the dark of night, It snatched the blood from Arab despots’ hearts, And put to flight the foreign tyrants’ souls. It so alarmed the battlements of Īwān Kisrá that they cracked, From the shock of truth, not the shock of bold warriors’ advance. When you came you found mankind in chaos, Like stone idols enthralled by stone idols, And the earth was filled with injustice And subjected to every despot who held sway over mankind. The Persian overlord oppressed his subjects, While pride left Rome’s Caesar blind and deaf to his people’s plight. They tortured God’s worshippers on false pretexts, And slaughtered them like sacrificial sheep. Among mankind, the strong shed the blood of the weak, Like lions killing sheep or whales killing minnows.”

“God conveyed you by night to the Farthest Mosque, Where His angels and Messengers stood gathered to receive you. When you strode in, they thronged around you, their master, Like stars around the full moon, or troops around their flag. Each one of noble station, they followed you in prayer, For whoever follows God’s beloved will triumph. Passing close by them, you traversed the heavens—or what lies above them— On a luminous mount with a bridle of pearl. Yours was a mount that, due to your might and dignity, has no equal Among swift steeds or hard-treading she-camels that leave traces on the ground. Burāq is of the Maker’s will and of His make, And God’s power is above all suspicion and doubt. Until you reached a heaven to which No wing can fly, no foot can walk. As if a voice had said, “Let every prophet stand according to his rank,” And, “O Muhammad, this is God’s throne, so touch it!” You have written out the sciences for both religion and the world, O reader of the Tablet! O holder of the Pen! Your mind comprehends the secrets of both religion and the world; The stores of science and knowledge were laid open before you. Your closeness to God has multiplied beyond reckoning The pendants of favor bestowed upon you, and the necklaces of grace.”

“Then ask the band of polytheists who were pasturing their herds round the cave (Who, except to pursue God’s Chosen One, would not have pastured there): Did they see the pure trace or hear the whisper Of voices glorifying God or reciting the Qurƒān? Did they think the spider’s web was a forest And the dappled doves that hovered there were vultures So that they turned back, cursed by the very ground they traversed, Like falsehood put to flight by the majesty of truth? But for God’s hand, the two companions would not have been safe; But for His watchful eye, the pillar of religion would not still stand. They were concealed and covered by the wing of God, And whoever is enfolded in God’s wing will not be harmed.”