Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba: Selected Poems
Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba: Selected Poems
Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba: Selected Poems
Islamic Literatures
texts and studies
Edited by
volume 2
Sana Camara
leiden | boston
Cover illustration: Bamba Composing Qaṣāʾid, (acrylic on canvas from the private collection of the author)
by Séni Mbaye (2014), reproduced with the artist’s permission. Séni Mbaye (b. 1952) is a native of Dakar,
Senegal, and works from his studio in Dakar’s Village des Arts. A self-taught painter and sculptor, he has
exhibited his work in Africa, the us, and Europe.
Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill-typeface.
issn 2214-6601
isbn 978-90-04-33918-7 (hardback)
isbn 978-90-04-33919-4 (e-book)
∵
Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Preface xi
Note on Orthography xv
Maps xviii
Introduction 1
Poems
1 aṣ-Ṣindīdi 47
2 Sabʿun Taqī 55
3 Nafaʿanī 61
4 Wajjahtu 65
Appendices 175
Glossary of Foreign Terms 185
Bibliography 191
List of Illustrations
Figures
Plates
1 Tafaa Seck Baye Fall, painting of Bamba and the Gabon Experience. Private
collection of art collector Baye Omar Keinde, Touba. Reproduced with the
permission of Tafaa Seck Baye Fall xiv
2 The Great Mosque of Touba, Touba, Senegal. Photo by the author xvi
Maps
c-1 aṣ-Ṣindīdi 48
c-2 Sabʿun Taqī 56
c-3 Nafaʿanī 62
c-4 Wajjahtu 66
c-5 Asīru maʿa l-Abrāri 72
c-6 Jāwartu Llāha bi-Kitābihi ilā Dukhūlīya Jannatahu 82
c-7 Mawāhibu n-Nāfiʿi fī Madāʾiḥi sh-Shāfiʿi 88
c-8 Tuḥfatu l-Mutaḍarriʿīna 106
c-9 Maṭlabu sh-Shifāʾi 114
Appendices
a-1 aṣ-Ṣindīdi [Reproduced with the kind permission of Imprimerie Daaray Borom
Touba] 175
a-2 Sabʿun Taqī [Reproduced with the kind permission of Ibrahima Diop, Minanul
Bakhil Khadim] 176
a-3 Nafaʿanī [Reproduced with the kind permission of Modou Dieng] 177
a-4 Wajjahtu [Reproduced with the kind permission of Bibliothèque Cheikhoul
Khadim / www.daaraykamil.com] 178
a-5 Asīru maʿa l-Abrāri [Reproduced with the kind permission of Bibliothèque
Cheikhoul Khadim / www.daaraykamil.com] 179
a-6 Jāwartu Llāha bi-Kitābihi ilā Dukhūlīya Jannatahu [Reproduced with the kind
permission of Bibliothèque Cheikhoul Khadim / www.daaraykamil.com] 180
a-7 Mawāhibu n-Nāfiʿi fī Madāʾiḥi sh-Shāfiʿi [Reproduced with the kind permission
of Bibliothèque Cheikhoul Khadim / www.daaraykamil.com] 181
a-8 Tuḥfatu l-Mutaḍarriʿīna [Reproduced with the kind permission of Imprimerie
Daaray Borom Touba] 182
a-9 Maṭlabu sh-Shifāʾi [Reproduced with the kind permission of Bibliothèque
Cheikhoul Khadim / www.daaraykamil.com] 183
Preface
on Wolof ʿAjamī, (Camara 1997) these alterations often take place when, either
through ignorance or an insufficient sensitivity for poetic language, the copy-
ist decides that current usage is more appropriate than poetic invention and
therefore substitutes his own choice of words for the original. There should
be an oversight of this process by attentive Murīd readers, who could give
adequate instructions to the copyists and printers in order to avoid corrup-
tions.
The critical introduction, which I hope will serve as a model of useful prac-
tice to scholars, examines the mystical background of Bamba’s thinking, and
his relation to Ṣūfī poetics and literature. In the commentary and notes, which
cover some familiar passages to scholars of Islam, I also offer my own inter-
pretations to help the reader understand a few obscure passages. The appen-
dices of the poems are grouped as follows in the Arabic version: aṣ-Ṣindīdi,
Sabʿun Taqī, Nafaʿanī, Wajjahtu, Asīru maʿa l-Abrāri, Jāwartu Llāha bi-Kitābihi
ilā Dukhūlīya Jannatahu, Mawāhibu n-Nāfiʿi fī Madāʾiḥi sh-Shāfiʿi, Tuḥfatu l-
Mutaḍarriʿīna and Maṭlabu sh-Shifāʾi. They were copied from manuscripts
believed to be the authentic versions of Bamba’s writings. They are made avail-
able to scholars for comparative purposes with respect to our translation and
interpretation. The reader will find at the end of the book, under the heading
“Glossary of Foreign Terms,” a lexicon of Wolof and Arabic words with a brief
explanatory note.
I take this opportunity to express my indebtedness to Thomas Hale at Penn
State University, Gregory Richter at Truman State University, and El Hadji
Samba Diallo at Washington University. Thomas Hale read the first two drafts
of the manuscript, even when the tasks of directing two theses, preparing a
seminar, and finishing a book were consuming much of his valuable time. I
have benefited from his comments and applied his instructions to improve
the manuscript. I cannot write any serious work without having my colleague
Gregory Richter give it a final touch. His encouragement and his input into my
work always save me from errors of interpretation, and give me the strength
to persevere. El Hadji Samba Diallo also read early copies of the draft and
made generous comments and helpful suggestions. I commend his dedication
to scholarship. I also owe immense gratitude to Jack and Sue Magruder, Richard
Coughlin, Julie Lochbaum, Diane S. Maddox, Seymour Patterson, and Patrick
Lobert for their financial support, their dedication, and commitment to this
project.
My sincere thanks go to Murīd calligrapher Modou Dieng, who assisted in
the preparation of the manuscript; he sketched the title pages in Arabic, the
poem Nafaʿanī and verses of Masālik al-jinān. I could have requested his fine
handwriting for the texts of all nine qaṣāʾid, but I reverted to the following local
preface xiii
Kirksville, Missouri
August 2016
xiv
plate 1 Tafaa Seck Baye Fall, painting of Bamba and the Gabon Experience.
private collection of art collector baye omar keinde, touba.
reproduced with the permission of tafaa seck baye fall
Note on Orthography
I have used Wolof spelling for most of the names and places related to Wolof
culture. With the exception of the Arabicized names of Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba
and Mūsā Ka, names like Ammari Ngóone Ndeela, Sheikh Ànta Mbàkke, Lat-
Joor Jóob, Tëngéej, and Ndakaaru bear the stamp of Wolof orthography with
diacritics where needed. The surnames Mbàkke, Faal and Sàll are transcribed in
Wolof throughout. In Wolof, each letter represents one sound. The consonant
c is a voiceless palatal stop similar in sound to the palatal ch in “chest”. The
consonant x is a voiceless velar fricative as in the German pronunciation
of Bach, and similar to h in “hard”. I have used French orthography for the
names of French personalities like Louis Brière de l’ Isle, Émile Pinet-Laprade,
François Valière, and the pejorative term, Tirailleurs Sénégalais, coined by
French colonial authorities. The names of a few Senegalese who contributed
to the success of this book have also been written in French; Séni Mbaye, Sidy
Dièye, Modou Dieng and Abdoulaye Touré.
1 The transliteration system of the International Journal of Middle East Studies can be found
at: https://ijmes.chass.ncsu.edu/IJMES_Translation_and_Transliteration_Guide.htm
xvi
map 1 Map of the kingdoms of Senegambia between the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries.
author: cartographer sidy dièye (ucad) geographer, gis
specialist. reproduced with kind permission
maps xix
It has been more than a century since the scion of an influential and literary
family sparked the fire of Muslim culture in Senegal, strongly influencing the
thought and daily activities of its people. The guide, believed infallible by
his followers, was Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba (1853–1927), the central figure of
the Murīd Ṣūfī order (ṭarīqa) and its literature. Bamba was a productive lyric
poet (shāʿir) who grew up under the influence of eminent local scholars in an
atmosphere favorable to the development of his literary genius (Babou 2007:
135–136). His magnetic personality won him loyal followers in the Wolof states
(see Creevey 1979).
At the early stages of the Murīdiyya, a small group of aspirants disposed
toward Bamba decided to live in close proximity to him as his chief interme-
diaries. Together, they defined a set of core values new aspirants should abide
by in order to validate their allegiance to Bamba. The most remarkable were
Ibra Faati and Sheikh Ànta, both Bamba’s younger brothers, and his close as-
sociates Abdou Rahmane Lo, Ibrahima Saar, and Sheikh Ibra Faal (1858–1930)
(Bachir Mbacké 1995; Lucy Creevey 1979). Although most of them were dedi-
cated to teaching the essentials of the faith of Islam, Sheikh Ibra Faal, Bamba’s
closest companion, was skilled in training new converts on total submission
and deferential manners toward Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba, and also on giving
work precedence over idleness. He preached the Murīd path so ardently that
he was once believed to be a mad man (Guèye 2002; Babou 2007). From his
successful leadership and loyalty to Bamba, Wolof poet Mūsā likened him to
Abū Bakr, the first companion of the Prophet Muḥammad (Àdduna ndax day
bëgg a jeex, n.d.). Today Bamba’s charisma and Sheikh Ibra’s inspiring example
continue to excite the interest of adherents of the order, now estimated at four
million beyond Senegal.
To understand contemporary Senegal, one must examine it in the context of
history and in particular the Islamic tradition which dates from the eleventh
century. The kingdom of Takrūr, along the middle valley of the Senegal River,
known to the Arabs at the time as Bilād al-Takrūr (The Land of Takrūr) was
ruled by Waar Jaabi (d. 1040), who adopted Islam and established a sharīʿa
code as the law for his subjects (Levtzion and Pouwels 2000: 77; Trimingham
1962). The expansion of Islamic doctrine throughout Senegal led to the erec-
tion of several mosques (masjid) and schools (madāris) as symbols of the
growing faith. Even non-Muslim rulers built courts to administer Islamic law.
In the nineteenth century, al-Ḥājj ʿUmar al-Fūtī (1793–1864) embarked on a
jihād of the sword ( jihād al-sayf ) to fight European intrusion and the infi-
are understood to hold many more poems that are slowly being made public
on Murīd websites. Popular culture everywhere affirms that Bamba’s works
were numerous—he was said to have written “seven [metric] tons of verse,” so
remarkably much that only the ocean is large enough to hold it all. Although
critics might remain skeptical regarding this assertion, there is little doubt
about the abundance and the quality of his literary production as given by
Mūsā Ka:
It is based upon such exegeses that readers can understand how precious these
few poems are to Murīds.
The first four pieces, aṣ-Ṣindīdi, Sabʿun Taqī, Nafaʿanī, and Wajjahtu, were
first translated into French by late Professor Amar Samb (d. 1987), former chair
of the Department of Islamic Studies at Institut Fondamental d’ Afrique Noire
(ifan). Asīru maʿa l-Abrāri, Jāwartu Llāha bi-Kitābihi ilā Dukhūlīya Jannatahu,
and Mawāhibu n-Nāfiʿi fī Madāʾiḥi sh-Shāfiʿi were translated by Pape K. Seck.
Tuḥfatu l-Mutaḍarriʿīna and Maṭlabu sh-Shifāʾi were translated by Moussa Ndi-
aye. I based my English renderings on the translations of these respected schol-
ars of Arabic literature, which I hope do not misrepresent Bamba’s originals
in any significant way. There are relatively varied translations in French and
English of these qaṣāʾid on Murīd websites. The formulation of Sheikh Ahmadu
Bamba’s beliefs may be synthesized in these qaṣāʾid but they do not elucidate
the full range of his poetic imagination. Most of them are hymns of praise
(madīḥ) to the qualities of Allāh and the Prophet Muḥammad (ca. 570–632),
and professions of faith (shahāda) showing how to realize the precepts found
in the Qurʾān (see Dièye 1997).
The goal of this volume is to make Bamba’s poetry accessible to an audi-
ence not familiar with the important role Murīd literary traditions have played
in Senegalese society, but also to make the urgency of such a study appar-
ent. Murīd faithful, for example, look to Bamba’s enlightened teachings and
examples of courage as they face the rigors of their own, often perilously dif-
ficult lives (Diouf 2000; Roberts and Roberts 2003). Mamadou Diouf observes
that “The miracles that accompanied the exiles (of Bamba), in particular the
exile in Gabon and the sojourn in Mayumba, constitute the library on which
Murīds draw in order to make sense of their project of accumulation, the diffi-
6 introduction
culties involved in their travel through the world, and their promised success”
(2000: 699). The qaṣāʾid known to the Murīd collective consciousness as the
“Poems of the Seaway” (Yoonu géej gi in Wolof), reflect the spiritual warfare
Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba undertook to fight the French cultural control of the
Senegalese community. As Mamadou Diouf points out, “According to Murīd
intellectuals, the search for a modern interpretation of the founder’s message
is voicing an urgent need not only to emphasize the Islamic orthodoxy of the
Murīd message but also to propose a theological and philosophical version of
it that is accessible and acceptable to both the West and the East” (2000: 701).
Thus these poems are further commented upon and explicated in the notes
and commentary, which provide details on the names of people and places,
supply cross-references to the Qurʾān and throw light on some obscure pas-
sages to illustrate Bamba’s ideas.
Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba Mbàkke was born in 1853 in Mbàkke Bawol, the village
founded 145km northeast of Ndakaaru by his great-grandfather Muḥammad
al-Khayr (also known as Maam Maaram; ca. 1703–1802) in the kingdom of
Bawol, which was located in the central western part of Senegal, southwest
of the kingdom of Kajoor and northwest of the kingdoms of Siin and Saalum.
Habīb Allāh, also known as Maam Bàlla Aysa and the immediate grandfather
of Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba, became the third successor of Maam Maaram in
the village of Mbàkke Bawol. But the majority of the village disciples opposed
his leadership. As the balance of power was becoming fragile, Maam Bàlla Aysa
decided to move from Mbàkke Bawol and migrate to Saalum on the north bank
of the Gambia, where he was killed by a robber two years after his settlement
(Babou 2007: 40). David Robinson goes as far as blaming this death on Màbba
Diakhou Ba (1809–1867), the jihādist ruler of Saalum, whose “invasions of the
Wolof kingdoms resulted in the death of Bamba’s grandfather and the forced
deportation of Momar Ànta Sali and his young son to the Rip” (2000: 210).
The French who had invested their fortunes in Senegal were concerned about
safeguarding their interests in the face of Màbba Diakhou Ba’s growing power.
Thus they began to draw the local rulers into war.
In 1854, General Louis Faidherbe (1818–1889), a military engineer from Lille,
was appointed the French governor of Senegal until 1861—an office he assumed
once again from 1863 to 1865. Once in service, he began his military conquest
of new territories, establishing fortified trading posts along his paths in the
interests of French commercial policy, and envisioning a colonial empire that
introduction 7
would stretch from Senegal to the Red Sea. Faidherbe mobilized his forces
and defeated the Trarza Moors who controlled the gum trade with the state
of Waalo at the northwestern border of Senegal. He then annexed Waalo. He
formed an alliance with the rulers who were hostile to al-Ḥājj ʿUmar al-Fūtī’s
religious ideology and imperialist motives and erected military posts in the
Fuuta Tooro states of Medin (1855), Maatam (1857), and Salde (1859). He formed
a new battalion of local soldiers that he named the Tirailleurs Sénégalais (1857),
with whom he engaged in battles with the forces of al-Ḥājj ʿUmar al-Fūtī
and forced them to migrate to his Muslim state in the east (see Barry 1998;
Robinson 2000). For the ensuing one hundred years or so French colonial
administrators were able to realize their political and economic programs
in Senegal and the interior. Governor Faidherbe and his successors found it
necessary to proceed with their wars of conquest against the Senegambian
states, where resistance began to emerge, in order to consolidate their strategic
positions.
In the wake of the crusade of al-Ḥājj ʿUmar al-Fūtī aimed at making the
whole Senegambian region Islamic, Màbba Diakhou Ba planned in the 1860s to
expand the vision of his master by seizing the Wolof states of Bawol and Kajoor,
after gaining control of much of Saalum and the Gambian northern borders.
In order to preserve the integrity of northern Senegambia under the banner
of Islam, Màbba Diakhou managed to rally formidable forces around him. He
was ultimately joined by rulers like Alburi Njaay (d. 1902) of Jolof, Makoddu
Kumba Faal (d. 1863) and Lat Joor Jóob (1842–1886) of Kajoor, all sovereigns
ousted the French authorities. As a result, Màbba Diakhou grew confident
about the scope of his power and took it upon himself to force the clerics of
Bawol, Jolof, and Kajoor to migrate to Saalum (see Klein 1968; Barry 1998). Thus
Momar Ànta Sali (b. ca. 1820), born Muhammad Mbàkke, the father of Sheikh
Ahmadu Bamba and the successor of Maam Bàlla Aysa, had no alternative after
the death of his father but to do service for Màbba Diakhou as a teacher and
consultant.
Momar Ànta Sali was born in Mbàkke Bawol. He began his education in
Arabic and read the Qurʾān with his uncle Gàmmu Kan in Njaa Kan. He was
accepted at the famous center of knowledge in Kokki (Luga Region), where he
excelled in Islamic studies under the guidance of Masàmba Ànta Jóob. From
Kokki, he headed to Saalum and studied Islamic law and other subjects with
Sheikh Muhammad Sàll, a native of the village of Bamba, to which Bamba owes
his name (see Mbacké 1995). Momar Ànta Sali began his career in teaching
to improve his pedagogical skills. After he had mastered jurisprudence, he
became a professional Islamic judge (qāḍi). He was first appointed by Màbba
Diakhou to share his insights into legal matters ( fiqh) and to adjudicate the
8 introduction
disputes that would arise among the supreme ruler’s subjects over custody,
alimony, common property issues, and criminal or divorce cases. Although his
primary responsibility was a judicial one, Momar Ànta Sali was also charged
with the guidance of public morals and the teaching of the aristocrats’ children,
among whom was Sayer Mati Ba (1863–1897), the son of Màbba Diakhou. He
chose the village of Poroxaan situated a few kilometers southwest of Màbba
Diakhou’s capital of Ñooro as his place of residence while performing his
official duties in Saalum (Babou 2007).
In 1865, Màbba Diakhou became emboldened by his triumph over the pow-
erful forces of the two-term French governor of Senegal, Émile Pinet-Laprade
(1822–1869), at the famous battle of Paate Bajaan at the village of Pawoskoto,
northwest of Ñooro; he later decided to conquer the kingdoms of Siin, which
had rejected his call for conversion. He was defeated at the battle of Fàndan-
Cuucuun, commonly known as the battle of Somb, and killed on the spot by the
troops of Kumba Ndóoféen Juuf in 1867 (Klein 1968). Faced with uncertainty
and a conflict of political interests, Lat Joor seized the opportunity of Màbba
Diakhou’s death to return to Kajoor and form a new coalition with the French
administration in the hope of being proclaimed king again and rising to promi-
nence throughout Kajoor (Barry 1998). With the support of Governor François
Valière (1826–1886), Lat Joor regained his power as Dammel of Kajoor on July 15,
1870, and prevailed over Momar Ànta Sali to join him and provide his services
as qāḍi and counselor. Lat Joor invited him to settle with his family in the village
of Paataar, between Kokki Guy and Cilmaxa, the Dammel’s residence.
Momar Ànta Sali wielded immense influence over Lat Joor and helped
actively in his reinstatement as Dammel. His close ties to Lat Joor were not
altogether fortuitous in the eyes of the French administration, which described
the cleric as a troublemaker whose actions were believed to be abetting a jihād
against the ceddo (those who followed their own traditional beliefs). Despite
his aversion to radical politics, Momar Ànta Sali had now become a political
and ecclesiastical authority in the court of Lat Joor. Drawing on Bachir Mbacké
(1895–1966), the third son and biographer of Bamba, John Glover stresses that
the implicit motivation for the close collaboration between Momar Ànta Sali
and Lat Joor “was a fulfillment of his religious duties and [a belief] that helping
Lat Joor stay on the path of Islam would earn him a great reward in the
hereafter” (2007: 66). Momar Ànta Sali finally moved to central Kajoor in 1880
and founded the academic institute of Mbàkke Kajoor with the objective of
making his imprint first and foremost as a Muslim cleric. He was well provided
with subsidies and equipment by the Dammel, and joined in matrimony with
honorable aristocratic women like Coro Maarooso Jóob (Lat Joor’s niece), Isa
Jóob (his former wife), and Absa Jahate (a sister of the renowned qāḍi, Majahate
introduction 9
Kala [d. 1902]) (Babou 2007). This was after Lat Joor had joined forces with
Governor Valière to fight against the Tijānī jihādist Amadu Madiyu (also known
as Amadu Sheikhu Ba) of Wuro Madiyu in 1875 at the battle of Sàmba Saajo near
the village of Kokki. Amadu Madiyu was killed with hundreds of his followers
and the Madiyanke religious expansion came to a full stop. Their survivors were
enslaved and their possessions confiscated under the watchful eyes of the qāḍi
Majahate Kala and Momar Ànta Sali, now obliged to resolve a critical question
grounded in the books of tradition (see Robinson 2000).
The crucial wording of the qāḍi’s instructions was unfavorable to the
defeated jihādists. Momar Ànta Sali in his closing arguments stated that the
charges against Amadu Madiyu and his followers were in part justified because
they allegedly committed the crime of pretending to convert people who were,
or had already made themselves Muslim. But he ruled against the enslavement
of the survivors and the holding of their belongings as they were all Mus-
lim. Not satisfied with such an injunction from Momar Ànta Sali, the rulers
seemingly kept pressure on the qāḍi Majahate Kala instructing him to impugn
the captives’ character and bring a more severe charge against them. Unlike
Momar Ànta Sali, he contended that the argument put forward by Amadu
Madiyu, proclaiming himself the new Prophet, excluded him and his followers
from the Muslim community. As a result, the rulers of Kajoor felt justified in
confiscating their possessions and enslaving the survivors. The young Sheikh
Ahmadu Bamba was of the opinion that the victors had orchestrated false
charges against Amadu Madiyu in an attempt to mislead the prosecuting qāḍi,
who would not accept such heretical pronouncements as self-prophecy from
anyone after Muḥammad, Khātim al-anbiyāʾ (Seal of the Prophets), had closed
the cycle. Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba warned his father of the dire consequences
of associating with the Dammel, whose ulterior motives remained unclear to
his Muslim subjects. Lat Joor raided and killed the Muslims who had enthusi-
astically backed the jihādist expansion of Amadu Madiyu; among them were
four notable marabouts of Njàmbur (Glover 2007: 69).
After giving consideration to his son’s warning and evaluating the Dammel’s
deeds as sacrilegious, Momar Ànta Sali resigned from his position as qāḍi
and returned to Mbàkke Bawol. Before his death in 1883, he called in Sheikh
Ahmadu Bamba and entrusted him with the care and protection of the whole
family (Robinson 2000). It now devolved upon Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba, said to
be the perfect man (al-insān al-kāmil), to serve the cause of the Mbàkke lin-
eage and show the ideological content of his creative work, which would be
consonant with his own conduct founded upon the example of the Prophet
Muḥammad. His faithful demeanor was best described by Coulon. “A zealous
follower of the Muslim style of mysticism (taṣawwuf ), Ahmad Bamba’s reli-
10 introduction
gious style was never that of either a fanatic or a demagogue. He was rather
known for his deep piety, passing most of his time in prayer or religious retreats
(khalwa), living according to the classic Ṣūfī ethic of withdrawal from the affairs
of the world. He was utterly without political ambition” (1998: 197).
There were three children older than Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba on his father’s
side and one on his mother’s side, a brother named Momar Jaara (see Babou
2007; Mbacké 1995). His mother, Maryam Buso (1833–1866), also known as
Jāriyyatu llāh (God’s close friend) or Maam Jaara Buso, was a fervent Muslim
who never failed to fulfill her religious duties (Mbacké 1995: 15; Dièye 1997: 15).
In her article, “Mam Diarra Bousso, la bonne mère de Porokhane,” (2003) Eva
E. Rosander has provided a rich interpretation of legends built around Sheikh
Ahmadu Bamba’s mother. Many of the tales she gathered from Murīd disci-
ples, mostly women, endowed the character of Maam Jaara with saintly pro-
portions, which bear a resemblance to the moral and religious values upheld
by her son. Maam Jaara is celebrated as the central figure that made woman-
hood a representative body in the functional social structure of the Murīds.
Women look up to her as their role model. As Rosander writes, “The obedi-
ence and absolute helpfulness of Maam Jaara in the marriage and the family
group were awarded with the birth of a son who became a prophet, often
named Rasūl and Khādim al-Rasūl, and also a religious leader. Maam Jaara
has become for Murīd women the model of hope and motherhood as a wife.”
(313)
Rosander draws certainly on the Wolof notion that a well-married mother
contributes to the good fortune of her son. In this register, the ethical virtue
and spirituality that characterize Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba should be read as
matriarchal, as Abdoulaye Bara Diop writes,
The Wolofs believe that the fate of the child—as well as his physical and
mental health, his social success, his happiness—depends on the conduct
of the mother. They have this notion of ndey-ju-liggéey, the “mother who
has done good work,” meaning a model wife. A woman whose conduct is
irreproachable vis-à-vis her husband will have children who succeed: in
this case, the comportment of the father is not taken into consideration.
2012: 23
At the age of seven, Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba was sent to his maternal uncle,
Muḥammad Buso, to study the Qurʾān. After elementary schooling, he was dis-
patched to his granduncle, Tafsīr Mbàkke Ndumbe and continued his studies.
When the young Bamba returned home, he continued to seek academic per-
fection (see Mbacké 1995; Dièye 1997: 16).
As a youth Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba went past the requirements expected
of a twelve-year old, already knowing by heart most of the Qurʾān and the
ḥadīth, which he held in high esteem. For advanced studies, “he focused on
the ʿulūm al-dīn, or religious learning, which consisted of: Qurʾānic exegesis, or
tafsīr; ḥadīth, or traditions of Prophet Muḥammad; fiqh, or Islamic jurispru-
dence; taṣawwuf, or Islamic mysticism; sīra, or biography and hagiography of
Prophet Muḥammad; and the ʿulūm al-ʿarabiyya, or sciences of the Arabic lan-
guage including naḥw (grammar), lugha (lexicography), balāgha (use of the
language), and shiʿr (poetry)” (Babou 2007: 58). His education also included
a private reading of the aphorisms and maxims (al-ḥikām) of the Egyptian
scholar Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh (d. 1309), some of which were interpreted in his man-
ual, Pathways to Paradise (Masālik al-Jinān; 1885–1886). Along the same vein,
he versified the treatises of the Persian scholar Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad al-
Ghazālī (ca. 1058–1111), Abū al-Ḥasan al-Shādhilī (1197–1258), Muḥammad ibn
Sulaymān al-Jazūlī (d. 1465), and Abū Ṭālib al-Makkī (d. 998), the author of
the Qūt al-Qulūb (The Nourishment of Hearts), which influenced the writing
of al-Ghazālī’s Ihyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn (The Revival of Religious Learning). Bamba
also read the works of Khalīl ibn Isḥāq al-Jundī (d. 1374), Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī al-
ʿUjaymī (d. 1702), and Ibn Khaldūn (d. 1406). Though he followed the model of
Muḥammad al-Ghazālī in Pathways to Paradise, Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba was
directly impacted by Muḥammad al-Yadālī (d. 1753) of Mauritania, drawing
upon his Seal of Sūfism (Khātimat al-Taṣawwuf ), (Mbacké 1995: 111). Bamba
lived in Mauritania with Sheikh Sīdiyya Bāba (1862–1924); he probably visited
the land of Chinguetti (Shinqīṭ), once considered the seventh holiest place
in the Islamic world, and met with his contemporary Aḥmad ibn al-Amīn
al-Shinqīṭī (1863–1913). Sīdiyya Bāba introduced Bamba to the zawāyā clerisy
(family savants), and to the rich heritage of Arabic manuscripts from foreign
sources or written by Mauritanian scholars (Robinson 2000; Dièye 1997). It is
believed that the philosopher Ibn Rushd (known in the West as Averroës, 1126–
1198) wrote a complete manuscript on grammar entitled What Is Necessary in
the Making of Grammar, now in Mauritania (Werner 2003). According to his
biographer Mūsā Ka, Bamba often exchanged letters of theological interest
with the zawāyā clerics; he was complimented by another prominent cleric of
Trarza, Sheikh Sād Būh (ca. 1850–1917), who composed a qaṣīda in which he
addressed Bamba as an accomplished scholar (Kamara 2008: 120). The works
12 introduction
of the Timbuktu scholar Sheikh al-Mukhtār ibn Aḥmad al-Kuntī (1729–1811) are
also widespread in Mauritania. al-Kuntī was a leading Qādiriyya cleric whose
authority was acknowledged by all Qādir Sheikhs in the Western Sahara region.
Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba often quoted his al-Kawkab al-Waqqād (The Luminous
Planet) (see Babou 2007; Mbacké 1995). The works of Muḥammad al-Maghili (d.
ca. 1505) of Algeria, and Muḥammad ibn Abi Jamra of Andalucia, who authored
a commentary of Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, entitled Bahjat al-Nufūs, were also familiar
to Bamba.
Due to their thirst for reading, Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba and al-Ḥājj Mālik Sy
of the Tijāniyya order in Tiwaawan, ninety-two km east of Ndakaaru, were in
an indirect relationship with ʿAbdu l-Karīm Murād, a merchant from Morocco
who edited and supplied books to clerics all over West Africa, and in so doing,
was described by the French administration as a moving library (Diallo 2010:
53). Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba invested hours reading the treatises of Abū Rayḥān
al-Bīrūnī (973–1048), the versatile Persian scholar who excelled in almost all sci-
entific disciplines. al-Bīrūnī knew physics, mathematics, and astronomy and
was conversant in major languages of his era, including Greek, Arabic, and
Hebrew. As he was aware of al-Bīrūnī’s voluminous correspondence with his
contemporary, Abū ʿAlī ibn Sīnā (known in the West as Avicenna, 980–1037),
Bamba was set on absorbing much of the latter’s philosophical and scien-
tific concepts. Abū ʿAlī ibn al-Haytham (965–1039) who rejected the Greek
astronomical model established by Ptolemy also received his attention. So did
Muḥammad al-Khwārizmī (ca. 780–850). Thus Bamba’s reading was as exten-
sive in ancient as in late Arabic belles-lettres (adab-i ʿarab) as claimed by Bachir
Mbacké, who wrote in Arabic Bamba’s hagiography, Minan al-Bāqi al-Qadīm fī
Sīrat al-Shaykh al-Khadīm in the 1930s, which Khadim Mbacké translated into
French (1995).
In his expositions of Islamic or Ṣūfī philosophy, Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba was
drawn to the writings of Muḥammad al-Ghazālī who authored the Intentions
of the Philosophers (Maqāṣid al-Falāsifa), the Standard of Knowledge in Log-
ics (Miʿyār al-ʿIlm fī Fann al-Manṭiq), and the Incoherence of the Philosophers,
or Collapse of the Philosophers (Tahāfut al-Falāsifa), in which the nominalist
scholar refuted the Neoplatonic concepts formulated by Abū Naṣr al-Fārābī
(ca. 878–950) and Ibn Sīnā, and by Aristotle. al-Ghazālī treated the Aristotelian
Islamic philosophers like heretics (zindīq) who were basically misled in their
conceptual approaches to physics and metaphysics, especially in their claim
of the pre-eternity of the world. al-Ghazālī argued with the Arab Neoplaton-
ists in the form of twenty dialogues seeking to prove their inconsistency and
incoherence. He disclaimed as invalid the position of the Neoplatonists that
the world was eternal, which implied that God was not behind its creation.
introduction 13
Although al-Ghazālī was of Plato’s view that the world was created in time, he
rebutted the notion that God did not complete the creation at once (see Fakhry
1999). Rather, he shared the position of the dogmatic Arab philosopher, Yaʿqūb
ibn Isḥāq al-Ṣabbāḥ al-Kindī (795–866), and indeed of the majority of Muslim
theologians (mutakallimūn), that the existence of God rested on the creation of
the world in time, an argument simply grounded in the authority of revelation
(waḥī; ilhām). According to Frank Griffel, “al-Ghazālī’s reports of philosophical
teachings are short and precise. His counterarguments make productive use of
the kalām (theology) technique of ‘exhaustive investigation and disjunction’
(al-ṣabr wa-l-taqsīm), where the consequences or implications of an adversary
position are fully investigated and individually discussed and, in this case, dis-
missed and refuted one by one” (2009: 99).
In the thirteenth dialogue of Incoherence, al-Ghazālī reflects on Ibn Sīnā’s
postulation that God only knows of universals and not of temporally created
particulars or individuals. al-Ghazālī finds such an argument erroneous in that
it has no supporting basis and limits the power of divine knowledge to a relative
measure, whereas the Qurʾān stipulates the opposite in many passages like
the following about Allāh “From Whom is not hidden / the least little atom
/ in the heavens or on earth” (34 [Sabāʾ]: 3). al-Ghazālī also condemned the
Neoplatonists who denied the resurrection of the body and failed to provide
persuasive arguments on the immortality of the soul. He found absurd and
inconclusive the arguments they developed and recommended that they rely
on the epistemology of revelation that God had already granted to prophets
through the narratives of Scripture (Griffel 2009). The Qurʾān states that when
all of humans have vanished, Allāh will resurrect them in body and soul, and
judge them by the record of their deeds. The righteous will be rewarded with
the delights of heaven and the wicked will burn in a fire whose fuel is men and
stones. In conjunction with the theologians, al-Ghazālī could not tolerate the
rational or allegorical interpretations of the Neoplatonic philosophers which
were detrimental to the authority of revelation. Given al-Ghazālī’s objections
and injunctions, the study of philosophy seemed to have lost much of its
impact among Muslims. It is thus understandable, in light of the decline of
philosophy within Islamic institutions, that Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba is best
described as a conservative epitomist rather than a polemical philosopher in
his religious treatises: most cultivators of Islam disavow the power of reason
(ʿaql) to articulate concepts relating to sacred matters like the essence of God,
the relation of the finite to the infinite, or of cause to effect (Fakhry 1999; Griffel
2009).
Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba then began to write his versified treatise Pathways
to Paradise, which covers almost all fields of Islamic studies. In this much cel-
14 introduction
The color of the skin should in no way make a man a complete idiot
lacking in understanding.
vv. 45–49
The early key to Murīd economic success was in the extensive production
of peanuts initiated by French officials in the 1840s (Robinson 2000: 3), which
ultimately “became wedded to mass religious instruction and helped finance a
number of religious projects, such as mosque construction and pilgrimage to
Mecca” (Ross 2006: 174). In the 1970s, Senegal was devastated by catastrophic
drought from the absence of rains. Peanut harvests failed across much of
Senegal. When the agricultural crisis could not be averted, Murīd farmers felt
pushed to the edge, and decided to move into the urban regions of Senegal and
the major financial cities the world over as street vendors or workers (Carter
1997: 47). In his critical appraisal of Murīd business activities, Mamadou Diouf
argues,
Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba is known to have been affiliated to the Tijāniyya, Shād-
hiliyya and Qādiriyya Ṣūfī orders before he received the revelation to found
his own independent order known as the Murīdiyya (Mbacké 1995: 142–142;
Dièye, 1997: 17; Mbacké 2005: 54). The Tijāniyya order was founded by Abū l-
ʿAbbās Aḥmad al-Tijānī (1737–1815) in his native Algeria. The Shādhiliyya order
is attributed to Abū l-Ḥasan al-Shādhilī (d. 1197–1258) of Morocco, and the
Qādiriyya order to ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī (1077–1116), a native of Iran. Bamba
absorbed the main body of these orders’ doctrine and principles and followed
instructions on the wird (recitation formulas) assigned by each order. Accord-
ing to Abdoulaye Dièye, “he went beyond them toward the fundamental light,
the divine sun, and achieved his pact with Muḥammad, the master of masters”
(Dièye 1997: 17–18). This was made explicit by Bamba in Pathways to Paradise:
“The mention of the name of God marks the beginning of holiness and its aban-
donment is the highest degree of bewilderment” (v. 304).
Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba then began a very active career as a full-fledged
cleric. His fame and stature extended throughout the Wolof states. Political
and military events were shaking the country to its foundations, displacing or
dismantling the local rulers under French colonial administration. In search of
new ways, many of the rulers’ subjects, whether ceddo or Muslim, eschewed
introduction 17
the prevailing ethos of the French cultural order (Crowder 1967), and took shel-
ter with the prestigious cleric. These were mostly people disenchanted with the
moral authority of local and colonial rulers; they began to feel, given Sheikh
Ahmadu Bamba’s high moral disposition, that he was the repository of the eso-
teric knowledge bestowed upon renowned Ṣūfī saints. They gathered around
him and he initiated them in the way of remembrance of Allāh (dhikr). He
stressed a pedagogy including upbringing and guidance (tarbiya), and teach-
ing (taʿlīm) (Babou 2007). He exhorted them to return to the Holy Book and
the ḥadīth. No doubt the initiation process involved the application of the
mystical doctrines in al-Makkī’s Qūt al-Qulūb (Mbacké 1995), and the famous
“Eight Rules of Junayd,” named after the Ṣūfī master of Baghdad, Abū l-Qāsim
al-Junayd ibn Muḥammad al-Khazzāz (d. 910), which were predicated on the
following: (1) ritual purity (dawām al-wuḍūʾ); (2) spiritual withdrawal (dawām
al-khalwa); (3) fasting (dawām al-ṣawm); (4) silence (dawām al-sukūt); (5) rec-
ollection of Allāh (dawām al-dhikr); (6) rejecting stray thoughts (dawām nafi al-
khawāṭir); (7) binding the heart to the master (dawām rabṭ al-qalb bi-l-shaykh);
(8) surrender to Allāh and the master (dawām tark al-iʿtirād ʿalā Llāh wa-ʿalā l-
shaykh) (Karamustafa 2007: 120). Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba imparted his wisdom
to a whole group of attentive aspirants who were submissive to his authority
and strove to follow his example, and upon whom he ultimately conferred the
title of Sheikh in the villages of Daaru Salaam and Touba (see Babou 2007: 101–
102).
The village of Touba was established in 1888 (Guèye 2002: 15), when Sheikh
Ahmadu Bamba experienced divine revelations for the founding of the holy
site. There have been several interpretations as to the meaning of the word
Touba. The English translation of the Holy Qurʾān (1989) by ʿAbd Allāh Yūsuf
ʿAlī, which I will cite throughout the volume, reads like this: “For those who
believe / and work righteousness, / is (every) blessedness [my italics], / and a
beautiful place / of (final) return” (13 [al-Raʿd]: 29). Thus Touba is symbolic of
bliss and the source of happiness. It is also believed that the word Touba refers
to the gigantic Lote-tree known as Sidrat al-Muntahā in the seventh heaven,
where the Prophet Muḥammad saw Ibrāhīm during his Night Journey (al-Isrāʾ)
(Dièye 1997: 39–46). The tree represents life and death. Names are recorded on
each leaf of the tree representing the diary of a person’s deeds. Murīd disciples
have used the village of Touba as the earthly manifestation of the celestial
Touba, and rely on the intercession of Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba for their passage
through Judgment and into Paradise (Ross 1995: 223–224). According to Murīd
traditions, the holy village of Touba was founded in the wilderness beneath
a giant tree called mbéb (gum-plant, sterculia setigera), where the Angel Jibrīl
guided Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba into his spiritual attainment and closeness to
18 introduction
Allāh. Bamba built his village near the mbéb tree and marked the spots for his
burial, his great mosque, and his school and library. He first built a house he
named Touba, which later became the name of the whole village that has now
become the second largest urban area in Senegal (Babou 2007: 72; see Ross 2006:
20, citing Dièye).
The early development of the Murīdiyya order in Touba did not alarm French
colonial authorities as it seemingly posed no immediate threat to their politi-
cal hegemony over much of the country. Opposition to the expansion of the
order first came from among the local chiefs and clerics, who felt that Sheikh
Ahmadu Bamba was exploiting their subjects and depleting their major eco-
nomic resources. Some of the chiefs lodged their complaints with the French
administration under false pretenses and warned of an Islamic holy war loom-
ing large on the horizon, threatening the very foundation of the colonial power
(Robinson 2000: 214). The French saw no alternative but to keep close watch
on Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba’s suspicious activities. They prepared the way for a
more hierarchical and elaborate colonial regime, which in 1895 took the name
of gouvernement-général, and the chiefs provided much of the push for the
arrest and exile of Bamba, with the help of their defender, Martial Merlin (1860–
1935), who was respectively director of political affairs, secretary-general of the
federation, and governor general (Robinson 2000: 215–216).
On August 10, 1895, Merlin gave the order for the arrest of Sheikh Ahmadu
Bamba in an attempt to undermine his moral authority and spiritual legiti-
macy. In September, the French authorities exiled Bamba and Sàmba Lawbe
Penda Njaay, the Buurba of Jolof, to Gabon (Babou 2007: 76). The French
were implementing their gradual policy of suppression of the African chiefs
in all areas of resistance throughout the colony. As early as 1844, Governor
Louis Édouard Bouët-Willaumez (1808–1871) arrested Mukhtār Sīdī, an emir of
Brakna in southwest Mauritania, and exiled him to Gabon (Robinson, Curtin
and Johnson 1972: 586). In 1892, Colonel Alfred-Amédée Dodds (1842–1922),
commander of the French colonial soldiers, invaded Dahomey (present-day
Benin) and deposed King Béhanzin (1844–1906), who was sent into exile to Mar-
tinique and later died in Algeria. In 1894, the French authorities appointed his
brother Prince Goutchile, also known as Agoli-Agbo, to succeed Béhanzin as
the next king of Dahomey. He too was removed and exiled to Gabon in 1900
(see Ross 1971). Samory Touré (1830–1900), the emperor of the Wasulu, which
included the Mande-speaking states of Western Sudan (Guinea, Mali, Sierra
Leone, Liberia, Côte-d’Ivoire, Ghana), was opposed to colonial expansion and
fought the French as early as 1883. After long years of resistance, Samory Touré
was finally captured in a surprise attack by the forces of Captain Gouraud on
the upper reaches of the Cavalla River on September 29, 1898 and sent into
introduction 19
exile to Gabon, where he died of pneumonia in 1900 (Isichei 1977: 189; Guèye
and Boahen 1985).
Samory Touré is all the more interesting insofar as it is believed by con-
temporary Murīds that he not only died on the outskirts of Mayumba, on the
Atlantic Ocean coast of Gabon, but he pledged allegiance to Sheikh Ahmadu
Bamba before his death. He did so in the arms of Bamba, who then offered
appropriate prayers and rites, and even composed an ode on behalf of Samory
Touré as Mūsā Ka writes:
Samory Touré’s capture is still described as one of “the longest series of cam-
paigns against a single enemy in the history of French Sudanese conquest”
(Guèye and Boahen 1985: 127, citing T.C. Weiskel). In contrast to Samory Touré’s
deadly sickness (Isichei 1977: 189), Mūsā Ka suggests in the lines above, and
in another poem (Nattu), that Samory Touré and Biraan Siise were burnt in a
firing-oven in the same manner as the people of the trench (aṣḥāb al-ukhdūd),
mentioned in the Qurʾān (85 [al-Burūj]: 4). Stories about Bamba’s bond with
Samory Touré explain why one sometimes sees his portrait in contemporary
graffiti in Dakar.
Once announced, the decision to exile Bamba incited great dissatisfaction
among the Murīd disciples who feared that their Ṣūfī master would not make it
back home. Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba not only wished for his exile to take place as
expressed in his Muqaddimāt al-Khidma (Mbacké 1995: 73), but he had a vision
of his return from exile, an anticipation he exposed in the qaṣīda entitled Asīru
maʿa l-Abrāri, composed in the very year of his expatriation:
In June 1903, Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba was arrested again and exiled to Souet-
el-Ma in the Trarza region, which extends from areas north and east of Mau-
ritania’s capital, southward to the border with Senegal. It should be remem-
bered that in the 1880s, Sheikh Sīdiyya Bāba provided sanctuary for Bamba
in Boutilimit (Būtilimīt), which is situated about 150 km southeast of Mauri-
tania’s capital. The French decision to send Bamba to Mauritania was based on
the assumption that Sheikh Sīdiyya Bāba would “provide him with an example
of the benefits of collaboration with French authorities” (Robinson 2000: 218).
In 1907, the administration gave authorization for Bamba to return to Sene-
gal but made sure he lived under surveillance in the village of Céyeen Jolof
(Luga Region). Finally, in January 1912, Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba was allowed to
return to his native land of Bawol (Jurbel/Diourbel), but was still under the
close watch of the colonial administration until his death in 1927 (see Creevey
1979; Babou 2007).
To better understand the poetry of Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba, one needs to accept
first and foremost the centrality of the sacred text of the Qurʾān and the Arabic
language to his poetry, and to Ṣūfī poetry in general. According to Philip Hitti,
[The Qurʾān is] not only the basis of the religion, the canon of ethical and
moral life, but also the textbook in which the Muslim begins his study of
language, science, theology and jurisprudence. Its literary influence has
been incalculable and enduring. The first prose book in Arabic, it set the
style for future products. It kept the language uniform.
1971: 27
Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba’s Ṣūfī poetry meditates on the sacred language of the
Qurʾān that the believer is called upon to read or hear in Arabic. The Holy Book
is said to have been revealed in the classical language of Arabia (al-lugha al-
ʿarabiyya al-fuṣḥā), known as the language of excellence. Classical Arabic has
become the linguistic matrix for religious devotion (ʿibādāt) and scholarship,
and is used by Muslims all over the world for the performance of their ritual
prayer (ṣalāt), regardless of their ethnic origin or mother tongue (Esposito 1998:
19–20; Stoddart 1985: 25–39).
The language of the Qurʾān is universally acknowledged by Muslims to
be the most perfect form of Arabic speech, revealed to an unlettered man,
Muḥammad, in all clarity and directness. Thus, according to Islamic belief,
Allāh meant it for all unlearned people so they would have easy access to His
message, which should forever be preserved from corruption (Esposito 1998:
19). To safeguard the authenticity of the Book, Muslims are invited to rely more
on the Arabic text than on a translation, which could mislead the believers:
“No change can there be / in the words of Allāh” (Qurʾān, 10 [Yūnus]: 64). This
should be read as a warning against heretical interpretations of the original
text of the Qurʾān insofar as Muslims in general believe that the early revealed
books suffered some sort of corruption. That is why translations of the Holy
Book in any language are often accompanied by the Arabic text (Esposito,
1998: 19). Classical Arabic was the language used by the Prophet Muḥammad
in the ḥadīth, the collection of his own utterances. This naturally explains
why for his literary and mystical compositions Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba gleans
from the Qurʾān, which is considered by Muslims the most perfect model
of composition ever revealed to mankind, and from the ḥadīth, to make his
entire work a masterpiece of Arabic writing deserving universal admiration.
As Stetkevych has suggested for al-Būṣīrī’s poetic intention to have his verse
written following the Qurʾān’s own self-referential manner, Bamba does not
claim to compete with the holy text. Rather, he “is trying to make the argument
for the miraculousness of the Qurʾān, the prophethood of Muḥammad, and the
ultimate truth of Islam more convincing” (2010: 127). In spite of their engaging
panegyrics directed to the Prophet and the religion of Islam, the Qurʾān is
believed to censure the poets and readers who characterize the Holy Book as
poetry.
Given its metrical and rhythmic arrangements, it would seem peculiar to
the common listener that the recital of the Qurʾān does not reflect a poetic
introduction 23
narrative, or even assume the title of poetry, yet a few passages of the book
reject the substitution of the Prophet Muḥammad’s divine message for poetry:
“We have not instructed / the (Prophet) in poetry, / nor is it meet for him: / This
is no less than / a message and a Qurʾān / making things clear” (Qurʾān, 36 [Yāʾ-
Sīn]: 69). Muḥammad’s biographers report that whenever he uttered portions
of his revelations, trying to convey the message of truth, the hostile poets of the
Ayyām al-Jāhiliyya (the pre-Islamic era of ignorance in Arabia) would taunt him
as a mad poet, as a sorcerer performing magic, or as a person possessed by evil
spirits. They reacted to the fact that the Prophet would often fall into a trance
when the revelations came to him, and they paid less attention to the import
of his preaching (see Firestone 1998: 40–41; Muir 1923; Ibn Hishām 1967).
Islamic scholars are of the opinion that the Qurʾān does not censure all poets,
but it disapproves of the erring poets it names deviators or wanderers, whose
subjects of composition were not authenticated by their own experience, and
could lead mankind away from the path of righteousness and wisdom (26 [al-
Shuʿarāʾ]: 226). William Wordsworth apparently launched similar arguments
against such poets “who think that they are conferring honor upon themselves
and their art, in proportion as they separate themselves from the sympathies of
men, and indulge in arbitrary and capricious habits of expression, in order to
furnish food for fickle tastes, and fickle appetites, of their own creation” (1965:
447).
This much seems certain, that during the early era of Arab oratory the
Prophet Muḥammad surrounded himself with poets who praised him and
defended the faith of Islam. al-ʿAbbās ibn Mirdās and Labīd ibn Rabīʿa al-
ʿĀmirī (d. 661), whose collection of poems (Dīwān) contains several elegies on
Muḥammad, defended him from the satirical criticism (hijāʾ) of Islam. One day,
members of the Banū Tamīm engaged the services of their orators ʿUṭārid ibn
Ḥajib and al-Zibriqān ibn Badr and came to al-Madīna to challenge the skills
of the Prophet’s poets. The satirist Ḥassān ibn Thābit, who converted to Islam
after hearing the divine revelations, served the Messenger’s purpose in reply-
ing to the attacks by the poets of the Jāhiliyya. He outperformed al-Zibriqān in
argument and eloquence, and the Prophet offered him a mansion in the vicin-
ity of al-Madīna. His father, Thābit ibn Qays, was also declared a winner against
ʿUṭārid, and delighted the Prophet (Chenery 1869: 23). This would suggest that
poets like Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba, who employ the language of the Qurʾān and
devote their works to the praise of Islam, would still win the favor of Muḥam-
mad and God.
The Qurʾān is very instructive of the unity of Allāh, and of the duties and
guiding principles of a true believer who aims to attain to a higher life through
his deeds. The Holy Book is also appealing for its protective guidance and poetic
24 introduction
Thus the Qurʾān becomes for Muslim believers a conduit for the portrayal of
the ubiquity and sovereign power of Allāh, of His divine attributes (ṣifāt) and
self-manifestation in all things, for it is in the sacred writings that He displayed
His full personality for human contemplation and outlined His ordinances for
appropriate conduct (Esposito 1998: 17–31).
introduction 25
Bānat Ṣuʿād (Suʾād Has Departed) to the Prophet Muḥammad (Stetkevych 2010:
53). Kaʿb ibn Zuhayr was a contemporary of Thābit ibn Qays, Kaʿb ibn Mālik and
Ḥassān ibn Thābit, who lived during the time of the Prophet Muḥammad and
showered encomiums on him. They were all rewarded in one way or another
for eloquence in their defense of the Prophet against the enemies of Islam.
Bamba also read the 13th century poet of Mamlūk Egypt Muḥammad al-Būṣīrī
(d. 1294–1297), who also wrote his famous Mantle Ode (Qaṣīdat al-Burda) in
praise of the Prophet after being cured of partial paralysis when the Prophet
Muḥammad appeared to him in a dream and shrouded him in a mantle (burda)
(see Stetkevych 2010). Though Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba wrote in the vein of the
above-named poets as mentioned in his early qaṣīda entitled Qad Ṭāba Qalbī
(Dièye 1997: 24), Murīd poets like Masàmba Njaay and Mūsā Ka argue that
their master had overshadowed the Prophet Muḥammad’s contemporaries for
his composite mastery of the details of the Prophet’s life, and for the artistic
superiority of his literary legacy. Thus Masàmba Njaay writes,
Mūsā Ka expands on the same topic in his poem entitled Xarnu bi:
In her critical appraisal of early Islamic praise poems devoted to the Prophet
Muḥammad (madāʾih nabawiyyah), Stetkevych also notes that with the excep-
tion of Kaʿb ibn Zuhayr the panegyrics of the time were “short, extempora-
neous, and spontaneous, rather direct in style, and often without a preceding
elegiac prelude (nasīb) or journey section (raḥīl)” (Stetkevych 2010: 265n56).
introduction 27
Feared.
He is the holy one, the pure one, the clean one. He is also
The elected one par excellence.
Mawāhibu, vv. 67–71
The Prophet’s fidelity to truth is perhaps the most revered quality he shared
with the Muslim community. As Marcus Dods writes,
of ḥadīth known as Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī (1981), and in Abū l-Ḥusayn Muslim ibn al-
Ḥajjāj’s book known as Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim. As far as the Night Journey which brought
the Prophet Muḥammad from the Sacred Mosque (Masjid al-Ḥarām) in Mecca
to the Farthest Mosque (Masjid al-Aqsā) in Jerusalem (Sūra 17), Sheikh Ahmadu
Bamba argues that the enactment was physical:
as he prayed on his mat at sea with the companions of Badr lined up behind
him (Kamara 2008: 51). Such performance may be read symbolically like the
vision of the Prophet Muḥammad on the night of his ascension in the heavens
to Sidrat al-Muntahā, and to the [highest heaven]. In Hayāt al-Qulūb (The Light
of the Hearts) of the Persian ḥadīth scholar Muḥammad Bāqir ibn Muḥammad
Taqī Majlisī (1627–1699), the Prophet is recorded as saying, “The Most High
commanded me to inquire of the past prophets for what reason they were
exalted to that rank, and they all testified, ‘We were raised up on account of
your prophetical office, and the imāmate of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, and the imāms
of your posterity.’ A divine voice then commanded: ‘Look on the right side of
[the highest heaven].’ I looked and saw the similitude of ʿAlī, and Ḥasan, and
Ḥusayn, and ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn, and Muḥammad Bāqir, and Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq, and
Mūsā Kāẓim, and ʿAlī ibn Mūsā al-Riḍā, and Muḥammad Taqī, and ʿAlī al-Naqī,
and Ḥasan al-ʿAskarī, and al-Mahdī,—all performing prayers in a sea of light.
‘These, said the Most High, are my proofs, vicegerents, and friends, and the last
of them will take vengeance on my enemies’” (translated by Merrick 1850: 203;
Hughes 1973: 203). In the sense above, Bamba performed prayers in a sea of light
[my italics]. We learn that “Like the prophets, the friends had knowledge of
the primordial beginnings, though with some differences [the miracles of the
prophets were known as muʿjizāt or āyāt while those of the friends were called
karāmāt]. These included clairvoyance, travelling with great speed [literally
‘folding the earth’, Ṭayy al-arḍ] and walking on water” (Karamustafa 2007: 46).
At the grassroots level, one often hears of several miracles attached to Bamba’s
exile, which include him surviving “the fiery furnace, a man-eating lion, burial
in a deep well, and an island inhabited by snakes and devils” (Robinson 1991:
161). Bamba is believed to have stated that from Gabon, “he could have flown
back to Senegal on wings offered him by [Jibrīl] but chose not to as this manner
of arrival could have caused commotion” (Creevey 1979: 287).
With the dominant image of light (nūr) in the qaṣīda entitled Mawāhibu,
Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba further underscores the prophetic role of Muḥammad,
who is believed to illuminate the right path for the poet and all believers. Most
Islamic scholars teach that the original essence of the Prophet Muḥammad
was light (Ḥaqīqat al-Muḥammadiyya), and that the creation of all things
proceeded from the holy light of Muḥammad (Trimingham 1998: 161; Stoddart
1986: 41–52). The Prophet was also believed by early Islamic exegetes like Jalāl
al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī (c. 1445–1505), Muḥammad ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī (839–923) and
Abū Muḥammad al-Baghawī (d. 1122) to symbolize the light in the following
verse, “There has come to you / from Allāh a (new) light / and a perspicuous
book” (Qurʾān, 5 [al-Māʾida]: 15). Kaʿb ibn Zuhayr in his composition of the
Mantle Ode wrote: “Verily, the Prophet is a light to illuminate the world, / A
introduction 31
naked sword from out of the armory of Allāh” (v. 57). Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba
reinforces this belief in the most compelling manner:
In all of his poetic enterprise, Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba’s panegyrics are devoted
to praising the Prophet Muḥammad but they ultimately invoke their greatest
authority in the name of Allāh. In assuming the prophetic office Muḥammad
fully accomplished the mission of proselytism assigned to him by Allāh. Thus
Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba’s qaṣāʾid are the reenactment of the prescriptions of
the Holy Book in the image of the Prophet Muḥammad. Endowed with some
measure of light and mental energy, the poet always expressed his intentions
to fully apply himself in the service of the Prophet (Dièye 1997: 22–26). This
is the origin of his sobriquet, the Servant of the Messenger. The worthiest
reward Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba could ask from the Prophet was to canonize
him as his servant (Khādim al-Rasūl, Khalīfat al-Rasūl) for having dedicated his
entire life to the teaching and protection of the Qurʾān and the ḥadīth. Sheikh
Ahmadu Bamba wrote two books, Muqaddimāt al-Khidma (Prelude to Service)
and Bidāyat al-Khidma (Initiation into Service), in which he described how
he earned the honorable title the Messenger bestowed upon him as a person
of consequence (Babou 2007: 90). In Muḥammadiyya al-Ḥabīb, he proclaimed
himself the best Servant of the Messenger (Ḥasn al-Khadīm) (Dièye 1997: 25).
The qaṣāʾid of Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba denounce the injustices and atroci-
ties he endured under colonial oppression. Yet it is hard to find verses in which
the poet describes in detail the numerous incidences of coercion, or physical
and mental suffering the French colonial administration inflicted on him in
an attempt to compel him to yield information or make a confession favor-
able to their sociopolitical objectives. In appropriating the esoteric language
of the Qurʾān to his mystic experience, Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba distances him-
self from graphic descriptions and concrete evocations of events. His qaṣāʾid
register a series of personal experiences often expressed in a metaphorical lan-
guage that is beyond ordinary human perception. This discursive feature of
32 introduction
Though it would seem to the reader that Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba often speaks
at a personal level of experience, the poet is confirmed in his belief that he still
holds an organic bond with his people even in exile, as he is spiritually com-
mitted to their cause: he assumes the leading role of protector and executor
of their religious precepts. Bamba enthusiastically carries the burden of their
tribulations and moral discomfort. With a prophetic vision he presides over
their fate and rids them of the corruption and imperfections of the social order.
Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba accepted stoically the ordeal of exile and confine-
ment imposed upon him by French officials. This acceptance allowed the
scholar-ascetic to maintain his retreat (khalwa) and ascetism (zuhd) in the
interest of reaching, in the new locus of intellectual activity, more enlighten-
ment from his metaphysical pursuit. This is first evidenced by his enriched
creative production on the island of Mayumba (Gabon) with an abundant body
of writing unveiling his insights into the mystic path leading to his love of and
proximity to God, and made available to his disciples.
Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba dedicated himself to the performance of the
remembrance and invocation (dhikr) of God’s names and attributes and those
of His beloved Prophet. Qaṣāʾid like aṣ-Ṣindīdi, Tuḥfatu l-Mutaḍarriʿīna, and
introduction 33
Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba implicitly revealed his gratification in his search for
spiritual and mystical powers gained through asceticism. He ultimately takes
for himself the title of the perfect man in whom one finds the conflation of
divine and human attributes.
34 introduction
The Ṣūfī concept of the perfect man was initially expressed in the writings
of Muhyīʾ al-Dīn Ibn al-ʿArabī’s theosophical manual, Fusūs al-Ḥikām (Bezels
of Wisdom), and further expounded in ʿAbd al-Karīm al-Jīlī’s al-Insān al-Kāmil
(see Jeffery 1959; Trimingham 1998: 161, 163), which served as a powerful com-
mendation of Ṣūfī activity. In al-Jīlī’s theology, the perfect man is one who, after
craving for the greatest knowledge, comes to know God and His actions, and
subsequently mirrors from within the divine attributes—of essence, beauty,
majesty, and perfection—in order to achieve his oneness with God. Following
the pattern of creation of Ādam in the image and attributes of God, as nar-
rated in the Qurʾān and the ḥadīth, al-Jīlī (1365–1406) envisions the prophets
and the chosen saints (awliyāʾ) to develop the full potentialities of divine real-
ity (al-Ḥaqq). Prophets and mystics are all celestial intermediaries empowered
by God to transmit His blessings and assistance. Yet, al-Jīlī emphasizes substan-
tial differences between the two groups in the way they receive illumination
(ilhām) and their insight into the nature of God. In doing so, he has identi-
fied the Prophet Muḥammad as the paramount perfect man, for having said
among other things: “He who has seen me has seen Allāh.” Saints or mystics are
first and foremost an outward manifestation of the essence of the most excel-
lent in mankind; Muḥammad who revealed the truths of the Qurʾān and the
ḥadīth, whether symbolically or allegorically, therefore stands in a privileged
position to inhere in the divine essence (dhāt). Thus Muḥammad’s truthfulness
connects all other creatures to divine reality. Since Muḥammad himself is a cre-
ated being, the mystic takes on first his physical nature before absorbing his
inner essences, but neither the prophets nor the saints can be identified with
God absolutely. al-Jīlī defines here the proper office of perfection and shows
the stages for attaining the objective:
The Perfect Man is the Quṭb (axis) on which the spheres of existence
revolve from first to last … His own original name is Muḥammad, his name
of honor Abū l-Qāsim, his description ʿAbd Allāh and his title Shams al-
Dīn. In every age he bears a name suitable to his guise (libās) in that age
… The Prophet has the power of assuming every form. When the adept
(adīb) sees him in the form of Muḥammad which he wore during his life,
he names him by that name, but when he sees him in another form and
knows him to be Muḥammad, he names him by the name of the form in
which he appears. The name Muḥammad is not applied except to the Idea
of Muḥammad (al-Ḥaqīqa al-Muḥammadiyya). The Prophet is able to
assume whatever form he wishes, and the Sunna declares that in every age
he assumes the form of the most perfect men, in order to exalt their dig-
nity and correct their deviation (from the truth): they are his vicegerents
introduction 35
There are analogous references in Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba’s qaṣāʾid that induce
the reader to accept that he met with the Prophet Muḥammad, who then
manifested himself through him and enjoined him to perform a spiritual jihād
by way of the purification of his nafs (lower soul, ego). Spiritual purification
would be conducive to the faithful guidance of his people on the right path
to divine truth. The word nafs has been used alternatively to express ego, soul,
self, or person. In the Qurʾān, it occurs in several passages in the sense of the
human body and soul: “O mankind! fear / your Guardian Lord, / Who created
you / from a single person (nafs), / created, out of it, / his mate, and from them
twain / scattered (like seeds) / countless men and women; / fear Allāh, through
Whom / you demand your mutual (rights), / and be heedful of the wombs /
(that bore you): for Allāh / ever watches over you” (4 [al-Nisāʾ]: 1).
Ṣūfīs often ascribe to the nafs a negative connotation and render it as the
lower self that is inhabited by a host of passionate appetites, sensual desires.
Thus the nafs represents best the animal nature in mankind that incites it to
succumb to physical debaucheries. The Qurʾān emphasizes three stages of the
nafs: nafs al-ammāra (the inciting nafs), (nafs al-lawwāma) (the self-blaming
nafs), and nafs al-muṭmaʾinna (the nafs at peace). The nafs al-ammāra controls
man’s impulses, lower desires, and worldly satisfactions and cultivates in him
the commission of evil. This is the very nafs that the prophet Yūsuf condemned
36 introduction
strongly when Zulaykhā, the wife of ʿAzīz, king of Egypt, attempted to entice
him with her blind passion (Qurʾān, 12 [Yūsuf ]: 53). Because such a nafs is prone
to evil, it can never become one with God. The nafs al-lawwāma reproaches
itself for being carried away by its ego and not controlling its evil conduct. Ulti-
mately the guilty person begins to struggle with his own soul (see Stoddart 1986:
32), awakened by the consciousness to resist temptations and equally repent to
the ever-forgiving God in order to return to perfection (Qurʾān, 75 [al-Qiyāma]:
2). The nafs al-muṭmaʾinna (the soul in tranquility) occurs when the heart and
soul of man become pure and unsullied. His self-knowledge has reached the
level of enlightenment in which he now coalesces with divine reality. This is the
ideal stage at which God is pleased with the soul that has undergone transmuta-
tion from worldly desires and trials to spiritual cohabitation with Muḥammad.
That is when man is promised entry into heaven, where he will rest in peace.
In Ṣūfī language, however, the stages of purification are sevenfold and culmi-
nate in the absolute purification of the soul that the aspirants designate as nafs
al-kāmila (the perfect soul), (Trimingham 1998: 154–157). The qaṣāʾid of Sheikh
Ahmadu Bamba synthesize the attributes described above that enabled him to
conquer the imperfections of the nafs and subvert the delusions of the colo-
nial order. They manifest themselves as the embodiment of the logos (quṭb) of
Muḥammad. In this intermediate position, they build faith in the holy texts and
exhort and illustrate by example the virtues of devoting oneself to the worship
of Allāh.
The qaṣāʾid of Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba thus proceed from an apprehension of
an impelling force intent on directing the primordial values of his community
toward a superior spiritual order. In the dialectical tension that opposes the
colonial ideology to Bamba’s spiritual insights, there seems to be little room
for mutual concessions. The poet continuously argues against the manifest
inadequacies of a doctrine whose propositions are marked by perversity and
grounded in evil. Bamba expresses contempt for the theory of the degradation
of mankind and offers in its place a transcendental order in accordance with
the cardinal virtues of faith and love. It is interesting to note in this regard
that the jihād al-nafs (against the soul, self-will) that Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba
is performing is not an attempt to absolve himself from sin and guilt. He only
assumes the stance of an elected saint and stands up against the satanic powers
that are engulfing his people in the realms of darkness, and are inciting them
to acts of evil. To attain the level of victory, the poet intimates a divine order for
the acquisition of sublime attributes and powers to conquer the forces of evil.
In all his qaṣāʾid, the poet remains constant in his resolution to fight the flaws
of mankind, and offers the alternative proposition to devote the entire self to
the recollection of Allāh.
introduction 37
Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba fully submitted to Allāh and to the Prophet Muḥam-
mad and was, by virtue of his conduct, consecrated the Quṭb Zamānihi (Axis of
his age), to whom no favor is denied: “Thanks to the Qurʾān, I have come close
to the Lord / I have gained control of my soul, thus I have alienated the Cursed
One” ( Jāwartu, v. 1). Thus, by way of compensation to service well rendered,
God, according to poet Mūsā Ka, assigned Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba the erection
of two mosques as signs of His overflowing grace.
gold that holds the remains of Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba. Freestand mausolea
were built around the mosque for Bamba’s children (Ross 2006: 70).
In measuring the construction of the Great Mosque to its epic proportion,
Cleo Cantone has come to this conclusion: “Not only does this prophecy add
an ‘epic’ quality to Touba, but it goes further to entrench seemingly marginal
Murīd discourse into mainstream Muslim ḥadīth that report the Prophet
Muḥammad to have said: ‘Whoever builds a masjid, seeking the pleasure of Allāh,
Allāh will build a house for him in Paradise [al-Bukhārī]’ ” (2012: 249).
Across from the mosque, one finds the modern Khādim al-Rasūl library,
also known as Daaray Kaamil. The third Murīd Caliph, Abdul Ahad Mbàkke
(1914–1989), fostered the development of a culture of scholarly inquiry in the
holy city when he founded and designed the library for the practical needs
of making Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba’s writings publicly available. The catalog
of acquired materials, mostly written in Arabic and indexed according to the
Dewey decimal system, includes about sixty-four thousand copies authored by
Bamba, and fifty-five thousand copies of the Qurʾān. Among the most notable
acquisitions is also a collection of fifty thousand dealing with Islamic religion
and sciences. In spite of its multitude of print-based resources, the current
main library building is still not as functional as one would expect of a major
cultural institution (Guèye 2002: 196).
According to Murīd traditions, these copies of the entire Qurʾān were written
by hand from memory alone, as evidence of the remarkable place of literacy in
Murīd life. It has been said that while Muslims the world over may aspire to
writing the Qurʾān by memory and by hand, few can or do so, making Senegal
a most unusual place for such devotional achievement. Bamba’s last surviving
daughter, Sokhna Maymuna Mbàkke (1925–2002), is remembered for her ability
to transcribe the Qurʾān by memory and for her founding of libraries (see
htcom.sn).
Aynu-Rahmati (ʿAyn al-Raḥma), the “Well of Mercy” located one block north
of the Great Mosque taps ground water from rainfall and an underground
source. According to Cheikh Guèye, Murīd pilgrims and residents believe that
Aynu Rahmati carries the same healing qualities and spiritual value as Zamzam,
the well located within the Masjid al-Ḥarām in Mecca. Bamba revealed the site
of Aynu Rahmati in the early founding of Touba and gave instruction for its
excavation. Since 1978 when the well underwent major restoration, an electric
pump has been drawing 300m3 of water per hour for needed consumption
(Guèye 2002: 196).
It would seem then that the city of Touba displays a mosaic of symbols
that correlate with the inspired life experience of the Prophet Muḥammad.
Eric Ross writes, “Touba expresses the idea that there need not be disjunction
40 introduction
between cosmological outlook and existence in the modern world and that
life can still be experienced as one coherent totality—as an expression of the
Oneness of God” (Ross 1995: 256).
Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba illustrated the beauty of the Arabic language in his
exquisite lyrics. The accepted name for the kind of poem he composed is the
ode (qaṣīda), which proceeds from the careful craftsmanship of verse (bayt),
rhyme and meter that mesh in harmony to transport the soul to excitement
and delight. The qaṣīda is measured by two rhythmically balanced hemistichs
(miṣrāʿ), which take the place of the balancing assonances of sajʿ (rhymed
prose or rhyme without meter) and rajaz, a type of meter made up of a sin-
gle hemistich, but divided into regular rhythmic units, or of two hemistichs
(Adonis 1990: 17). Beside appraising the numerical values of his poetry, read-
ers experienced in rhyme and rhythms will find that Bamba greatly enriched
his qaṣāʾid with various metrical forms and elaborate rhyme schemes, allowing
him to lift his poetry to a higher artistic level (see Mbacké 1995). During the
Grand Màggal, Murīd disciples congregate from around the world to celebrate
in unaccompanied songs (ughniyāt) the qaṣāʾid of Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba for
their aesthetic pleasure and spiritual development.
The musical structures of Murīd chants have varied notably over time. The
early melodies were produced and led by single performers echoed by the
refrain of the audience. Murīd nostalgia is sometimes linked to the popular
singing of Sheikh Lo Bàllaago, Fallou Njaay, Ablaye Niang, Modou Sàmb, and
Omar Juuf, among others, referencing lyrics of local nature (see AlazharTouba
.com). In so doing, these early performers often transgressed against the correct
version of the qaṣāʾid by constantly invoking the name of Sheikh Bamba as if
they wrote and composed the hymns in honor of their spiritual master. They
also intercalated Wolof statements between the lines to create a feeling of
passion among those not educated in Arabic. In their performance of Bamba’s
qaṣīda entitled Jadhbi l-Qulūbi ilā ʿĀlimi l-Ghuyūbi (The Attraction of Hearts
toward the Knower of the Unseen), Ablaye Niang and his group (see www
.youtube.com), introduced among other material the following refrains: “The
father of Murtalā Mbàkke is our best hope here and in the hereafter” and
“Where are we going to find again Sheikh Mustafā, the chosen one?” The
pattern seems to have been reversed since the foundation of the Ḥizb al-Tarqiya
(Party of Progess) organization in 1992 under Caliph ʿAbdul Ahad Mbàkke (Ross
2006: 8).
All members of this new association have high level of competence in
Arabic. In communal chants, they abstain from corrupting the text at hand,
as if ordered to desist from the creative altering of the odes. In reading the
qaṣāʾid, they stress perfection in the pronunciation of each word and letter.
introduction 41
They further bring some diversity in their style of performance with a degree of
sophistication and seriousness of purpose. Each member of the chorus holds
the same numbered page for accuracy and timely performance (see htcom.sn).
Nevertheless, there are Murīd singers who still expand upon the old soloists’
models and treat the text with fluidity by blending their own voices with the
lines of the poet. But the radical conservative elite follow a narrative approach
making no changes to the original text. All the same, the interplay of voices and
the textual treatments by these two entities are equally appreciated as long as
they create a grandiose effect in the minds of Murīd disciples.
There are also Wolof pop stars like Baaba Maal, Cheikh Lo, and Youssou
Ndour whose songs have transcended international boundaries. They draw
upon the compositions of ʿajamī poets, and devotional texts to celebrate their
Ṣūfī leaders. This tradition of praise singing in Senegal is as old as the first reign
of noble rulers, who had by their side professional wordsmiths, also known as
griots, to advise and extol them (Hale 1998). The tradition has been adapted by
pop musicians who pay homage to their Ṣūfī patrons, the most venerated being
Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba (Mc Laughlin 1997; Charry 2000). World music star
Youssou NDour’s “Do You Hear Me, Father Bamba?” was sung in Wolof, Arabic,
and English as an hymn of devotional piety to imprint Bamba’s sainthood on
world memory (Roberts and Roberts 2000c).
There also exists an audio collection of recitation, translation, and com-
mentary of Bamba’s qaṣāʾid recorded by Murīd scholars like Daam Njaay and
Màmma Njaay, who play a pivotal role in relaying the basic ideas of the qaṣāʾid
and in managing the communication gap between the Arabic text and the
Wolof audience.
The qaṣāʾid of Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba were received with great enthusiasm
by his talented contemporaries who drew upon his writings. They show remark-
able creativity in Arab and Wolof poetics characterized by a vision of relevance
and continuity in spiritual ideology. As interpreters of Bamba’s works, Wolof
poets of note like Sàmba Jaara Mbay, Momar Kayre, Mbay Jahate, Mūsā Ka, and
Masàmba Njaay suffused their ʿajamī poetry with Bamba’s qaṣīda content, both
in form and theme. They wrote pious works of biography on Sheikh Ahmadu
Bamba and his lineage. They preached his exegesis of the Qurʾān and the ḥadīth
aimed at Murīd disciples who did not receive a formal education in Arabic, and
are often reminded of the demands and prohibitions of the order, and of their
duties toward their Sheikh. Their writings prove that they had genuine esteem
and affection for Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba, and paid tribute to his literary genius.
There is a center for calligraphic activities in the city of Ndakaaru, called
Kër Sëriñ bi (the Master’s home) where professional scribes copy the Qurʾān
and the manuscripts of Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba to supply the increasing needs
42 introduction
Murīds feel that baraka does things: it is an active energy that heals,
protects, and helps them in countless other ways. Murīds often brush their
fingertips over or kiss Bamba’s portrait, or touch smaller images to the
foreheads to receive God’s baraka from the picture. In doing so, they are
treating the portrait much as Christians interact with icons of Jesus, the
Virgin Mary, and saints to gain the blessings of active presence in such
images.
roberts and roberts 2007: 56, citing belting 1994
Roberts and Roberts have extensively theorized on the Murīds’ modes of view-
ing Bamba’s portrait, and the way they find themselves captivated by its spiri-
tual gaze and apotropaic powers. Most Murīd disciples they interviewed con-
introduction 43
fess that their operation of vision is not merely corporeal, but it is what Patri-
cia Rubin describes as “profound insight, achieved inwardly” (2007: 177). In
her review of A Saint in the City (Roberts and Roberts 2003), Elizabeth Harney
argues that, “the visual preoccupation with one photograph of the saint’s fig-
ure clearly challenges beliefs that Islam prohibits the fashioning of figurative
imagery, and indeed proves that the image of a marabout may serve as an icon
for the faithful” (2004: 91). Indeed, the “orthodox” theologians of Islam reject
the full expression of religious plastic art based on the so-called prohibition of
Prophet Muḥammad warning that painters who copied the work of the Creator
and gave life to their creation would end in hell (see Arnold 2004: 91; Burck-
hardt 2009: 41n2). Yet, the habit of learning from the sacred literature of images
still delights Senegalese Muslims, who hang them on the walls of their work
places, shops, and households as mirrors of themselves. Sūfism tolerates devo-
tional art in line with the definitions formulated earlier by Christian scholastic
theologians that the images taken as mental representations are worthy of ven-
eration (see Rubin 2007: 178–179). Burckhardt argues that “figurative art can
perfectly well be integrated into the universe of Islam provided it does not for-
get its proper limits” (2004: 32).
For the Murīd artist, paintings on Bamba bring the mysterious into view
making images of the saint, his suffering, his sacrifice, and the miracles sur-
rounding his life journey pervade Murīd consciousness in their constant search
for baraka (see Roberts and Roberts 2000: 76–92).
Conclusion
Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba, the seminal force for the Murīd brotherhood, proved
in his prose and poetic writings to be the interpreter of his exemplars, the
great Ṣūfī scholastic writers. He drew upon a wide field of insights from which
he built a unity of mystical consciousness reflected in his qaṣāʾid. Bamba’s
finest mystical and devotional verses were produced in praise of Muḥammad
and the Book of Islam in the face of the hardships he endured in the hands
of “the tyrannical enemies” (Wajjahtu, v. 4) during internment and exile. His
passion for the teachings of Muḥammad, and his appeal for intercession to
Muḥammad, a subject which inspired him and his followers, bore heavily on his
imagination (Asīru, v. 5). In seeking for truth and meaning in the contemplation
and celebration of Muḥammad, Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba rose to heights of
ecstasy with his introspective powers. With the approval of his intercessor, he
was then able to connect his earthly ambition to heavenly aspiration, making
the best of both worlds:
44 introduction
Such devotional utterances define some of the principles that govern Bamba’s
poetry, expressed with energy and grace, which enjoyed a great deal of esteem
in Murīd circles and is embraced as communal salvation by the innumerable
chanting disciples who flock to Touba and crowd the Great Mosque daily. Thus
one can appreciate the magnitude of the changes Bamba’s poetry has brought
to the Murīd community, whose strong sense of conduct has become ever
stronger following the prescripts of their Sheikh.
There were hundreds if not thousands of manuscript pages in which Sheikh
Ahmadu Bamba chronicled his external and inner life (see Mawāhibu, v. 133;
Creevey, 297). All traces of most of these pages were probably lost in the course
of his trek. These pages might have no impact on the imaginative effect of
Bamba’s verses, but their relevance and significance in his experience would
only add light to the dimension of his poetic output and his spiritual insights.
The poetic achievements that place Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba among the
leading Ṣūfī scholars cannot be appreciated only from the reading of the qaṣāʾid
contained in this volume. More of his impressive poems remain to be read for
their structural unity and their distinctive character and qualities. On several
Murīd websites (http://www.majalis.org in particular) efforts are being made to
recover and translate into Western languages Bamba’s most important qaṣāʾid,
among which are al-Jawharu n-Nafīsu, Jazāʾu sh-Shakūri, and Maṭlabu l-Faw-
zayni, a qaṣīda of invocation for divine guidance that inspired the foundation
in Touba of centers of learning where the Islamic spiritual roots and symbols
would be planted for much of humanity, granting the city the status of a
pure and holy place (see Guèye, 83). These also include Jadhbu l-Qulūbi ʾilā
ʿĀlimi l-Ghuyūbi, where the poet celebrates the miraculous birth of the prophet
Muḥammad and the precious gifts Allāh has bestowed upon him.
The name and radiance of Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba preside over the psyche
of Murīd faithful, who invoke his name (Seex Bamba; Xaadimu Rasóol!) when
they are confused and perplexed, and swear by his name (Barke Sëriñ Touba!)
as a sign of sincerity. Such exclamations are thanking the saint ( Jërëjëf Sëriñ
Touba) for all good things that his blessings initiate and realize. His influence
remains supreme. His order keeps expanding as it leads believers to the ideals
of the Prophet Muḥammad.
Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba
Selected Poems
∵
poem 1
aṣ-Ṣindīdi
∵
figure c-1 aṣ-Ṣindīdi
In the name of Allāh, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
11 For the Tables, the well guarded Pen, then for your Throne Supreme and
For the Seat, O my Lord!
12 For the Qurʾān, the Tawrā, for the Psalms of Dāwūd and the Gospel
Of ʿĪsā, the Spirit, O my Lord!
15 Open for us any door of favors, opened by You for the virtuous,
O my Lord!
21 Be our own Protector against any cause of death! Save us from all
Misfortunes forever, O my Lord!
22 Protect us from any harm, from any disaster, from suffocation, from
Any hardships, from earthquake, from misfortune and from poverty,
O my Lord!
28 Protect us from the ugliness of this world and that of the hereafter,
And from their scandal, O my Lord! O my Lord!
29 O You who can do everything, who are seated in Your grand Throne by
The coercive power, O my Lord!
30 I ask of You a heart endowed, for Your sake, with holy respect and
Modesty and a very useful understanding, O my Lord!
32 Be the One who protects us from the evil of the jealous, that of
The mouth and of the eye, O my Lord!
33 Be our refuge against the evil of magic, against that of created beings,
men
And jinns and that of poisonous creatures, O my Lord!
38 Make my death a source of rest and joy that alienate me from any
Evil and any compelling calamity, O my Lord!
52 poem 1
39 Watch over my body when my soul leaves me. And in the tomb,
Never subject it to any test, O my Lord!
44 Leave our sins and hers unpunished! Have pity! She has no one other
than You,
And you are good, O my Lord!
46 Do not subject her to more than she can endure! Do not deceive her
Hope in You, O my Lord!
48 He who guided in the straight path the one who had strayed, who killed
the unbeliever
And who helped him who feared You, O my Lord!
∵
figure c-2 Sabʿun Taqī
In the name of Allāh, Most Gracious, Most Merciful!
May Allāh spread his blessings on our
Lord and Master Muḥammad and hail him!
2 To whosoever can reflect upon them and imitate them, they are
Useful in that they bring him the
Treasures of this world and the hereafter.
∵
figure c-3 Nafaʿanī
In the name of Allāh, Most Gracious, Most Merciful!
May Allāh spread his blessings on our
Lord and Master Muḥammad and hail him!
∵
figure c-4 Wajjahtu
In the name of Allāh, Most Gracious, Most Merciful!
May Allāh the Very High spread his blessings on the Holy Prophet.
The Ideal City engenders the Best Man.
4 May my Lord, out of regard for the Chosen One, descendant of Hāshim,
Disperse the line formed against me by the tyrannical enemies!
10 O Allāh! O Master of the Throne and the Seat! Bless Luʾayy and grant
him peace!
O Lord! Grant all of my wishes without counting them out of regard for
the Prophet,
Descendant of Ghālib.
11 O Creator! Subject me all month and all day out of regard for the
Prophet,
Descendant of Fihr.
15 Grant me a grace that will enlighten my tent and other places out of
Regard for the light of Khuzayma.
2 The Master of the Throne has honored the Possessor of Two Lights and
The parents of the grandsons in this world and the hereafter.
4 The Rider of Hayzūma, Jibrīl, has pushed away the Cursed One with the
enemies.
So was their army defeated.
5 The fighters of Badr have brought out the prestige of Islam and chased
out
The impious and the tyrants.
6 He has pushed away evil brought on by the devil and pleased the
partisans of the Worshipped one.
To us have been revealed the Oneness of Allāh, the Law, Mystical
Science through
The intermediary of the Prophet, who has subdued our enemies.
7 May the gifts of Allāh, the Friend, the Eternal, flock to me all my life
Out of regard for Prophet Muḥammad.
8 Praise be to Allāh, the Lord of Power! Grant your salute to the Messen-
gers!
Praise be to Allāh, The Cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds!
70 poem 4
∵
figure c-5 Asīru maʿa l-Abrāri
In the name of Allāh, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
Preface
and companions. Make this poem the best of the most venerated, O You the
Founder, O Master of all creatures!
23 Fill me with wonder at your Almighty Lord, who has chased away
All the enemies. He has given me satisfaction
In fulfilling my wishes, whereas I am insignificant compared to Him.
36 May you be able to lead me while taking me out of the sea and
Removing me from my enemies while making
My wishes come true. Lead me to the shores accompanied by
The appointed ones, for you know how to delight.
40 In the company of his parents and friends, far from the enemies,
All together, those who will bring down all the enemies
Who will approach me.
41 May my two friends, including the Veracious One, receive the thanks
Of Allāh, as they were together in the cave the moment
When Muḥammad was traveling!
∵
figure c-6 Jāwartu Llāha bi-Kitābihi ilā Dukhūlīya Jannatahu
I turned away from Satan and from all the seeds of corruption and by the name
of Allāh, Most Graceful, Most Merciful, I decided to follow the messenger of
Allāh (May Allāh bless and hail him) and to work for goodness. There is no
force nor power if it is not in Allāh, the Illustrious, the Great. May I have the
power to come close to Allāh through His Book for my entry into Heaven.
3 May all the pious ones become my friends in the hereafter and may the
means
Of welcoming my guests still be given to me!
5 My shield against the Cursed One and the impious is that the
Creator of the Universe is my neighbor!
9 Through love and through the formula, “There is no deity but Allāh,”
May Allāh hide my well kept secret!
19 The favors that I obtained from Allāh did not use to exist
In this Universe. It is in this that I have succeeded.
27 May the light of the Arabic language and of the Book inundate me
During the time of my service for the Prophet
Despite the presence of the colonizers!
∵
figure c-7 Mawāhibu n-Nāfiʿi fī Madāʾiḥi sh-Shāfiʿi
Useful gifts by the evocation
Of the Lord of Bliss
44 You are the path by which we manage to join the Generous One,
O you, dispenser of the best wealth.
mawāhibu n-nāfiʿi fī madāʾiḥi sh-shāfiʿi 93
47 You, the man of favors, of merit and praise, you are the
Path that leads to the Eternal.
50 You have chased away my grief and cleared away that which was
obscuring me.
Fill me with knowledge, you the apostle of ease.
52 You have purified my soul and you have opened the door of my prison,
You have dissolved my fear and have elevated the veil that obscured my
view.
53 You have protected me from all sides, you have broadened my gifts—
You have
Given me immortality and have bestowed upon me your presents.
69 You are the chief of the worthy men that you guide
Towards the Beautiful. You who know how to correct faults and
Send away fear.
71 He is the holy one, the pure one, the clean one. He is also
The elected one par excellence.
77 The gardens of Paradise for the Good Guide, the fires of Hell
To the enemies of Allāh. Here are the presents to
Thinking beings.
85 Savior who follows the path of salvation for the initiated supplicant,
Dissolver of shadows for those who
Give themselves to Allāh.
87 He is resplendent. He is hidden, he is
The confidant of the Absolute.
89 You are the good faith, you are the source of joy, after
The Day of Judgement you will be the first to be
Welcomed by the dwellers of Paradise.
91 The Cherisher and Sustainer of the world has bequeathed to you the
power to accomplish
Miracles that he has never granted and
Never will grant to anyone else.
110 He has warded off the stroke of fate and has openly performed
Wonders. He has warded off disaster.
His gifts are seen by all.
118 How excellent He is, the Lord who made easy his journey
At night in order to welcome him intimately and sign
A pact with him.
127 He received from the Most High, the Master of the skies,
Majesty and munificence.
138 May the Eternal find better joy in ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān,
The light, the modest one.
154 Being endowed with will, O you Master who knows how to dispense
Good lessons, perpetuate my good fortune with
Much solicitude!
∵
figure c-8 Tuḥfatu l-Mutaḍarriʿīna
1 In the name of Allāh, Most Gracious, Most Merciful!
May Allāh bless and hail our Master Muḥammad,
His family and companions!
3 Praise be to Allāh and may He always bless him out of regard for
Whom the straight path was good to us,
12 Out of respect for the Veracious and the Redeemer give me your
assisstance
And the purity of the worship destined for You!
figure 4 An illustration of the Ville-de-Macéïo, the French commercial ship on which Bamba
traveled back to Senegal from his seven-year exile (1895–1902) in Gabon.
reproduced with the kind permission of the artist, gretchen c.
kucera
poem 9
Maṭlabu sh-Shifāʾi
∵
figure c-9 Maṭlabu sh-Shifāʾi
1 In the name of Allāh, Most Gracious, Most Merciful!
May Allāh who is great bless and hail our Master,
Our ally Muḥammad, his family and his companions!
Poem 1 aṣ-Ṣindīdi
O my Lord The name of the creator of the universe in the Qurʾān is Allāh, also
known as Rabb (Lord). But Allāh carries many more attributes to His credit.
In the Qurʾān one verse reads: “The most beautiful names / belong to Allāh:
/ So call on Him by them: / But shun such men as / distort His names” (7 [al-
Aʿrāf ]: 180). The ninety-nine attributes of God are: 1. al-Raḥmān, “The Merciful”
2. al-Raḥīm, “The Compassionate” 3. al-Mālik, “The King” 4. al-Quddūs, “The
Holy” 5. al-Salām, “The Peace” 6. al-Muʾmin, “The Faithful” 7. al-Muhaymin,
“The Protector” 8. al-ʿAzīz, “The Mighty” 9. al-Jabbār, “The Repairer” 10. al-
Mutakabbir, “The Great” 11. al-Khāliq, “The Creator” 12. al-Bāriʾ, “The Maker”
13. al-Muṣawwir, “The Fashioner” 14. al-Ghaffār, “The Forgiver” 15. al-Qahhār,
“The Dominant” 16. al-Wahhāb, “The Bestower” 17. al-Razzāq, “The Provider”
18. al-Fattāḥ, “The Opener” 19. al-ʿAlīm, “The All Knower” 20. al-Qābiḍ, “The
Restrainer” 21. al-Bāsiṭ, “The Spreader” 22. al-Khāfiḍ, “The Abaser” 23. al-Rāfiʿ,
“The Exalter” 24. al-Muʿizz, “The Honorer” 25. al-Mudhill, “The Destroyer” 26.
al-Samīʿ, “The Hearer” 27. al-Baṣīr, “The Seer” 28. al-Ḥākam, “The Ruler” 29. al-
ʿAdl, “The Just” 30. al-Laṭīf, “The Subtle” 31. al-Khabīr, “The Aware” 32. al-Ḥalīm,
“The Clement” 33. al-ʿAẓīm, “The Grand” 34. al-Ghafūr, “The Forgiving” 35. al-
Shakūr, “The Grateful” 36. al-ʿAlī, “The Exalted” 37. al-Kabīr, “The Great” 38. al-
Hafīẓ, “The Guardian” 39. al-Muqīt, “The Strengthener” 40. al-Ḥasīb, “The Reck-
oner” 41. al-Jalīl, “The Majestic” 42. al-Karīm, “The Generous” 43. al-Raqīb, “The
Watcher” 44. al-Mujīb, “The Approver” 45. al-Wāsiʿ, “The Comprehensive” 46. al-
Ḥakīm, “The Wise” 47. al-Wadūd, “The Loving” 48. al-Majīd, “The Glorious” 49.
al-Bāʿith, “The Raiser” 50. al-Shahīd, “The Witness” 51. al-Ḥaqq, “The Truth” 52.
al-Wakīl, “The Advocate” 53. al-Qawwī, “The Strong” 54. al-Matīn, “The Firm” 55.
al-Walī, “The Patron” 56. al-Ḥamīd, “The Laudable” 57. al-Muḥṣī, “The Counter”
58. al-Mubdiʾ, “The Beginner” 59. al-Muʿīd, “The Restorer” 60. al-Muḥyī, “The
Quickener” 61. al-Mumīt, “The Killer” 62. al-Ḥayy, “The Living” 63. al-Qayyūm,
“The Subsisting” 64. al-Wājid, “The Finder” 65. al-Mājid, “The Glorious” 66. al-
Wāḥid, “The One” 67. al-Aḥad, “The Unity” 68. al-Ṣamad, “The Eternal” 69. al-
Qādir, “The Powerful” 70. al-Muqtadir, “The Prevailing” 71. al-Muqaddim, “The
Bringing forward” 72. al-Muʾakhkhir, “The Deferrer” 73. al-Awwal, “The First” 74.
al-Ākhir, “The Last” 75. al-Ẓāhir, “The Evident” 76. al-Bāṭin, “The Hidden” 77.
al-Wālī, “The Governer” 78. al-Mutaʿālī, “The Exalted” 79. al-Barr, “The Most
Righteous” 80. al-Tawwāb, “The Accepter of Repentance” 81. al-Muntaqim, “The
Avenger” 82. al-ʿAfūw, “The Pardoner” 83. al-Raʾūf, “The Kind” 84. Mālik al-Mulk,
“The Ruler of the Kingdom” 85. Dhū l-Jalāl wa-l-Ikrām, “The Lord of Majesty
and Liberality” 86. al-Muqsiṭ, “The Equitable” 87. al-Jāmiʿ, “The Collector” 88.
al-Ghanī, “The Independent” 89. al-Mughnī, “The Enricher” 90. al-Māniʿ, “The
Withholder” 91. al-Ḍārr, “The Distresser” 92. al-Nāfiʿ, “The Profiter” 93. al-Nūr,
“The Light” 94. al-Hādi, “The Guide” 95. al-Badīʿ, “The Incomparable” 96. al-
Bāqī, “The Enduring” 97. al-Wārith, “The Inheritor” 98. al-Rashīd, “The Director”
99. al-Ṣabūr, “The Patient”. Abū Hurayra quoted the Prophet Muḥammad as
saying that he who would faithfully recite these names would be admitted into
Paradise (see Muhaiyaddeen 1979).
Muṣṭafā “The Chosen One” is one of the many epithets given to the Prophet
Muḥammad. In The Tree of Being “Shajarat al-Kawn,” Ibn ʿArabī (1165–1240)
offers a list of the 201 names and attributes of the Prophet Muḥammad. Each
of the names and attributes qualifies for a specific number and meaning.
The names and attributes seem to have been recommended to Ṣūfī poets like
Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba, who exploits the genre in his elegiac model of com-
position, as he sees them suited to express the qualities of the Prophet. It is
believed that the motivation of poets to write about the names and attributes
of the Prophet Muḥammad is to spare them from evil of any sort. Here are
the names and attributes of the Prophet: 1. Muḥammad “the Praised One”
2. Aḥmad “the Most Praised” 3. Ḥāmid “the Praiser; the Praiseworthy” 4. Maḥ-
mūd “the Highly Praised” 5. Aḥīd (his name in the Torah) 6. al-Waḥīd “Unique”
7. al-Māḥi “the Eraser” 8. al-Ḥāshir “the Gatherer” 9. al-ʿĀqib “the Last Prophet;
the Concluder” 10. Ṭāʾ Hāʾ (title of Sūra 20 of the Holy Qurʾān) 11. Yāʾ Sīn (title
of Sūra 36 of the Holy Qurʾān) 12. al-Ṭāhir “the Pure One” 13. al-Muṭahhir “the
Purifier” 14. al-Ṭayyib “the Good; the Salutary One” 15. al-Sayyid “the Master”
16. al-Rasūl “the Messenger” 17. al-Nabī “the Prophet” 18. Rasūl al-Raḥma “the
Messenger of Mercy” 19. al-Qāʾim “the Straight One; the Establisher” 20. al-
Jāmiʿ “the Collector; the Encyclopedia” 21. al-Muqtafi “the Selected One”
22. al-Muqaffi “the Best Example” 23. Rasūl al-Malāḥim “the Messenger of Bat-
tles” 24. Rasūl al-Rāḥa “the Messenger of Relief” 25. al-Kāmil “the Perfect One”
26. al-Iklīl “the Crown; the Diadem” 27. al-Muddaththir “the Covered One; the
Cloaked One” 28. al-Muzzammil “the Enwrapped One” 29. ʿAbd Allāh “the Slave
of Allāh” 30. Ḥabīb Allāh “the Beloved of Allāh” 31. Safī Allāh “the Intimate of
Allāh” 32. Najī Allāh “the Confidant of Allāh” 33. Kalīm Allāh “the Speaker of
Allāh” 34. Khātim al-Anbiyāʾ “the Seal of the Prophets” 35. Khātim al-Rasūl “the
122 commentary and notes
Seal of the Messengers” 36. al-Muḥyi “the Reviver” 37. al-Munji “the Rescuer”
38. al-Mudhakkir “the Reminder” 39. al-Nāṣir “the Helper” 40. al-Manṣūr “the
Victorious One” 41. Nabī al-Raḥma “the Prophet of Mercy” 42. Nabī al-Tawba
“the Prophet of Repentance” 43. Ḥāris ʿAlaykum “Watchful over You; Full of
Concern for You” 44. al-Maʿlūm “the Known One” 45. al-Shāhir “the Famous
One” 46. al-Shāhid “the Witness” 47. al-Shahīd “the Giver of Testimony” 48. al-
Mashhūd “the Attested One” 49. al-Bashīr “the News Bringer” 50. al-Mubashir
“the Spreader of Good News; the Bringer of Glad Tidings” 51. al-Nadhīr “the
Warner” 52. al-Mundhir “the Admonisher” 53. al-Nūr “the Light” 54. al-Sirāj “the
Lamp” 55. al-Miṣbāḥ “the Lantern” 56. al-Huda “the Guidance” 57. al-Mahdi “the
Rightly Guided One” 58. al-Munīr “the Illumined One” 59. al-Dāʿi “the Caller;
the Summoner” 60. al-Madʿū “the Called One” 61. al-Mujīb “the Responsive”
62. al-Mujāb “the One Responded to” 63. al-Hafī “Affectionate and Kind; Wel-
coming” 64. al-ʿAfū “the Overlooker of Sins; the Grantor of Pardon” 65. al-Walī
“the Friend” 66. al-Ḥaqq “the Truth” 67. al-Qawwī “the Strong; the Powerful” 68.
al-Amīn “the Trustworthy; the Dependable” 69. al-Maʾmūn “the Trusted One;
the Harmless” 70. al-Karīm “the Generous One” 71. al-Mukarram “the Honored
One” 72. al-Makīn “the Staunch One” 73. al-Matīn “the Strong One” 74. al-Mubīn
“the Manifest; the Evident” 75. al-Muʾammil “Rouser of Hope” 76. al-Waṣl “Con-
nection” 77. Dhū al-Quwwa “the Possessor of Power” 78. Dhū al-Ḥurma “the
Possessor of Honor” 79. Dhū al-Makāna “the Possessor of Firmness” 80. Dhū
al-ʿIzz “the Possessor of Might” 81. Dhū al-Faḍl “the Possessor of Grace” 82. al-
Muṭaʿ “the Obeyed One” 83. al-Muṭīʿ “the Obedient One” 84. Qadam al-Ṣidq “the
Foot of Sincerity” 85. al-Raḥma “Mercy” 86. al-Bushra “the Good News” 87. al-
Ghawth “the Redeemer” 88. al-Ghayth “Succour; Help” 89. al-Ghiyāth “Help” 90.
Niʿmat Allāh “the Blessings of Allāh” 91. Hadīyat Allāh “the Gift of Allāh” 92. al-
ʿUrwa al-Wuthqā “the Trusty Handhold” 93. Ṣirāṭ Allāh “the Path of Allāh” 94.
Ṣirāṭ al-Mustaqīm “the Straight Path” 95. Dhikr Allāh “Remembrance of Allāh”
96. Sayf Allāh “the Sword of Allāh” 97. Hizb Allāh “the Party of Allāh” 98. al-Najm
al-Thāqib “the Piercing Star” 99. al-Muṣṭafā “the Chosen One” 100. al-Mujtabā
“the Selected One” 101. al-Muntaqā “the Eloquent One” 102. al-Ummī “the Unlet-
tered One” 103. al-Mukhtār “the Chosen One” 104. Ajīr “Allāh’s Worker” 105.
al-Jabbār “the Fierce One” 106. Abū al-Qāsim “The Father of Qāsim” 107. Abū
al-Ṭāhir “the Father of Ṭāhir” 108. Abū al-Ṭayyib “the Father of Ṭayyib” 109. Abū
Ibrāhīm “the Father of Ibrāhīm” 110. al-Mushaffāʿ “the One Whose Intercession
is Accepted” 111. al-Shāfiʿ “the Interceder” 112. al-Ṣāliḥ “the Righteous One” 113.
al-Muṣliḥ “the Conciliator” 114. al-Muhaymin “the Guardian” 115. al-Muṣaddaq
“the Confirmer” 116. al-Ṣidq “the Sincerity” 117. Sayyid al-Mursalīn “the Master
of the Messengers” 118. Imām all-Muttaqīn “the Leader of the God-Fearing” 119.
Qāʾid Ghurr al-Muḥajjalīn “the Guide of the Bright-Limbed Ones” 120. Khalīl
Poem 1 aṣ-Ṣindīdi 123
al-Raḥmān “the Friend of the Merciful” 121. al-Barr “Pious” 122. al-Mubirr “the
Venerated One; Who Overcomes” 123. al-Wajīh “the Eminent One” 124. al-Naṣīḥ
“the Sincere Adviser” 125. al-Nāṣiḥ “the Counsellor” 126. al-Wakīl “the Advo-
cate” 127. al-Mutawakkil “Dependent upon Allāh” 128. al-Kafīl “Guarantor” 129.
al-Shafīq “the Tender” 130. Muqīm al-Sunna “the Establisher of the Way” 131.
al-Muqaddis “the Sacred One” 132. Rūḥ al-Qudūs “the Holy Spirit” 133. Rūḥ al-
Ḥaqq “the Spirit of Truth” 134. Rūḥ al-Qisṭ “the Spirit of Justice” 135. al-Kafʾ “the
Qualified One” 136. al-Muktaf “the Broad-shouldered; Does with Little” 137. al-
Balīgh “the Proclaimer; the One Who Has Reached His Goal” 138. al-Muballigh
“the Informer; the Bearer of News” 139. al-Shāfi “the Healing” 140. al-Wāṣil “the
Inseparable Friend” 141. al-Mawṣūl “the One Bound to Allāh” 142. al-Sābiq “the
Foremost” 143. al-Sāʾiq “the Driver” 144. al-Hādi “the Guide” 145. al-Muhdi “the
Guided One” 146. al-Muqaddam “the Overseer” 147. al-ʿAzīz “the Mighty One”
148. al-Faḍīl “the Outstanding One” 149. al-Mufaḍḍal “the Most Favored One”
150. al-Fātiḥ “the Opener” 151. al-Miftāḥ “the Key” 152. Miftāḥ al-Raḥmān “the
Key of Mercy” 153. Miftāḥ al-Janna “the Key to the Garden” 154. ʿAllama al-Imān
“He taught the Faith” 155. ʿAllama al-Yaqīn “He Taught Certainty” 156. Dalāʾil
al-Khayrāt “the Guide to Good Things” 157. Muṣaḥḥiḥ al-Ḥasanāt “the Veri-
fier of Good Deeds” 158. Muqīl al-ʿAtharāt “the Forewarner of False Steps; the
Dismisser of Private Faults” 159. Ṣafūḥ ʿan al-Zallāt “the Pardoner of Oppres-
sions; the One Who Disregards Lapses” 160. Ṣāḥib al-Shafaʿāt al-Kubrā “the
Possessor of Intercession” 161. Ṣāḥib al-Maqām al-Maḥmūd “the Possessor of
the Glorified Station” 162. Ṣāḥib al-Qadam “the Owner of the Footprint” 163.
Makhṣūṣ bi-l-ʿAzz “Distinguished with Might” 164. Makhṣūṣ bi-l-Majd “Distin-
guished with Glory” 165. Makhṣūṣ bi-l-Sharaf “Distinguished with Honor” 166.
Ṣāḥib al-Waṣīla “the Possessor of the Means” 167. Ṣāḥib al-Sayf “the Owner
of the Sword” 168. Ṣāḥib al-Faḍīla “the Possessor of Pre-eminence” 169. Ṣāḥib
al-Izār “the Owner of the Cloth” 170. Ṣāḥib al-Ḥujja “the Possessor of Proof”
171. Ṣāḥib al-Sulṭān “the Possessor of Authority” 172. Ṣāḥib al-Riḍaʾ “the Owner
of the Robe” 173. Ṣāḥib al-Daraja al-Rāfiʿ “the Possessor of the Highest Rank”
174. Ṣāḥib al-Tāj “the Possessor of the Crown” 175. Ṣāḥib al-Mighfar “the Pos-
sessor of the Helmet” 176. Ṣāḥib al-Liwāʾ “the Possessor of the Flag” 177. Ṣāḥib
al-Miʿrāj “the Master of the Night Journey” 178. Ṣāḥib al-Qaḍīb “the Possessor
of the Staff” 179. Ṣāḥib al-Burāq “the Owner of Burāq” 180. Ṣāḥib al-Khatam
“the Owner of the Ring” 181. Ṣāḥib al-ʿAlāma “the Owner of the Sign” 182. Ṣāḥib
al-Burhān “the Possessor of the Evidence” 183. Ṣāḥib al-Bayān “the Possessor
of the Evidence” 184. Faṣīḥ al-Lisān “the Good Communicator” 185. Muṭahhir
al-Janān “the Purifier of the Soul” 186. al-Raʿūf “the Kind One” 187. al-Raḥīm
“the Compassionate One” 188. al-Udhun al-Khayr “the Good Listener” 189. Ṣaḥīḥ
al-Islām “the Completer of Islam” 190. Sayyid al-Kawnayn “the Master of the
124 commentary and notes
Two Universes” 191. ʿAyn al-Naʿīm “the Spring of Bliss” 192. ʿAyn al-Ghurr “the
Spring of Beauty” 193. Saʿd Allāh “the Joy of Allāh” 194. Saʿd al-Khalq “the Joy
of the Creator” 195. Khatīb al-Umam “the Preacher of Nations” 196. ʿAlam al-
Huda “the Flag of Guidance” 197. Kāshif al-Kurab “the Remover of Worries”
198. Rāfiʿ al-Rutab “the Raiser of Ranks” 199. ʿIzz al-ʿArab “the Might of the
Arabs” 200. Ṣāḥib al-Faraj “the Possessor of Happiness; the Possessor of Deliv-
rance” 201. al-Ṣadīq “the Truthful”. The ḥadīth of Jubayr ibn Mutʿim, Jābir ibn
ʿAbd Allāh, Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿari, Hudhayfa, Ibn Masʿūd, Ibn ʿAbbās, Abū al-
Ṭufayl and ʿAwf ibn Mālik have all numbered the names and attributes of the
Prophet Muḥammad, adding many more distinct qualities to the image of the
Prophet.
Ibrāhīm (Abraham) One of the six prophets to whom Allāh delivered twenty
portions of scripture. Ibrāhīm lived in Mesopotamia during the reign of King
Namrūd and became the preacher that would rob the king of the faith and
respect of his people. Sāra, the king’s daughter, and Ibrāhīm were joined in
marriage by an angel. King Namrūd ordered the death of the newly wedded
couple. His armed men were met by a fierce army of mosquitoes that ulti-
mately destroyed the kingdom of Namrūd (see Wheeler 2002: 83–108). Prophet
Ibrāhīm was later married to Hājar (Hagar), a slave girl who bore him the son
known as Prophet Ismāʿīl, the father of all Arabs, thus the first prophet of the
Arabian nation (Knappert 1985). Ibrāhīm is also known in the Muslim world as
the Friend of Allāh: “Who can be better / in religion than one / who submits his
whole self / to Allāh, does good, / and follows the way / of Ibrāhīm, the true in
faith? / For Allāh did take / Ibrāhīm for a friend” (Qurʾān, 4 [al-Nisāʾ]: 125).
Mūsā (Moses) The Prophet Mūsā was sent to Egypt by Allāh to free the
children of Israel from the people of Firʿawn (Pharaoh), who slaughtered their
men but spared their women. When Mūsā was born in the house of his father
ʿImrān, his mother laid him in a basket and set him on the waters of the
mighty Nile, where Āsiya, Firʿawn’s wife, and her daughter found him. The
queen had no son and decided to adopt the baby, whom she named Mūsā.
The baby was suckled by his own mother who claimed to have lost her son.
Mūsā grew up in the palace of Firʿawn and showed exceptional qualities. Mūsā’s
killing of an Egyptian turned matters against him. The rulers of Egypt wanted
to see him dead, but with the help of an informant he escaped to the city of
Midyan, where he was later married to Ṣaffūrā, the daughter of Shuʿayb who
had offered him accommodation. Still Mūsā was intent on freeing his people
from servitude under the Egyptians. It was during his journey to Mount Sinai
that Allāh instructed him in his status as prophet to go to Egypt. He took his
Poem 1 aṣ-Ṣindīdi 125
brother Hārūn with him, and once in Egypt they preached the oneness and
superiority of Allāh to Firʿawn, who still proved reluctant. There ensued Allāh’s
punishment: “And remember We divided / the sea for you and saved you / and
drowned Firʿawn’s people / within your very sight” (Qurʾān, 2 [al-Baqara]: 50).
After liberating his people from the Egyptians, the prophet Mūsā went up to the
heights of Mount Sinai and was then given the Ten Commandments and the
Laws and Ordinances, known as the Tawrā. During his absence the children
of Israel became impatient and began to worship a calf made of gold. Mūsā
endured forty years of hardships, but determined to lead his people to the
promised land of Canaan, provided they believed in Allāh and followed the
word of the Tawrā. Mūsā was surrounded by prophets like Shuʿayb his father-in-
law, Hārūn his brother, Yūshaʿ ibn Nūn, and al-Khaḍir, the man who surpassed
him in wisdom. The Prophet Mūsā is regarded as one of the six prominent
prophets in Islam together with Ādam, Ibrāhīm, Nūḥ, ʿIsā ibn Maryam, and
Muḥammad. His special title is Kalīm Allāh, “One who conversed with Allāh”
(see Knappert 1985; Wheeler 2002).
Ṣāliḥ Prophet Ṣāliḥ was the son of Kanūk and Raghwa. His father Kanūk was
the chief priest of King Jund ibn ʿUmar who reigned over the people of Thamūd.
After his father’s death, the prophet Ṣāliḥ preached the oneness of Allāh and
warned against the worshipping of several gods. He became the worst enemy
of the king, who called for his death. Ṣāliḥ also warned the people of Thamūd
to do no harm to the giant she-camel Allāh had sent them: “And O my People!
This she-camel of Allāh is / a sign to you: / Leave her to feed / on Allāh’s (free)
earth, / and inflict no harm / on her, or a swift punishment / will seize you! /
But they did ham-string her. / So he said: “Enjoy yourselves / in your homes
for three days: / (Then will be your ruin): / (Behold) there a promise / not to
be belied!” / When our decree [was] issued, / we saved Ṣāliḥ and those / who
believed with him, / by (special) grace from us / and from the ignonimy / of that
day. For your Lord / He is the Strong One and the Mighty. / The (mighty) blast
overtook / the wrong-doers, and they / lay prostrate in their homes / before the
morning, / as if they had never / dwelt and flourished there. / Ah! Behold! For
the Thamūd / rejected their Lord and Cherisher! / So away with the Thamūd”
(Qurʾān, 11 [Hūd]: 64–68) (see Knappert 1985; Wheeler 2002).
Khaḍir The name of the Prophet al-Khaḍir (Khiḍr, green) is not mentioned
in the Qurʾān but he is described as one of the servants of Allāh. He was
endowed with the secrets of some of the paradoxes of life. The Prophet Mūsā
was impressed by the depth of his wisdom and knowledge, and by his peda-
gogical skills, after learning from him that patience is a virtue. Tradition has
126 commentary and notes
it that al-Khaḍir took part in the battle led by Dhū al-Qarnayn (Alexander the
Great) against the wild tribes of Yaʾjūj and Maʾjūj (Gog and Magog) who were
subjugating another people living beneath them in the mountains. al-Khaḍir is
designated by Muslims as the longest living prophet (see Wheeler 2002).
Hūd The Prophet Hūd is mentioned in about four chapters of the Qurʾān and
his name is the title of Sūra 11. Prophet Hūd and his people called the ʿĀd (or
ʿĀdites) lived in Southern Arabia under the rule of King Shaddād, long before
the coming of Prophet Ṣāliḥ. The king in his days of glory built a powerful
nation rich in gold and silver, monuments and fortresses. He became proud
and defiant of Prophet Hūd’s call to serve Allāh in place of the many deities
they were worshipping. The ʿĀd people rejected Hūd’s message, and received a
grievous chastisement: “And they were pursued / by a curse in this life, / and
on the Day of Judgment. / Ah! Behold! For the ʿĀd / rejected their Lord and
Cheriser! / Away with / ʿĀd the people of Hūd!” (Qurʾān, 11: 60) (see Kanppert
1985; Wheeler 2002).
Shuʿayb (Jethro) The story of Prophet Shuʿayb and the Madyan (Midian)
people is mentioned in the seventh chapter of the Qurʾān. Like Hūd, Ṣāliḥ, and
Nūḥ, Prophet Shuʿayb was sent to preach to his people the word of Allāh and
to plead with them to abandon their fraudulent and crooked ways in dealing
with their customers. The leaders of the Madyan people rejected the arguments
of Prophet Shuʿayb and threatened to drive him and his followers out of the
city. The wrath of Allāh fell upon the Madyan people, as it did on the ʿĀd and
Thamūd peoples, when a powerful earthquake made all the sinners perish:
“The men who rejected / Shuʿayb became as if / they had never been / in the
homes where they / had flourished: the men / who rejected Shuʿayb / it was
they who were ruined! / So Shuaʿib left them, / saying: ‘O my people! / I did
indeed convey to you / the messages for which / I was sent by my Lord: / I gave
you good counsel, / but how shall I lament / over a people who refuse[s] / to
believe!’” (Qurʾān, 7 [al-Aʿrāf ]: 92–93) (see Knappert 1985; Wheeler 2002).
Ismāʿīl (Ishmael) Prophet Ismāʿīl was Prophet Ibrāhīm’s eldest son by his
wife Hājar, and the progenitor of the Arabian race. He is regarded in the Qurʾān
as a messenger and a prophet. The ʿĪd al-Adhḥā (“Feast of Sacrifice”), or ʿĪd al-
Kabīr, known in Senegal as Tabaski, is celebrated by Muslims all around the
world on the 10th day of Dhū al-Ḥijja in commemoration of Prophet Ibrāhīm
having obeyed in true faith Allāh’s command to sacrifice his beloved son,
Ismāʿīl: “And We ransomed him / with a momentous sacrifice” (Qurʾān, 37 [al-
Ṣāffāt]: 107). But Allāh decided otherwise and ordered that a ram (the word
Poem 1 aṣ-Ṣindīdi 127
Sulaymān (Solomon) Prophet Sulaymān was the son of Dāwūd, the king
of Israel and first ruler of the Jewish monarchy. As a prince of wisdom and
knowledge, he was picked among the forty sons of Dāwūd to ascend to the
throne of Israel in the land of Canaan (Knappert 1985). King Sulaymān is rec-
ognized in the Qurʾān as a Muslim prophet upon whom Allāh had bestowed
the power to understand the communication of birds, ants and bees, and
to control the elements: “And to Sulaymān (We / made) the wind (obedi-
ent): / Its early morning (stride) / was a month’s (journey), / and its evening
(stride) / was a month’s journey; / and We made a font / of molten brass
to flow / for him; and there were / jinns that worked in front / of him, by
the leave / of his Lord, and if any / of them turned aside / from Our com-
mand, We / made him taste / of the chastisement / of the blazing fire” (Qurʾān,
34 [Sabāʾ]: 12). Allāh ordered the death of Sulaymān by allowing a worm to
eat up his cane so he would fall fatally, this to teach the Jinns of Sulaymān,
“that if they had / known the unseen, they / would not have tarried / in the
humiliating chastisement / (of their task)” (34: 14) (see Knappert 1985; Wheeler
2002).
Nūḥ (Noah) Nūḥ is one the prophets mentioned in the Qurʾān to whom
inspiration was sent, though he was not an author of the revealed books.
Prophet Nūḥ was sent on a mission to warn his people of the consequences
of their wickedness and sinful acts, reminding them that only repentance and
service to Allāh could save them from chastisement. They refused to deviate
from evil. On the account of the unbelievers’ refusal to mend their ways and
follow in the path of Allāh, the Prophet Nūḥ was instructed to build an ark
and prepare for the flood that would destroy them. He was ridiculed by the
defiant sinners who watched him build his boat, and challenged by his own
son, who chose to hide in a mountain for his safety: “and the waves came /
between them, and the son / was among those / who were drowned” (Qurʾān,
11 [Hūd]: 43). The final site of the ark was on Mount Jūdī in the middle Tigris
region. Nūḥ and Lūṭ’s wives are portrayed in the Qurʾān as unbelievers who
suffered grievous chastisement for their sins: “Allāh sets forth, / for an example
128 commentary and notes
/ to the unbelievers, / the wife of Nūḥ / and the wife of Lūṭ: / They were
(respectively) / under two of our righteous / servants but they betrayed / their
(husbands), / and they profited nothing / before Allāh on their account, / but
were told: ‘Enter / the fire along with / (the others) that enter!’” (66 [al-Taḥrīm]:
10).
Yūnus (Jonah) Sūra 10 of the Qurʾān is entitled Yūnus. Yūnus was the prophet
called in Islam Dhū al-Nūn, “the man of the fish or the whale,” having been swal-
lowed by a giant fish as a sign of Allāh’s punishment for his early blameworthy
acts. Allāh granted him mercy for being a righteous man, and allowed the fish
to free him. The Prophet Yūnus was sent to the people of the ancient city of
Naynuwa (Nineveh) located in today’s northern Iraq. It was a city of abundance
and glory with more than a hundred thousand men who were later mired in
sinful acts that were not to Allāh’s liking. Hence He sent the Prophet Yūnus to
warn them about their wrong-doings and exhort them to repentance. This they
did and were granted pardon temporarily: “When they believed, / We removed
from them / the chastisement of ignominy / in the life of the present, / and
permitted them to enjoy / (their life) for a while” (Qurʾān, 10: 98).
al-Yasaʿ (Elisha) The Prophet al-Yasaʿ is mentioned in the Qurʾān as one the
prophets to whom favor was given above the nations. He was the disciple of
the Prophet Ilyās (Elijah) whom he succeeded as prophet. He is said to have
performed many miracles (see Hughes 1973; Wheeler 2002).
Zakarīyā (Zacharias) The Prophet Zakarīyā was the father of Yaḥyā (John the
Baptist) and the uncle of the Virgin Maryam. His name is mentioned in a few
verses of the Qurʾān. The Prophet Zakarīyā and his wife Ilyaṣābāt (Elizabeth)
were past the age of natural conception, but he was resolved in asking the Lord
for a son who would inherit his character and preach his faith in Allāh: “(His
prayer was answered): / ‘O Zakarīyā! We give you / good news of a son: / His
name shall be Yaḥyā: / On none by that name / have we conferred distinction
before’” (Qurʾān, 19 [Maryam]: 7). The Prophet Zakarīyā was ninety-two years
old when Yaḥyā, the forerunner of ʿĪsā ibn Maryam, was born to be his heir as
prophet (see Knappert 1985; Wheeler 2002).
Yaḥyā (John the Baptist) Yaḥyā ibn Zakarīyā, also known as John the Baptist,
was one of the so called Righteous prophets of Islam. It is stated in the Qurʾān
that he was born to an aged father and a barren mother. The Prophet Yaḥyā did
not live long, but was given wisdom at a young age in order to carry out the
devout mission of his father. He showed the attitudes of an honorable model:
Poem 1 aṣ-Ṣindīdi 129
“And pity (for all creatures) / as from Us, and purity: / He was devout, / and kind
to his parents, / and he was not overbearing / or rebellious. / So peace on him /
the day he was born, / the day that he dies, / and the day that he / will be raised
up / to life (again)!” (Qurʾān, 19 [Maryam]: 13–15).
Hārūn (Aaron) The Prophet Hārūn was the first in the line of the Israelite
priesthood. Maryam the Virgin was Hārūn’s kinswoman. Maryam and her
cousin Ilyaṣābāt (Elizabeth), mother of Yaḥyā, came of a priestly family, and
were therefore, “sisters of Hārūn” or daughters of ʿImrān, who was Hārūn’s
father (Qurʾān, 19 [Maryam]: n. 2481). The Prophet Hārūn was, at the request
of his younger brother Mūsā, the coleader of the Exodus from Egypt where
Firʿawn and his chiefs were arrogant and refused to follow in their footsteps
(see Wheeler 2002).
Yūshaʿ (Joshua) Yūshaʿ ibn Nūn and Kālab ibn Yūfannā were the Prophet
Mūsā’s companions in the exodus. They were members of the twelve spies sent
by Mūsā to report on the land of Canaan, an assignment for which they were
rewarded. After the death of Hārūn, Yūshaʿ accompanied Mūsā in the desert
for forty years and carried out all his important assignments. After the death of
Mūsā, Yūshaʿ ibn Nūn arranged the settlement of the twelve tribes of Israel in
the land of Canaan. The names Yūshaʿ ibn Nūn and Kālab ibn Yūfannā are not
mentioned in the Qurʾān but the two men are referred to as the two believing
spies: “They said: ‘O Mūsā! / In this land are a people / of exceeding strength: /
Never shall we enter it / until they leave it: If (once) they leave, / then shall we
enter.’ / (But) among (their) God-fearing men / were two on whom / Allāh had
bestowed His grace: / They said: ‘Assault them / at the (proper) gate: / When
once you are in, / victory will be yours; / but on Allāh put your trust / if you
have faith’” (Qurʾān, 5 [al-Māʾida]: 22–23).
Ilyās (Elias) The Prophet Ilyās is in the ranks of the so-called righteous
messengers. He lived in Israel during the reign of King Aḥāb (b.c. 896–874)
and King Ahazia (b.c. 874–872) the son of Aḥāb and Jezebel. Ilyās’s figure has
been identified with other prophets like Yaḥyā (John the Baptist) and Idrīs. He
is said to have been present and talked to ʿIsā ibn Maryam at the Transfiguration
on the Mount. The Prophet Ilyās was guided to warn his parents as well as his
people against the worshipping of the Syrian deity Baʿl, and to turn their faith
to Allāh. Thus the Qurʾān states this about Ilyās: “Behold, he said / to his people,
/ ‘will you not fear (Allāh)? / Will you call upon Baʿl / and forsake the Best / of
creators, / Allāh, your Lord and Cherisher / and the Lord and Cherisher / of
your fathers of old?’ / But they rejected him, / and they will certainly / be called
130 commentary and notes
upon (for punishment), / except the chosen servants of Allāh (among them). /
And We left / for him among generations / (to come) in later times: / Peace and
salutation / to such as Ilyās!” (Qurʾān, 37 [al-Ṣāffāt]: 124–129).
Ādam (Adam) Ādam is the first man, whom Allāh created, without a father:
“The similitude of ʿIsā / before Allāh is as that of Ādam; / He created him from
dust, / then said to him: ‘Be’: / And he was” (Qurʾān, 3 [ĀlʿImrān]: 59). Ādam
is the first prophet to whom Allāh revealed the words of inspiration. For his
creation, Allāh instructed the angels Jibrīl, Mīkhāʾīl, ʿAzrāʾīl, and Isrāfīl to bring
him clay from the four corners of the world. He then added the soul to Ādam’s
body, which He had created a thousand years before. Allāh allowed him the use
of natural senses and taught him the names of things. He ordered the angels to
prostrate themselves (sujūd) before Ādam, but Iblīs (Satan) was reluctant to do
so, putting himself over Ādam, who was made of clay while he was made of fire.
One night Ādam fell asleep and dreamt that he saw a beautiful creature who
looked like himself, but with differences in their features. This female creature
was Hawwāʾ (Eve), believed to have been created from Ādam’s rib. The Garden
of Eden was the first dwelling-place of Ādam and Hawwāʾ, in which Allāh had
provided them with all kinds of bountiful things but warned them not to eat
from the tree. Satan, who first refused to prostrate himself before Ādam, took
this opportunity to exploit the weakness of mankind and became Ādam and
Hawwāʾ’s adviser: “So by deceit he brought about / their fall: when they / tasted
of the tree, / their shameful parts became manifest / to them, and they began /
to sew together the leaves / of the garden over their bodies” (Qurʾān, 7 [al-Aʿrāf ]:
22). That is when Allāh decided that their dwelling-place and their means of
livelihood would be on earth. Ādam and Hawwāʾ landed on earth on a Friday
and conceived the first generation of mankind. The two sons of Ādam were
Hābīl (Abel) and Qābīl (Cain). Qābīl was the elder and Hābīl the younger one,
each born with a twin-sister. Qābīl was jealous of Hābīl, who wanted to marry
his beautiful sister; he murdered him and became one of the lost ones. Qābīl
was later killed by the Angel of Revenge for disobeying Allāh. In the name of
Ādam, Allāh has shown grace and mercy to mankind: “We have honored the
sons / of Ādam; provided them / with transport on land and sea; / given them
for sustenance things / good and pure; and conferred / on them special favors,
/ above a great part / of Our creation” (Qurʾān, 17 [al-Isrāʾ]: 70).
Qurʾān, 17 [al-Isrāʾ]: 55). He was also a valiant soldier in King Ṭālūt’s army.
He knocked down the giant Philistine Jālūt with his slingshot and slew him
with his own sword. Allāh then gave him power and wisdom, making him
a king and a prophet. It was during his reign that armour was invented. He
was a man of patience, strength, wisdom, and sound judgment in speech and
wisdom, as stated in the Qurʾān (see Hughes 1973; Knappert 1985; Wheeler
2002).
Dhū al-Kifl The Prophet Dhū al-Kifl’s name is mentioned in the Qurʾān:
“And (remember) Ismāʿīl, / Idrīs, and Dhū al-Kifl, all / (men) of constancy and
patience; / We admitted them to / Our mercy; for they / were of the righteous
ones” (21 [al-Anbiyāʾ]: 85–86). Dhū al-Kifl has been identified as either Ilyās
(Elias), or Yūshaʿ (Joshua), and was most probably Ezekiel, who is called Kāfil
by Arabs. Dhū al-Kifl’s name is again mentioned in Sūra 38 [Ṣād]: 48.
ʿĪsā (Jesus) The Prophet Jesus is known in Islam as ʿĪsā ibn Maryam. He was
sent down with one of the four revealed books, the Injīl or Gospel. Yet he
remains a Muslim prophet. He was created in his mother’s womb by Allāh,
hence Maryam is also known to Muslims as the Virgin for her chastity: “She
said: ‘O my Lord! / How shall I have a son / when no man has touched me?’ /
He said: Even so; / Allāh creates / what He wishes: / When He has decreed / a
matter, He but says / to it, ‘Be,’ and it is! / And Allāh will teach him / the book
and wisdom, / The Tawrā and the Injīl, / and (appoint him) / a messenger to the
children /of Israel” (Qurʾān, 3 [Āl ʿImrān]: 47–49). The Qurʾān does not accept
the notion of the Prophet ʿĪsā as the son of God. It is believed that by special
favors of the Lord, ʿĪsā ibn Maryam performed many miracles, as early as his
infancy, like the miracle of the clay birds, and the miracles of curing the blind
and raising the dead (see Hughes 1973; Wheeler 2002).
Lūṭ In Islamic traditions, Lūṭ was Prophet Ibrāhīm’s nephew. The city of
Sadūm was home to the Prophet Lūṭ. The people of Sadūm, mainly those
who lived in the mountains, were described as evildoers in that they openly
practiced immoral sexual behaviors including homosexuality. In His will to save
them from such practices Allāh sent Lūṭ to preach His word to the Sadūmites,
including his wife, for their own good. They rejected his sermons and even
threatened to kill him. In Lūṭ’s defense, Allāh sent Jibrīl to destroy the twin
cities of Sadūm and ʿĀmūra: “When Our decree [was] issued, / We turned (the
cities) / upside down, and rained down / on them brimstones / hard as baked
clay, / spread, layer on layer, / marked from your Lord; / nor are they ever far /
from those who do wrong” (Qurʾān, 11 [Hūd]: 82–83).
132 commentary and notes
Yūsuf (Joseph) Prophet Yūsuf was the twelveth son of Prophet Yaʿqūb, the
son of Isḥāq (Isaac), thirty years younger than his half-brother, Ismāʿīl, thus
the sons of Prophet Ibrāhīm. The twelveth Sūra of the Qurʾān is entitled Yūsuf.
Allāh revealed to the Prophet Muḥammad that its verses were the best of
narratives. Prophet Yūsuf dreamed that the sun, the moon and eleven stars
(respectively symbolic of his father, mother and eleven brothers) had pros-
trated themselves before him. He related the dream to his father, who urged
him not to reveal it to his brothers. His second dream was disclosed by his
father’s wife, which made Yūsuf’s brothers jealous of his potential power to
interpret signs and events. They plotted to rid themselves of Yūsuf and threw
him into a well. Prophet Yūsuf was rescued by traders and sold to ʿAzīz and
Zulaykhā, the king and queen of Egypt. Zulaykhā admired Prophet Yūsuf for
his manly beauty in her blind passion and sought to seduce him. Prophet Yūsuf
rejected her advances and was put on trial; he was declared guilty and given
a prison term. While Prophet Yūsuf was serving his prison term, King ʿAzīz
of Egypt had a dream he wanted interpreted. ʿAzīz’s cup-bearer, the Prophet
Yūsuf’s former cellmate, heard about the dream and remembered the power of
Prophet Yūsuf to interpret dreams. He told ʿAzīz, who saw fit to have Prophet
Yūsuf released from prison and be rewarded as the custodian of the land. His
brothers came to Egypt, entered his court and did not recognize him. This time
his younger full brother, Binyāmīn, was not among them. During their sec-
ond visit Binyāmīn was introduced to Prophet Yūsuf, who secretly told him:
“Behold! I am your (own) / brother; so grieve not / at any of their doings”
(Qurʾān, 12 [Yūsuf ]: 69). In the meantime Prophet Yaʿqūb had lost his eyesight
crying for his dearly beloved son, Yūsuf. When the ten sons of Prophet Yaʿqūb
returned to Egypt looking for their lost brothers, Prophet Yūsuf revealed himself
to them, reminded them of their misdeeds and finally reconciled with them:
“He said: ‘This day / let no reproach be (cast) / on you: Allāh will forgive you,
/ and He is the most Merciful / of those who show mercy!’ ” (12: 92). His child-
hood vision was fulfilled when his whole family fell down in prostration before
him.
Isḥāq (Isaac) The Prophet Isḥāq was one of the so-called righteous messen-
gers whom Allāh had endowed with power and vision. He was the Prophet
Ibrāhīm’s second son, born of his first wife Sāra. He was also the younger
brother of Ismāʿīl, born of Ibrāhīm’s second wife, Hājar. The Prophet Isḥāq was
blessed by Allāh and became the ancestor of the Jewish people. Isḥāq is men-
tioned a few times by name in the Qurʾān, often with his father and his son,
Yaʿqūb. The names of twenty-five prophets are said to occur in the Qurʾān (see
Hughes 1973; Knappert 1985; Wheeler 2002).
Poem 1 aṣ-Ṣindīdi 133
Jibrīl (Gabriel) Rūḥ al-amīn (the Trustworthy Spirit), or Malak al-waḥi (The
Angel of revelation), are epithets attached to Jibrīl’s name, who is said to have
been the angel who revealed the Qurʾān to the Prophet Muḥammad: “Say: Who
is an enemy / to Jibrīl for he brings down / the (revelation) to your heart /
by Allāh’s will, a confirmation / of what went before, / and guidance and glad
tidings / for those who believe” (2 [al-Baqara]: 97). In his mid-30s, Muḥammad
had the habit of going outside of Mecca to Mount Ḥirāʾ for meditation and
contemplation. It was in the month of Ramaḍān, during one of these times
of solitude, that Jibrīl appeared to him in a cave on Mount Ḥirāʾ, which lies to
the northeast of Mecca, and ordered him to read what is known today as the
holy Qurʾān: “Verily this is a revelation / from the Lord of the worlds: / With it
came down / the truthful spirit / to your heart / that you may admonish / in the
perspicuous / Arabic tongue” (26 [al-Shuʿarāʾ]: 192–195).
Mīkhāʾīl The archangel Michael’s name occurs once in the Qurʾān: “Whoever
is an enemy to Allāh / and His angels and prophets, / to Jibrīl and Mīkhāʾīl,
/ lo! Allāh is an enemy to those / who reject faith” (2 [al-Baqara]: 98). Jews
believed that Jibrīl was an avenging angel who inspired fear, and therefore
could not have revealed the Qurʾān to the Prophet Muḥammad. If it had been
Mīkhāʾīl, their own guardian angel, whom they called “the great prince who
stands for the children of [their] people,” they might have believed him (see
Hughes 1973).
Isrāfīl The angel who will sound the trumpet on the Day of Resurrection. His
name does not occur in the Qurʾān. He can only be identified by mention of the
trumpet in the Qurʾān: “The trumpet will (just) / be sounded, when all / that
are in the heavens / and on earth will swoon, / except such as it will / please
Allāh (to exempt). / Then will a second one / be sounded, when, behold, / they
will be standing / and looking on!” (39 [al-Zumar]: 68).
ions. At the end of the battle, Abū Jahl ibn Hishām and the pagans of Quraysh
were all destroyed and thrown in the well of Badr. Here is the list of the soldiers
of Badr according to Ibn Hishām: 1. Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh, the Messenger
of Allāh 2. Ḥamza ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib 3. ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib 4. Zayd ibn Ḥāritha
5. Anasa, the apostle’s freedman 6. Abū Kabsha, the apostle’s freedman 7. Abū
Marthad Kannāz ibn Ḥiṣn 8. Marthad ibn Abū Marthad 9. ʿUbayda ibn al-Ḥārith
10. al-Ṭufayl ibn al-Ḥārith 11. al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Ḥārith 12. Misṭaḥ ibn Uthātha; his
name was ʿAwf 13. ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān 14. Abū Ḥudhayfa ibn ʿUtba 15. Sālim,
Abū Ḥudhayfa’s freedman 16. ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jaḥsh 17. ʿUkāsha ibn Miḥṣan 18.
Shujāʿ ibn Wahb 19. ʿUqba ibn Wahb 20. Yazīd ibn Ruqaysh 21. Abū Sinān ibn
Miḥṣan 22. Sinān ibn Abū Sinān 23. Muḥriz ibn Naḍla 24. Rabīʿa ibn Aktham
25. Thaqf ibn ʿAmr 26. Mālik ibn ʿAmr 27. Mudlij ibn ʿAmr 28. Abū Makhshī 29.
ʿUtba ibn Ghazwān 30. Khabbāb, Utba’s freedman 31. al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwām
32. Ḥātib ibn Abī Baltaʿa 33. Saʿd, freedman of Ḥāṭib 34. Muṣʿab ibn ʿUmayr
35. Suwaybiṭ ibn Saʿd 36. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf 37. Saʿd ibn Abū Waqqāṣ
38. Umayr ibn Abū Waqqāṣ 39. Miqdād ibn ʿAmr 40. Dahīr ibn Thawr 41. ʿAbd
Allāh ibn Masʿūd 42. Masʿūd ibn Rabīʿa 43. Dhū al-Shimālayn ibn ʿAbd ʿAmr 44.
Khabbāb ibn al-Aratt 45. Abū Bakr ibn ʿUthmān 46. Bilāl ibn Rabāḥ (his freed-
man) 47. ʿĀmir ibn Fuhayra 48. Ṣuhayb ibn Sinān 49. Ṭalḥa ibn ʿUbayd Allāh
50. Abū Salama ibn ʿAbd al-Asad 51. Shammās ibn ʿUthmān 52. al-Arqum ibn
ʿAbd Manāf 53. ʿAmmār ibn Yāsir 54. Muʿattib ibn ʿAwf 55. ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb
56. Zayd ibn al-Khaṭṭāb 57. Mihjaʾ, ʿUmar’s freedman 58. ʿAmr ibn Surāqa 59.
ʿAbd Allāh ibn Surāqa 60. Wāqid ibn ʿAbd Allāh 61. Khawlī ibn Abī Khawlī 62.
Mālik ibn Abī Khawlī 63. ʿĀmir ibn Rabīʿa 64. ʿĀmir ibn al-Bukayr 65. ʿĀqil ibn
al-Bukayr 66. Khālid ibn al-Bukayr 67. Iyās ibn al-Bukayr 68. Saʿīd ibn Zayd 69.
ʿUthmān ibn Maẓʿūn 70. al-Sāʾib ibn ʿUthmān 71. Qudāma ibn Maẓʿūn 72. ʿAbd
Allāh ibn Maẓʿūn 73. Maʿmar ibn al-Ḥārith 74. Khunays ibn Ḥudhāfa 75. Abū
Sabra ibn Abū Ruhm 76. ʿAbd Allāh ibn Makhrama 77. ʿAbd Allāh ibn Suhayl
78. ʿUmair ibn ʿAwf 79. Saʿd ibn Khawla 80. Abū ʿUbayda ibn al-Jarrāḥ (ʿĀmir)
81. ʿAmr ibn al-Ḥārith 82. Suhayl ibn Wahb 83. Ṣafwān ibn Wahb 84. ʿAmr ibn
Rabīʿa. The total number of the Emigrants who took part in the battle of Badr
to whom the apostle allloted shares in the booty was eighty-three men. The
helpers and their adherents who were at Badr: 85. Saʿd ibn Muʿādh 86. ʿAmr
ibn Muʿādh 87. al-Ḥārith ibn Aws 88. al-Ḥārith ibn Anas 89. Saʿd ibn Zayd 90.
Salama ibn Salāma 91. ʿAbbād ibn Bishr 92. Salama ibn Thābit 93. Rāfīʿ ibn Yazīd
94. al-Ḥārith ibn Khazama 95. Muḥammad ibn Maslama 96. Salama ibn Aslam
97. Abū al-Haytham ibn al-Tayyahān 98. ʿUbayd ibn al-Tayyahān 99. ʿAbd Allāh
ibn Sahl 100. Qatāda ibn al-Nuʿmān 101. ʿUbayd ibn Aws 102. Naṣr ibn al-Ḥārith
103. Muʾattib ibn ʿAbīd 104. ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṭāriq 105. Masʿūd ibn Saʿd 106. Abū
ʿAbs ibn Jabr 107. Abū Burda ibn Niyār 108. ʿĀṣim ibn Thābit 109. Muʿattib ibn
Poem 1 aṣ-Ṣindīdi 135
Qushayr 110. Abū Mulayl ibn al-Azʿar 111. ʿUmar ibn Maʿbad 112. Sahl ibn Ḥunayf
113. Mubashshir ibn ʿAbd al-Mundhir 114. Rifāʾa ibn ʿAbd al-Mundhir 115. Saʿd ibn
ʿUbayd 116. ʿUwaym ibn Sāʿida 117. Rāfiʿ ibn ʿUnjuda 118. ʿUbayd ibn Abī ʿUbayd
119. Thaʿlaba ibn Ḥāṭib 120. Abū Lubāba ibn ʿAbd al-Mundhir 121. al-Ḥārith ibn
Ḥāṭib 122. Unays ibn Qatada 123. Maʿn ibn ʿAdī 124. Thābit ibn Aqram 125. ʿAbd
Allāh ibn Salama 126. Zayd ibn Aslam 127. Ribʿī ibn Rafiʿ 128. ʿĀṣim ibn ʿAdīy
129. ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jubayr 130. ʿĀṣim ibn Qays 131. Abū Ḍayyāḥ ibn Thābit 132.
Abū Ḥanna 133. Sālim ibn ʿUmayr 134. al-Ḥārith ibn al-Nuʿmān 135. Khawwāt
ibn Jubayr 136. al-Mundhir ibn Muḥammad 137. Abū ʿAqīl ibn ʿAbd Allāh 138.
Saʿd ibn Khaythama 139. al-Mundhir ibn Qudāma 140. Mālik ibn Qudāma 141.
al-Ḥārith ibn ʿArfaja 142. Tamīm, a freedman of the Banū Ghanm 143. Jābir ibn
ʿAtīk 144. Mālik ibn Numayla 145. al-Nuʿmān ibn ʿAṣar. The total number of Aws
who fought at Badr with the apostle and of those who were given a share of the
booty was 61 men. 146. Khārija ibn Zayd 147. Saʿd ibn Rabīʿ 148. ʿAbd Allāh ibn
Rawāḥa 149. Khallād ibn Suwayd 150. Bashīr ibn Thaʿlaba 151. Simāk ibn Thaʿlaba
152. Subayʿ ibn Qays 153. ʿAbbād ibn Qays 154. ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbs 155. Yazīd
ibn al-Ḥārith 156. Khubayb ibn Isāf 157. ʿAbd Allāh ibn Zayd 158. Ḥurayth ibn
Zayd 159. Sufyān ibn Bashr 160. Tamīm ibn Yaʿār 161. ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmayr 162.
Zayd ibn al-Muzayyan 163. ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUrfuta 164. ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Rabīʿ 165.
ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd Allāh 166. Aws ibn Khawlī 167. Zayd ibn Wadīʿa 168. ʿUqba
ibn Wahb 169. Rifāʿa ibn ʿAmr 170. ʿĀmir ibn Salama 171. Abū Ḥumayḍa Maʿbad
ibn ʿAbbād 172. ʿĀmir ibn al-Bukayr 173. Nawfal ibn ʿAbd Allāh 174. ʿUbāda ibn
al-Ṣāmit 175. Aws ibn al-Ṣāmit 176. al-Nuʿmān ibn Mālik 177. Thābit ibn Ghaz-
zāl 178. Mālik ibn al-Dukhsham 179. al-Rabīʿ ibn Iyās 180. Waraqa ibn Iyās 181.
ʿAmr ibn Iyās 182. al-Mujadhdhar ibn Ziyād 183. ʿUbād ibn al-Khashkhāsh 184.
Naḥḥāb ibn Thaʿlaba 185. ʿAbd Allāh ibn Thaʿlaba 186. ʿUtba ibn Rabīʿa 187. Abū
Dujāna Simāk ibn Kharasha 188. al-Mundhir ibn ʿAmr 189. Abū Usayd Mālik ibn
Rabīʿa 190. Mālik ibn Masʿūd 191. ʿAbdu Rabbihi ibn Ḥaqq 192. Kaʿb ibn Ḥimār
193. Ḍamra ibn Bashr 194. Ziyād ibn Bashr 195. Basbas ibn ʿAmr 196. ʿAbd Allāh
ibn ʿAmr 197. Khirāsh ibn al-Ṣimma 198. Ḥubāb ibn al-Mundhir 199. ʿUmayr ibn
al-Ḥumām 200. Tamīm, a freedman of Khirāsh 201. ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr 202.
Muʿādh ibn ʿAmr 203. Khallād ibn ʿAmr 204. Muʿawwidh ibn ʿAmr 205. ʿUqba
ibn ʿĀmir 206. Ḥabīb ibn al-Aswad, a freedman of the ʿAmr family 207. Thābit
ibn Thaʿlaba 208. Thaʿlaba, also known as al-Jidhʿ 209. ʿUmayr ibn al-Ḥārith
210. Bishr ibn al-Barāʾ 211. al-Ṭufayl ibn Mālik 212. al-Ṭufayl ibn al-Nuʿmān 213.
Sinān ibn Sayfī 214. ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Jadd 215. ʿUtba ibn ʿAbd Allāh 216. Jabbār
ibn Sakhr 217. Khārija ibn Ḥumayyir 218. ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ḥumayyir 219. Yazīd
ibn al-Mundhir 220. Maʿqil ibn al-Mundhir 221. ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Nuʿmān 222.
al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn Ḥāritha 223. Sawād ibn Zurayq 224. Maʿbad ibn Qays 225. ʿAbd
Allāh ibn Qays 226. ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbdu Manāf 227. Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh 228.
136 commentary and notes
Khulayda ibn Qays 229. al-Nuʿmān ibn Sinān 230. Abū al-Mundhir Yazīd ibn
ʿĀmir 231. Sulaym ibn ʿAmr 232. Quṭba ibn ʿĀmir 233. ʿAntara, a freedman of
Sulaym ibn ʿAmr 234. ʿAbs ibn ʿĀmir 235. Thaʿlaba ibn ʿAnama 236. Abū al-Yasar
Kaʿb ibn ʿAmr 237. Sahl ibn Qays 238. ʿAmr ibn Ṭalq 239. Muʿādh ibn Jabal 240.
Qays ibn Miḥṣan 241. Abū Khālid al-Ḥārith ibn Qays 242. Jubayr ibn Iyās 243.
Abū ʿUbāda Saʿd ibn ʿUthmān 244. ʿUqba ibn ʿUthmān 245. Dhakwān ibn ʿAbdu
Qays 246. Masʿūd ibn Khalada 247. ʿAbbād ibn Qays 248. Asʿad ibn Yazīd 249.
al-Fākih ibn Bishr 250. Muʿādh ibn Māʿiṣ 251. ʿĀʾidh ibn Māʿiṣ 252. Masʿūd ibn
Saʿd 253. Rifāʿa ibn Rāfiʿ 254. Khallād ibn Rāfiʿ 255. ʿUbayd ibn Zayd 256. Ziyād
ibn Labīd 257. Farwa ibn ʿAmr 258. Khālid ibn Qays 259. Rujayla ibn Thaʿlaba
260. ʿAtīya ibn Nuwayra 261. Khulayfa ibn ʿAdī 262. Rāfiʿ ibn al-Muʿallā 263.
Abū Ayyūb Khālid ibn Zayd 264. Thābit ibn Khālid 265. ʿUmāra ibn Ḥazm 266.
Surāqa ibn Kaʿb 267. Ḥāritha ibn al-Nuʿmān 268. Sulaym ibn Qays 269. Suhayl
ibn Rāfiʿ 270. ʿAdī ibn al-Zaghbāʾ 271. Masʿūd ibn Aws 272. Abū Khuzayma ibn
Aws 273. Rāfiʿ ibn al-Ḥārith 274. ʿAwf ibn al-Ḥārith 275. Muʿawwidh ibn al-Ḥārith
276. Muʿādh ibn al-Ḥārith 277. al-Nuʿmān ibn ʿAmr 278. ʿĀmir ibn Mukhallad
279. ʿAbd Allāh ibn Qays 280. ʿUṣayma 281. Wadīʿa ibn ʿAmr 282. Thābit ibn
ʿAmr 283. Abū al-Ḥamrāʾ, a freedman of al-Ḥārith 284. Thaʿlaba ibn ʿAmr 285.
Sahl ibn ʿAtīk 286. al-Ḥārith ibn al-Ṣimma 287. Ubbay ibn Kaʿb 288. Anas ibn
Muʿādh 289. Aws ibn Thābit 290. Abū Shaykh Ubbay ibn Thābit 291. Abū Ṭalḥa,
also known as Zayd ibn Sahl 292. Ḥāritha ibn Surāqa 293. ʿAmr ibn Thaʿlaba
294. Salīṭ ibn Qays 295. Abū Salīṭ Usayra ibn ʿAmr 296. ʿAmr Abū Khārija ibn
Qays 297. Thābit ibn Khansāʾ 298. ʿĀmir ibn Umayya 299. Muḥriz ibn ʿĀmir
300. Sawād ibn Ghazīya 301. Abū Zayd Qays ibn Sakan 302. Abū al-Aʿwar ibn
al-Ḥārith 303. Sulaym ibn Milḥān 304. Ḥarām ibn Milḥān 305. Qays ibn Abū
Ṣaʿṣaʿa 306. ʿAbd Allāh ibn Kaʿb 307. ʿUsayma 308. Abū Dāʾūd ʿUmayr ibn ʿĀmir
309. Surāqa ibn ʿAmr 310. Qays ibn Mukhallad 311. al-Nuʿmān ibn ʿAbdu ʿAmr
312. al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn ʿAbdu ʿAmr 313. Sulaym ibn al-Ḥārith 314. Jābir ibn Khālid
315. Saʿd ibn Suhayl 316. Kaʿb ibn Zayd 317. Bujayr ibn Abū Bujayr (Ibn Hishām
1967).
Abū Bakr Abū Bakr (ca. 570–13/634) was born to a wealthy family in Mecca.
His original name was ʿAbd al-Kaʿba, which the Prophet Muḥammad changed
to ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Quḥāfa. Also known as al-Ṣiddīq, the Veracious, Abū Bakr
became the staunchest of the early converts to Islam, outside the Prophet’s
immediate family. Abū Bakr’s wife Qutayla bint ʿAbd al-ʿUzza and his son
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān rejected Islam, and they were separated from him. Abū Bakr
became the Prophet’s closest companion and adviser, and his prominence in
Mecca was enhanced by the Prophet’s marriage to his daughter ʿĀʾisha. Abū
Bakr was also the Prophet’s companion on the Hijra, the flight from Mecca to
Poem 1 aṣ-Ṣindīdi 137
Yathrib (al-Madīna), which counts as the beginning of the Muslim era. When
Abū Bakr accompanied the Prophet Muḥammad in this migration, they took
refuge in a cave in Jabal Thawr for three days and three nights before proceeding
to Madīna. The Quraysh enemies sent search parties in all directions. One party
came close to the entrance to the cave, but was unable to sight them. Abū
Bakr was the only one who stayed with the Prophet in that cave. About this
situation the following verse was revealed: “If you help not (the Prophet), /
(it is no matter): for Allāh / did indeed help him, / when the unbelievers /
drove him out: being / the second of the two / they two were in the cave,
/ and he said to his companion, / ‘Have no fear, for Allāh / is with us:’ then
Allāh / sent down His peace upon him, / and strengthened him with forces /
which you saw not, and humbled / to the depths the word / of the unbelievers.
/ But the word of Allāh / is exalted to the heights: / For Allāh is exalted in
might, wise” (Qurʾān, 9 [al-Tawba]: 40). Abū Bakr was instrumental in the
conversion of many people to the Islamic faith. He was also involved in several
campaigns such as the Battle of Badr (624), the Battle of Uḥud (625), the
Battle of the Trench (Ghazwa al-Khandaq, 627), the Battle of Khaybar (628),
the Conquest of Mecca (630), the Battle of Ḥunayn (630) and the Battle of
Tabūk (630), among others. In presiding over a delegation of three hundred
Muslims, sent by the Prophet Muḥammad from al-Madīna to perform the first
Ḥajj in 631, Abū Bakr earned his position of honor as the first Amīr al-Ḥajj in
the history of Islam. In the tenth year of the Hijra, the Prophet Muḥammad
went to Mecca for his farewell pilgrimage and pronounced the Sūra al-Naṣr
(Qurʾān, 110) as an announcement of his approaching death. After returning to
al-Madīna from preaching to his followers in Mecca, the Prophet Muḥammad
became ill and Abū Bakr began to lead the public prayer. When the death
of the Prophet was announced, ʿUmar threatened anyone who would spread
such a rumor. Abū Bakr thought it wise to confirm the death of the Prophet
to the crowd gathered around him. He ascended the minbar (platform) and
reminded the companions of the mortal nature of mankind: “Muḥammad is
no more / than a messenger: many / were the messengers that passed away
/ before him. If he died / or were slain, will you then / turn back on your
heels? / If any turned back / on his heels, not the least / harm will he do to
Allāh: / But Allāh (on the other hand) / will swiftly reward those / who (give)
him gratitude” (Qurʾān, 3 [Āl ʿImrān]: 144). He also reminded the crowd of
the divine transcendent unity: “For those who worshipped Muḥammad, know
that Muḥammad is dead. And those who worshipped Allāh, know that Allāh
lives and does not die” (Renard 2009: 20). After the Prophet’s death, Abū Bakr
became the first important figure among the four Rightly Guided Caliphs (al-
khulafāʾ al-rāshidūn) or Righteous Caliphs in Islamic history. Tradition has it
138 commentary and notes
that shortly before his death Prophet Muḥammad asked Abū Bakr to offer up
a prayer for the people, which was taken as a sign that the Prophet had chosen
Abū Bakr to succeed him. As Caliph, Abū Bakr brought all of central Arabia
under Muslim control and was successful in spreading Islam further through
conquest. Abū Bakr was instrumental in preserving the Qurʾān in written form
for fear that it might be lost or corrupted. ʿUmar requested the Caliph Abū Bakr
to authorize the compilation and preservation of the Book in written format.
Prior to his death, Abū Bakr gave this authorized copy to his successor, ʿUmar.
However, ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān was given credit for publishing the Qurʾān. Abū
Bakr’s caliphate lasted about two years, two months and fifteen days. In August
634, the condition of Abū Bakr’s sickness worsened and he was confined to
his bed. He died that same month. ʿUmar led the funeral prayer. Abū Bakr was
buried the same night beside the Prophet’s grave (see Renard 2009; Crone and
Hinds 2003).
ʿUmar (or ʿOmar) ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (580–644) was born in Mecca to
the Quraysh tribe and was younger than the Prophet Muḥammad by about
ten years. He was the second figure among the four Rightly Guided Caliphs
or Righteous Caliphs in Islamic history. His father, Khaṭṭāb, was among the
prominent members of the Banū ʿAdī clan. His mother, Ḥantama, was the
daughter of Hāshim ibn al-Mughīra, a man of high rank among the Quraysh.
Abū Jahl, the fiercest enemy of the prophet Muḥammad in his lifetime, was
ʿUmar’s maternal uncle. One of the sisters of ʿUmar’s mother, Umm Salma,
was married to the Prophet Muḥammad. ʿUmar was admired for his physical
traits as he became a champion wrestler, and for his personality. ʿUmar received
education in reading and writing in an environment where such skills were
rare. He was described by observers as an outstanding public speaker, who
inherited the enviable skills of his grandfather Nufayl in diplomacy, and also his
sense of judgment. ʿUmar was first skeptical about the message of the Prophet
Muḥammad and even volunteered to kill him in order to vindicate the gods of
the Kaʿba and the faith of his forefathers. But he finally resolved to read the
Qurʾān after hearing about the conversion of his sister Fāṭima to Islam. ʿUmar’s
reading of the Sūra Ṭāʾ Hāʾ (Qurʾān, 20) over and over again led him to the prayer
of the Prophet. ʿUmar’s conversion took place in the fifth year of the Apostle’s
mission and moved him closer to the Prophet Muḥammad, to whom he became
a steady companion. ʿUmar convinced the Prophet Muḥammad that the truth
of Islam could only be manifest if all Muslims were invited to pray openly and
without fear, upon which the Prophet conferred upon ʿUmar the title of “al-
Farūq” for discerning the truth from falsehood. Upon the death of Muḥammad,
ʿUmar was in such a state of despair that he threatened to decapitate anyone
Poem 1 aṣ-Ṣindīdi 139
who would say that Muḥammad was dead. Abū Bakr, the first successor to
Muḥammad, designated ʿUmar as his own successor prior to his death. ʿUmar
reigned as caliph from 633 until his assassination by a Persian slave in 644 (see
Crone and Hinds 2003).
ʿUthmān ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān was the third figure among the four Rightly
Guided Caliphs or Righteous Caliphs in Islamic history. He was born to the pow-
erful Banū Umayya clan in the Quraysh tribe. He became Caliph from 644 to
656 after being designated by ʿUmar and his council. ʿUthmān’s father, ʿAffān,
died as a young man and left a large inheritance to his son. As a successful
businessman, ʿUthmān was the first and only member of the Meccan aristoc-
racy to become a Muslim believer in the early period. He joined the faith after
learning about the Prophet Muḥammad’s mission through Abū Bakr. ʿUthmān
was also known for his humility and generosity, spending much of his wealth
on charity. He was married to Ruqayya, the Prophet Muḥammad’s daughter.
When Ruqayya died, ʿUthmān married her sister Umm Kulthūm, after the bat-
tle of Uḥud. ʿUthmān was again widowed. As a result of these two marriages,
ʿUthmān was nicknamed Dhū al-Nūrayn, the Possessor of Two Lights. He is also
known to have compiled the Qurʾān into the single authoritative version, which
is still unchanged (see Crone and Hinds 2003).
ʿAlī ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib was the last figure among the four Rightly Guided
Caliphs or Righteous Caliphs in Islamic history. He was a cousin to the Prophet
Muḥammad, the son of the Prophet’s sympathetic uncle Abū Ṭālib. ʿAlī
embraced Islam at an early age, having been adopted into the Prophet’s house-
hold. ʿAlī later married the Prophet’s youngest daughter, Fāṭima, who bore him
the twin sons Ḥassān and Ḥusayn and another son Muḥsin, who presumably
died in a miscarriage. After the assassination of the third Caliph, ʿUthmān
ibn ʿAffān, the Islamic state was fragmented and in deep crisis. The rebellion
divided the followers of Islam into several factions that could not come to a
final decision as to who should become the new caliph. Only the senior com-
panions of the Prophet insisted that ʿAlī should become caliph, though there
were two other candidates to the title, Ṭalḥa and al-Zubayr. ʿAlī was at first reluc-
tant to accept the position, as it was mainly suggested by the rebels, but upon
the insistence of the notable companions of the Prophet Muḥammad as well as
of the people who lived in al-Madīna, he agreed to take over as caliph. Nonethe-
less the legitimacy of ʿAlī’s appointment was questioned by a few groups of
unhappy followers, including ʿĀʾisha, the widow of the Prophet Muḥammad.
ʿAlī became caliph between 656 and 661 and reigned during the era that coin-
cided with the first Muslim civil war. Disobedience and subversive activities
140 commentary and notes
were undermining the authority of the new ruler, who had no option but to
give in to pressure. There ensued the Battle of the Camel (also known as the
Battle of Jamal) in Basra, Iraq, between forces allied to ʿAlī and those allied to
ʿĀʾisha, who demanded justice on the perpetrators of the assassination of ʿUth-
mān ibn ʿAffān. The forces of ʿAlī won the battle against the faction led by Ṭalḥa,
al-Zubayr, and ʿĀʾisha. ʿAlī then decided to transfer his capital to Kufā where
he was later struck with a poisoned sword by Ibn Muljam. ʿAlī died three days
later. The Muslim community became as fragmented as ever, and the days of
the Rightly Guided Caliphs or Righteous Caliphs were over. ʿAlī was described
as a brave and righteous man who fought in defense of the Muslim community.
He became known as Asad Allāh “the Lion of Allāh.” The Shīʾahs hold that ʿAlī
was entitled to the caliphate after the Prophet Muḥammad’s death, and disre-
gard the legitimacy of Abū Bakr, ʿUmar and ʿUthmān, who ruled before him.
This difference of opinion ultimately gave rise to the division between Shīʾah
and Sunni Muslims (see Crone and Hinds 2003).
Mālik The Imām Abū ʿAbd Allāh Mālik ibn Anas (716–795) was the founder
of the Mālikī School of Law. He was born in al-Madīna where he received his
early education from Sahl ibn Saʿd, one of the last surviving companions of
the Prophet Muḥammad. He was a contemporary of Jaʿfār al-Ṣādiq (602–688),
the renowned scholar and descendant of the Prophet Muḥammad, and one of
the so-called twelve rightful Imāms. He also knew Abū Ḥanīfa and respected
him well, though they did not agree on all matters regarding the authority of
the ḥadīth. Imām Mālik ibn Anas was considered the most learned man of his
time and for that reason his authority on the interpretation of the ḥadīth was
quoted as decisive. Imām Muḥammad al-Bukhārī (810–870), who authored the
ḥadīth collection known as Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī regarded as the most trustworthy
compilation considered Imām Malīk’s “Golden Chain of Narration” (Silsilat al-
Dhahab) as the most reliable. His book, the Muwaṭṭāʾ (“The Approved”), is
the first compilation of ḥadīth, and the first book of law. It is placed by some
among the six correct books. Imām Mālik withdrew from the outside world
in contemplation of Allāh before he died at age eighty-four and was buried in
the cemetery of Maqbarat al-Baqīʿ or Jannat al-Baqīʿ (The Garden of Heaven)
in al-Madīna. Muḥammad ibn Idrīs al-Shāfiʿī, Yaḥyā ibn Yaḥyā al-Maṣmūdī,
and al-Shaybānī were his best-known students. The majority of the Muslim
community in Senegal adheres to the Mālikī School of Law (see Esposito 1998;
Guillaume 1924).
was, like the Prophet Muḥammad, a member of the Banū Quraysh and a
descendant of ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib. He derived his patronymic al-Shāfiʿī from his
grandfather Shāfiʿī ibn al-Sāʾib. At age seven, he had memorized the Qurʾān,
and at ten the Muwaṭṭāʾ of Mālik ibn Anas, with whom he studied law in al-
Madīna. It is alleged that he was well versed in Arabic poetry and obtained
the rank of Muftī when he was fifteen years of age. He is also reported to have
been the most accurate of all collectors of the ḥadīth. He promoted the ḥadīth
and Sunna (practices) of the Prophet as being the primary authority for the
interpretation of the Qurʾān in lieu of the Analogy (qiyās). His first work was
entitled al-Uṣūl, a treatise on the principles of Muslim civil and canon law.
He also published Sunan, Risāla, and Musnad on traditional law, and fourteen
volumes on theology. He spent the rest of his life in Egypt and died in Cairo,
where the bulk of his work has been preserved. His most distinguished disciples
were al-Zuhayrī and Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, the latter of whom afterwards
founded a sect. He developed his first school of law (madhhab or fiqh) in
Baghdad and his collective work and teaching led to the School of al-Shāfiʿī
(see Guillaume 1924).
Abū Ḥanīfa Abū Ḥanīfa al-Nuʿmān ibn Thābit ibn Zūṭā (700–769), better
known as Imām Abū Ḥanīfa or al-Imām al-Aʿzam (the Great Imām), was the
founder of the Hanafī School of Law. He was born in the city of Kūfa (Iraq),
where his father Thābit (of Persian descent from Kābul) was a silk dealer. Imām
Abū Ḥanīfa grew up to be one of the most respected jurisconsults of Islam. Abū
Ḥanīfa began to take an interest in education under the influence of Abū ʿAmr
ʿĀmir al-Shaʿbī of Kūfa, one of the four distinguished scholars of his time, also
including Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib (637–715) of al-Madīna, Ḥasan al-Baṣrī (642–
728) of Basra, and Makhūl in Syria. Abū Ḥanīfa then pursued his quest for
knowledge under Jaʿfār al-Ṣādiq, one of the twelve rightful imams. Abū Yūsuf,
the first Supreme Judge in Islam under the Caliph Hārūn al-Rashīd, was of the
Hanafī School of Law, like most of the judges of the ʿAbbāsiyya dynasty (see
Guillaume 1924).
Aḥmad The Imām Abū ʿAbd Allāh Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal (780–855) was the
founder of the Ḥanbalī School of Law. He was born in Baghdad and received
his education under Yazīd ibn Hārūn and Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd. As the founder of
one of the four Sunnī sects, Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal was celebrated as being the
most courageous person of his time. The ʿAbbāsid Caliph al-Maʾmūn (783–
833), the son of Hārūn al-Rashīd, was inclined towards the doctrines of the
rationalist Muʿtalizites, who wanted to have the clerics and judges enforce the
idea that the Qurʾān was a creation. Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal refused to ascribe to
142 commentary and notes
such doctrines, being of the opinion that the Qurʾān was uncreated. As a result
of his steadfastness, he was imprisoned and persecuted by the ruling forces
of the Khalīfa al-Muʿtaṣim. Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal was set free by the Khalīfa al-
Mutawakkil, who reinstated the belief into the uncreated Qurʾān. With his
knowledge Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal became a leading authority on the ḥadīth and
published an immense encyclopedia entitled the Musnad. He had several emi-
nent students, particularly Ismāʿīl al-Bukhārī and Muslim ibn Dāwūd (see Guil-
laume 1924).
Pen al-Qalam, or “The Pen” or Nūn, is the title of Sūra 68 in the Qurʾān. The
first two verses read: “Nūn. By the pen / and by the (record) / which (men)
write, / you are not, / by the grace of your Lord, / mad or possessed.” In Sūra
3, one reads, “This is part of the tidings / of the things unseen, / which We
reveal unto you / (O Prophet!) by inspiration: / You were not with them / when
they cast lots / with pens, as to which / of them should be charged / with the
care of Maryam: / nor were you with them / when they disputed (the point)”
([Āl ʿImrān]: 44). The word “pens” is translated into Arabic as aqlām, which
suggests the Arab custom of casting lots with arrows. In Sūra 31, one reads,
“And if all the trees / on earth were pens / and the ocean (were ink), / with
seven oceans behind it / to add to its (supply), / yet would not the words / of
Allāh be exhausted / (in the writing): for Allāh / is exalted in power, / full of
wisdom” ([Luqmān]: 27). For Muslim commentators, the power and infinitude
of Allāh are such that no man can couch in writing an image comparable to
His.
Qurʾān The Holy Qurʾān (al-Qurʾān in Arabic) is the one book of wisdom
common to Muslims all around the world: “Nay this is / a glorious Qurʾān, /
(inscribed) in / a tablet preserved” (Qurʾān, 85 [al-Burūj]: 21–22). It is defined
as the inspired message of Allāh revealed to the Prophet Muḥammad in Ara-
bic through the angel Jibrīl. In its textual form, the Qurʾān is said to have been
“(written) by the hands / of scribes / honorable and pious and just” (80 [ʿAbasa]:
15–16). This assertion made some commentators believe that the book was
completed before it was sent down from Heaven portion by portion, in peri-
odic stages. The Qurʾān is regarded by Muslims as the last book of revelation
brought down to supersede the Tawrā of Mūsā, the Zabūr of Dāwūd and the
Injīl of ʿĪsā ibn Maryam. The word Qurʾān appears seventy times in the holy
book and is derived from qaraʾa, which means he read or he recited. Its common
denomination is the “recitation,” as it was intended for the believers. Here are
the fifty-five special titles of the holy book: 1. al-Kitāb, “The Book” 2. al-Mubīn,
“The Enlightener” 3. al-Qurʾān, “The Qurʾān” 4. al-Karīm, “The Honorable” 5.
Poem 1 aṣ-Ṣindīdi 143
Kalām Allāh, “The Word of Allāh” 6. al-Burhān, “The Proof” 7. al-Nūr, “The Light”
8. al-Hudā, “The Guidance” 9. al-Raḥma, “The Mercy” 10. al-Furqān, “The Dis-
tinguisher” 11. al-Shifāʾ, “The Health” 12. al-Mawʿiza, “The Sermon” 13. al-Dhikr,
“The Reminder” 14. al-Mubārak, “The Blessed” 15. al-ʿAlī, “The Exalted” 16. al-
Ḥikma, “The Wisdom” 17. al-Ḥakīm, “The Philosopher” 18. al-Muhaymin, “The
Preserver” 19. al-Muṣaddiq, “The Establisher of Truth” 20. al-Ḥabl, “The Rope”
21. al-Ṣirāṭ al-Mustaqīm, “The Straight Path” 22. al-Qayyim, “The Strong” 23. al-
Qawl al-Faṣl, “The Distinguishing Speech” 24 al-Nabaʾ al-ʿAẓīm, The Exalted
News 25. al-Ḥasan al-Ḥadīth, “The Good Saying” 26. al-Mathānī, “The Rep-
etition” 27. al-Mutashābih, “The Uniform” 28. al-Tanzīl, “The Revelation” 29.
al-Rūḥ, “The Spirit” 30. al-Waḥī, “The Inspiration” 31. al-ʿArabī, “The Arabic”
32. al-Baṣāʾir, “The Enlightenment” 33. al-Bayān, “The Explanation” 34. al-ʿIlm,
“The Knowledge” 35. al-Ḥaqq, “The Truth” 36. al-Hādī, “The Guide” 37. al-ʿAjab,
“The Wonderful” 38. al-Tadhkira, “The Exhortation” 39. ʿUrwat al-Wuthqā, “The
Firm Handle” 40. al-Ṣidq, “The Righteous” 41. al-ʿAdl, “The Justice” 42. al-Amr,
“The Order” 43. al-Munādī, “The Preacher” 44. al-Bushrā, “The Glad Tidings”
45. al-Majīd, “The Glorious” 46. al-Zabūr, “The Psalm” 47. al-Bashīr, “The Her-
ald of Glad Tidings” 48. al-Nadhīr, “The Warner” 49. al-ʿAzīz, “The Mighty”
50. al-Balāgh, “The Message” 51. al-Qaṣaṣ, “The Narrative” 52. al-Ṣūḥuf, “The
Scriptures” 53. al-Mukarrama, “The Excellent” 54. al-Marfūʿa, “The Exalted”
55. al-Muṭāhara, “The Purified”. The Qurʾān in its written form is divided into
chapters (suwar), verses (āyāt), words (kalimāt), and letters (ḥurūf ). There
are 114 chapters of varying lengths and approximately 6,247 verses, depend-
ing on how they are counted. The chapters are classified as being revealed
in Mecca or in al-Madīna. Chapter titles are derived from a name or qual-
ity discussed in the text, or from the first letters or words of the Sūra so
named by the Prophet Muḥammad himself. Each Sūra, with the exception of
Sūra 9 [al-Tawba], begins with the words: “In the name of Allāh, the Benefi-
cient, the Merciful” (Bi-smi Llāhi r-Raḥmāni r-raḥīm). The table of contents of
the Qurʾān is as follows: 1. Fātiḥa, “The Prologue” 2. Baqara, “The Cow” 3. Āl
ʿImrān, “The Family of Imrān” 4. Nisāʾ, “Women” 5. Māʾida, Table of the Feast
6. Anʿām, “Cattle” 7. Aʿrāf, “Heights” 8. Anfāl, “Spoils of War” 9. Tawba “Repen-
tance” 10. Yūnus, “Jonah” 11. Hūd, “Hud” 12. Yūsuf, “Joseph” 13. Raʿd, “Thunder”
14. Ibrāhīm, “Abraham” 15. Ḥijr, “Hijr” 16. Naḥl, “Bee” 17. Banū Isrāʾīl, “Chil-
dren of Israel” 18. Kahf, “Cave” 19. Maryam, “Mary” 20. Ṭāʾ Hāʾ 21. Anbiyāʾ,
“Prophets” 22. Ḥajj, “Pilgrimage” 23. Muʾminūn, “Believers” 24. Nūr, “Light” 25.
Furqān, “Criterion” 26. Shuʿarāʾ, “Poets” 27. Naml, “Ant” 28. Qaṣaṣ, “Story” 29.
ʿAnkabūt, “Spider” 30. Rūm, “Romans” 31. Luqmān, “Luqmān” 32. Sajda, “Pros-
tration” 33. Aḥzāb, “Confederates” 34. Sabāʾ, “Sheba” 35. Malāʾika, “Angels” 36.
Yāʾ Sīn, “Yā Sīn” 37. Ṣāffāt, “Ranks” 38. Ṣād, “Sād” 39. Zumar, “Groups” 40.
144 commentary and notes
Muʾmin, “Believer” 41. Fuṣṣilat, “Explanation” 42. Shūrā, “Council” 43. Zukhruf,
“Ornaments” 44. Dukhān, “Smoke” 45. Jāthiya, “Kneeling” 46. Aḥqāf, “Ahqāf”
47. Muḥammad, “Muḥammad” 48. Fatḥ, “Victory” 49. Hujurāt, “Apartments”
50. Qāf, “Qāf” 51. Dhāriyāt, “Scattering Winds” 52. Ṭūr, “Mountain” 53. Najm,
“Star” 54. Qamar, “Moon” 55. Raḥmān, “Merciful” 56. Wāqiya, “Inevitable” 57.
Ḥadīd, “Iron” 58. Mujādila, “Disputer” 59. Ḥashr, “Congregation” 60. Mum-
taḥana, “Woman Tried” 61. Ṣaff, “Array” 62. Jumʿa, “Assembly” 63. Munāfiqūn,
“Hypocrites” 64. Taghābun, “Mutual Disillusion” 65. Ṭalāq, “Divorce” 66. Taḥrīm,
“Prohibition” 67. Mulk, “Kingdom” 68. Qalam, “Pen” 69. Hāqqa, “Inevitable Day”
70. Maʿārij, “Steps” 71. Nūḥ, “Noah” 72. Jinn, “Jinn” 73. Muzzammil, “Wrapped
up” 74. Muddaththir, “Enfolded” 75. Qiyāma, “Resurrection” 76. Dahr, “Time”
77. Mursalāt, “Emissaries” 78. Nabaʾ, “News” 79. Nāziʿāt, “Those Who Drag” 80.
ʿAbasa, “He Frowned” 81. Takwīr, “Folding up” 82. Infiṭār, “Cleaving Asunder”
83. Taṭfīf, “Defrauding” 84. Inshiqāq, “Sundering” 85. Burūj, “Celestial Signs” 86.
Ṭāriq, “Night Star” 87. Aʿlā, “Most High” 88. Ghāshiya, “Overwhelming” 89. Fajr,
“Dawn” 90. Balad, “City” 91. Shams, “Sun” 92. Layl, “Night” 93. Ḍuhā, “Morning
Hours” 94. Sharḥ, “Solace” 95. Tīn, “Fig” 96. ʿAlaq, “Clot” 97. Qadr, “(Night) of
Power” 98. Bayyina, “Clear Proof” 99. Zalzala, “Earthquake” 100. ʿĀdiyāt, “Cours-
ers” 101. Qāriʿa, “Calamity” 102. Takāthur, “Plenitude” 103. ʿAṣr, “Declining Day”
104. Humaza, “Slanderer” 105. Fīl, “Elephant” 106. Quraysh, “Quraysh” 107. Māʿūn,
“Necessaries” 108. Kawthar, “Abundance” 109. Kāfirūn, “Unbelievers” 110. Naṣr,
“Help” 111. Abū Lahab, “Abū Lahab” 112. Ikhlāṣ, “Unity” 113. Falaq, “Daybreak” 114.
Nās, “Men.” The whole Qurʾān was revealed during a period of twenty-three
years. There is another seven-fold division of the holy book known as Manzil,
which enables the reading performance to take place in the course of a week
(see Hughes 1973).
Tawrā (Torah) The Tawrā is the holy book Allāh is said to have sent to
the Prophet Mūsā so he could preach to the children of Israel (Banū Isrāʾīl)
the religious guidelines that Allāh had revealed to them. It is also known
as the Hebrew Bible, and is written in biblical Hebrew or classical Hebrew,
the most archaic form of the Hebrew language, formerly spoken in the area
known as Canaan, west of the Jordan River and east of the Mediterranean
Sea. Some sections of the Tawrā are written and others are oral. The oral
Tawrā includes the traditional interpretations handed down by word of mouth
from generation to generation, making the Muslim community believe the
Tawrā had been corrupted and was no longer authoritative. The Jewish Tawrā
is divided into five books, known among Christians as the Pentateuch. They
are included in the Old Testament and respectively entitled: Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. They recount the creation of the world,
Poem 1 aṣ-Ṣindīdi 145
the coming into being of the children of Israel, their descent into Egypt, the
revelation at Mount Sinai, and the death of the Prophet Mūsā before the people
of Israel reached the promised land of Canaan.
Zabūr (Psalms of David) The Zabūr, also known as the Book of Psalms, is
Allāh’s revelation to the Prophet Dāwūd: “And it is your Lord / that knows best
all beings / that are in the heavens / and on earth: / And We made some of / the
prophets to excel / others and We gave / to Dāwūd / the Psalms” (Qurʾān, 17 [al-
Isrāʾ]: 55). The word Zabūr is often defined as “song” and “music.” The psalms are
songs of praise described as devotional poetry of a higher order. The Zabūr was
preceded by the Tawrā: “Before this We wrote / in the Psalms, after the message
/ (given to Mūsā)” (21 [al-Anbiyāʾ]: 105).
Injīl (Gospel of Jesus) The Injīl was the holy book revealed to ʿĪsā ibn Mar-
yam (Jesus). It is the Gospel ʿĪsā ibn Maryam preached in turn to the children of
Israel, after the Prophets Mūsā (Tawrā) and Dāwūd (Zabūr). It begins the New
Testament, the second part of the Christian Bible. It is also the Christian Holy
Bible, which comprises the Old Testament and the New Testament. Although
many Christians believe that the Bible is infallible, it is the view among Muslims
that the Injīl mentioned in the Qurʾān has suffered from corruption, as is said
to be the case with the Tawrā. Muslim commentators argue that previous
scriptures have been abrogated by Christian scribes and bear no resemblance
to the original revelation in which they would have recognized the coming
of Muḥammad already prophesied in the Gospel: “And remember, ʿĪsā / ibn
Maryam said: / ‘O children of Israel! / I am the messenger of Allāh / (sent) to
you, confirming / the Tawrā (which came) / before me, and giving / glad tidings
of a messenger / to come after me, / whose name shall be Aḥmad.’” (Qurʾān, 61
[al-Ṣaff ]: 6)
Throne (Kursī or ʿArsh) The verse of the Throne (“Āyat al-kursī”) in the
second Sūra al-Baqara or The Cow is believed to be the most famous verse
of the Qurʾān not only because of the beauty of its composition but also the
complexity of its meaning. It reads “Allāh! There is no god / but He, the Living,
the Self-subsisting, Supporter of all. / No slumber can seize Him / nor sleep.
His are all things / in the heavens and on earth. / Who can intercede / in His
presence except / as He permits? He knows / what (appears to His creatures
/ as) before or after / or behind them. / Nor shall they compass / any of His
knowledge / except as He wishes. His throne does extend / over the heavens
/ and the earth, and He feels / no fatigue in guarding / and preserving them /
for He is the most High, / the Supreme in (glory)” (255). Here are other verses
where one finds the word throne: “And We did try / Sulaymān: We placed / on
his throne a body / but he did turn / (to Us in true devotion)” (38 [Ṣād]: 34); “But
if they turn away, / say: Allāh suffices [to] me: / There is no god but He. / On Him
is my trust, / He the Lord of the throne / supreme” (9 [al-Tawba]: 129); “Say: Who
is the Lord / of the seven heavens, / and the Lord of the mighty throne?” (23 [al-
Muʾminūn]: 86); “Therefore exalted be Allāh, / the King, the Reality: / There is
no god but He, / the Lord of the throne / of honor!” (23: 116); “Allāh!—there is
no god / but He! Lord of the throne / supreme!” (27 [al-Naml]: 26); “And you will
see / the angels surrounding / the throne (divine) / on all sides, singing glory /
and praise to their Lord. / The decision between them / (at judgement) will be /
in (perfect) justice, / and the cry (on all sides) / will be, ‘praise be to Allāh, / the
Lord of the worlds!’” (39 [al-Zumar]: 75); “Glory to the Lord / of the heavens and
the earth, / the Lord of the throne. / He is free from the things / they attribute
(to Him)!” (43 [al-Zukhruf ]: 82).
Evil The word is mentioned more than three thousand times in the Qurʾān.
It is mostly used in verses that warn the unbelievers and evildoers about the
chastisement that awaits them in hell, as they understand from the advanced
preaching of Muḥammad how to discriminate between right and wrong, good
and evil: “Thus have We sent this / down—an Arabic Qurʾān—/ and explained
therein in detail / some of the warnings, / in order that they may / fear Allāh,
or that it may / cause their remembrance (of Him).” (20 [Tāʾ-Hāʾ]: 113) Sheikh
Ahmadu Bamba is here praying for protection against the forces of evil. In
Muslim beliefs, the evil eye is symbolic of individuals who have the power to
look at other people and cause them harm. Evil mouth can be translated as
defamation, slander, or backbiting. It is wrongful speech aimed at destroying
the credibility of someone who is unaware, increasing anxiety and lack of trust
among his immediate circle. There is an injunction against this type of immoral
behavior that can only harm the defenceless victims. Envy and jealousy are
Poem 1 aṣ-Ṣindīdi 147
used interchangeably when they describe the attitude of someone who does
not partake in the privilege and pleasures of others, or would rather have them
for himself. Qābīl, the elder son of the Prophet Ādam, murdered his brother
Hābīl whom he forbade to marry to his beautiful sister. This act was described
as the first sin on earth as a consequence of Qābīl’s envy and jealousy of his
younger brother, who was first favored by Allāh. In some Muslim communities,
people often carry an amulet bracelet or a talisman to ward off the evil effects of
the eye, the mouth, or the heart. Yet in Islam, the most recommended measure
of protection against the evil eye is total submission to Allāh in good faith, as
recommended in the last two Sūra of the Qurʾān, al-Falaq and al-Nās.
Kawthar al-Kawthar is the title of Sūra 108 of the Qurʾān. Its given translation
is “abundance” or “good in abundance”, but it reflects the most important spring
or fountain in heaven, which Allāh promised to the Prophtet Muḥammad. The
other heavenly fountains are Tasnīm, Kāfūr, and Salsabīl. To all the righteous
believers who remain patient and constant, Allāh has promised the delights
surrounding such fountains in infinite measure.
Death Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba acknowledges here his belief in life after
death. He also believes that the present life is a trial in preparation for the next
realm of existence. He reveals his acceptance of death as it comes, unlike the
disbelievers whom Allāh warned: “And they say: ‘What is / There but our life /
in this world? We shall die and live, / and nothing but time / can destroy us.’
But / of that they have no / knowledge: they merely conjecture: / and when our
clear / signs are rehearsed to them, their argument is nothing / but this: they
say, ‘Bring / (back) our forefathers, if / what you say is true.’ / Say: ‘It is Allāh
Who /gives you life, then / gives you death; then / He will gather you together
/ for the Day of Judgment /about which there is /no doubt’: but most / men do
not know” (Qurʾān, 45 [al-Jāthiya]: 24–26). Muslims are taught to believe that
the Day of Resurrection will be the day when Allāh’s attributes of justice and
mercy will be in full manifestation. Allāh will shower His mercy on those who
suffered for His sake in the worldly life, believing that eternal bliss was awaiting
them. But those who abused the bounties of Allāh, caring nothing for the life
to come, will be in the most miserable state.
Save my mother According to Wolof poet Mūsā Ka, the original name of
Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba’s mother was Maryam Buso. The Murīd community
knows her best as Maam Jaara or Soxna Jaara. Mūsā Ka wrote a lyric poem
to exalt her virtues, the details of which reflect the portrayal of the four per-
fect women in Islam: Āsiya the wife of Firʿawn, Maryam the mother of ʿĪsā,
148 commentary and notes
Khadīja the wife of the Prophet Muḥammad, and Fāṭima his daughter. Mūsā
Ka writes:
The Murīd disciples visit the tomb of Maam Jaara in the village of Poroxaan
once a year to perform the office of mourning her departure. Indeed the Murīds
celebrate her as someone blessed with a saintly existence, and mainly for
engraving in their hearts the love of Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba (see Rosander
1998).
Day of Judgment: Yawm al-Qiyāma is the Day of Resurrection. al-Qiyāma is
the title of Sūra 75 of the Qurʾān.
The gates of Hell Islamic scholars divide sin into two classes: the great sins
and the little sins. Great sins like adultery, usury, murder, theft, infidelity, and
associating someone with Allāh are punishable by admission into the gates
of hell. It is believed that the grades of punishment are suited to the sins of
the individual sinners concerned. The seven divisions of hell are as follows: 1.
Jahannam is defined as the deep pit. The word is used in the following verses:
Poems 2 and 3 Sabʿun Taqī/ Nafaʿanī 149
“And verily, hell ( Jahannam) / is the promised abode / for them all! / To it are
seven gates: / For each of those gates / is a (special) class / (of sinners) assigned”
(Qurʾān, 15 [al-Ḥijr]: 43–44). 2. Laẓā is defined as the sweeping flames of fire: “By
no means! / For it would be / the blazing fire—/ plucking out (his being) / right
to the skull—/ inviting (all such) / as turn their backs / and turn away their faces
/ (from the right)” (Qurʾān, 70 [al-Maʿārij]: 15–16). 3. al-Ḥuṭama is that which
crushes or breaks to pieces and grinds everything to powder, and is mentioned
in the following verses: “By no means! He will / be sure to be thrown into / that
which breaks / to pieces. / And what will explain / to you that which breaks / to
pieces? It is the fire / of Allāh / kindled (to a blaze), / the which does mount /
(right) to the hearts: / It shall be made / into a vault over them, / in columns
outstretched” (Qurʾān, 104 [al-Humaza]: 4–9). 4. Saʿīr is also a blazing fire
mentioned in more than a dozen verses like the following one: “But those who
disobey / Allāh and His messenger / and transgress His limits / will be admitted
/ to a fire, to abide therein: / And they shall have / a humiliating punishment”
(Qurʾān, 4 [al-Nisāa]: 14) (see also Qurʾān, 42 [al-Shūrā]: 7; 67 [al-Mulk]: 10–
11). 5. Saqar is the excessive heat that melts everything. It is mentioned in the
following verses: “Truly those in sin / are the ones / in error and madness. / The
day they will be / dragged through the fire / on their faces, (they / will hear:)
‘Taste / the touch of hell” (Qurʾān, 54 [al-Qamar]: 47–48) (see also Qurʾān, 74
[al-Muddaththir]: 27; 40–47). 6. al-Jaḥīm is an intense heat produced by leaping
flames of fire. It is mentioned in the following verses: “(The stern command will
say): / Seize him / and bind him, / and burn him / in the blazing fire’” (Qurʾān,
69 [al-Ḥāqq]: 30–34). 7. Hāwiya is the bottomless pit: “But he whose / balance
(of good deeds) / will be (found) light, / will have his home / in a (bottomless)
pit. / and what will explain / to you what this is? / (It is) a fire / blazing fiercely!”
(Qurʾān, 101 [al-Qāriʿa]: 8–11).
The gates of heaven Firdaws or Paradise, (or the abodes of bliss) is said
to have seven gates: “And We have made, above you, / seven tracts; and We
/ are never unmindful / of (Our) creation” (Qurʾān, 23 [al-Muʾminūn]: 17).
Although the gates of heaven have their own names, mention is often made
of the regions of heaven as gardens. There are the Gardens of Eden ( Jannat
al-ʿAdn), the Gardens of Paradise ( Jannat al-Firdaws), the Gardens of Refuge
( Jannat al-Maʾwā), the Gardens of Delight ( Jannat al-Naʿīm) and the Gardens
of Invocation ( Jannat al-Kasif ). The ḥadīth describe the seven heavens as being
of pure virgin silver, silver, pure gold, white gold, pearls, ruby, and garnet: “Allāh
will admit those / who believe and work righteous deeds, / to gardens beneath
which / rivers flow: they shall be / adorned therein with bracelets of gold and
pearls; and / their garments there / will be of silk” (Qurʾān, 22 [al-Ḥajj]: 23).
150 commentary and notes
The treasures of this world and the hereafter The Qurʾān teaches Muslims
that “to Allāh belong / the treasures of the heavens / and the earth; but / the
hypocrites understand not” (63 [al-Munāfiqūn]: 7). The treasures of Allāh’s
mercy are believed to be infinite in scope and not comparable to the foolish
pride of unbelievers, who are satisfied with the fleeting material riches of
this world. Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba is hereby echoing the warning about not
withholding Allāh’s message: “Say: If you had / control of the treasures / of the
mercy of my Lord, / behold, you would keep them / back, for fear of spending
/ them: for man / is (ever) niggardly!” (17 [al-Isrāʾ]: 100).
Poem 4 Wajjahtu
ʿAbd Allāh ʿAbd Allāh (the Servant of Allāh) was born around 545 as the
youngest son of ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib of the Banū Hāshim. ʿAbd Allāh was the father
of Muḥammad, born to his wife Āmina of the Banū Zuhrah. One day ʿAbd Allāh
was visiting Yathrib (al-Madīna) on a mercantile expedition to Ghaza and fell
sick and died at the premature age of twenty-five before the birth of his son,
Poem 4 Wajjahtu 151
Muḥammad. Āmina did not long survive her son: she died when he was six
years old (see Bukhārī 1981).
ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib (b. ca. 497): ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib was also known as Shayba al-
Ḥamd because of the grey hair growing on his head as an infant. He was the
father of Abū Ṭālib, al-Zubayr and ʿAbd Allāh, all born to his wife Fāṭima. His
other sons were Ḥamza, al-Ḥārith, ʿAbbās, and Abū Lahab. ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib
was the son of Hāshim and Salmā bint ʿAmr of the Banū ʿAdī ibn al-Najjār. A
few years after his birth, his uncle al-Muṭṭalib fetched him from his mother
and brought him back to his own people, who did not know of him. When the
people of Mecca first saw him they believed he was al-Muṭṭalib’s slave and so
named him ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib. After the death of his uncle al-Muṭṭalib, ʿAbd al-
Muṭṭalib took over the function of providing the pilgrims with food and water
dug from the well Zamzam. It is alleged that he used to make the water more
potable by mixing it with camel’s milk, honey, or raisins (Margoliouth 1923).
There came a time during his life when ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, bearing al-Ḥārith as
his only son, felt overpowered by his Quraysh adversaries, who opposed any of
his initiatives. ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib asked God to grant him ten sons, after which
he would sacrifice one of them to Him. Misfortune fell upon ʿAbd Allāh, his
favorite son, who was chosen as the sacrificial lamb when ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib was
reminded of his vow. Ultimately though, the lot fell upon a camel, allowing him
to be redeemed by the sacrifice of one hundred camels. Overwhelmed with joy
upon saving his son from death, ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib slaughtered his camels for the
Meccan onlookers. ʿAbd Allāh, the father of Muḥammad, died when his wife
Āmina was still pregnant. Six years after Muḥammad’s birth, Āmina fell sick
and died. ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib awarded himself the custody of the orphan child.
ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib died when Muḥammad was eight years old, leaving him in
the care of Abū Ṭālib (see Muir 1923).
Hāshim (b. ca. 464): Hāshim ibn ʿAbdu Manāf died in Ghazza, Syria. He was
a merchant. He held the office of feeding and watering the pilgrims before
his brother al-Muṭṭalib took over. Hāshim had traveled to al-Madīna to marry
Salmā bint ʿAmr of the Banū ʿAdī ibn al-Najjār. They had a son and named him
Shayba. Hāshim left Shayba with his mother, and later when his paternal uncle
heard of the little boy, he fetched him and brought him back to Mecca, where
people thought he was a slave and called him ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib (see Muir 1923).
ʿAbdu Manāf (b. ca. 430): ʿAbdu Manāf was the son of Quṣayy and the
younger brother of ʿAbd al-Dār. The two brothers were apparently not on good
terms because Quṣayy had transferred all his powers and privileges to his first
son ʿAbd al-Dār. ʿAbdu Manāf was married to as many as four wives, and had
several children, including Hāshim, Nawfal, ʿAbdu Shams, and al-Muṭṭalib (see
Ibn Hishām 1967).
Quṣayy (b. ca. 400): Quṣayy, the great-grandfather of ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, was a
man of wisdom. He was fifth in the ascending line from Muḥammad. He was
also a man of honor and power among the Quraysh. After Quṣayy’s death, his
son ʿAbdu Manāf took charge of his duties (see Ibn Hishām).
Kilāb Kilāb ibn Murra was the father of Quṣayy and Zuhra, the son of Murra
ibn Kaʿb by his first wife, Hind bint Surayr. Kilāb had two half-brothers, Taym
and Yaqaẓa through his father’s second wife Asma bint ʿAdī. He was married
to Fāṭima bint Saʿd ibn Sayl, who bore him two sons. His elder son, Zuhra ibn
Kilāb, was the progenitor of the Banū Zuhra clan, and his younger son, Quṣayy
ibn Kilāb, became the first Quraysh custodian of the Kaʿba (see Ibn Hishām).
Murra Murra was the father of Kilāb, Yaqaẓa and Taym of the clan of Abū
Bakr and Ṭalḥa. His brothers were ʿAdī of the clan of ʿUmar and Huṣayṣ (see
Ibn Hishām).
Kaʿb Kaʿb was the son of Luʾayy and the brother of Amir of the clan of Suhayl.
Ghālib Ghālib was the father of Luʾayy and the brother of al-Ḥārith of the
clan of Abū ʿUbayda.
Heathen A heathen is often labeled as one who does not subscribe to the
divine unity acknowledged in Christianity, Judaism, or Islam. Heathens are said
to worship idols and are described as primitive, irreligious, and unenlightened.
To many Muslims though, a heathen is one who refuses to adhere to Islam and
is better known in today’s language as an infidel.
The enemies While in exile, and even before, Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba refused
to adhere to the social, religious, and political beliefs of the French colonial
authorities. He saw them as the unbelievers who rejected Allāh’s revelations
as described in the Qurʾān, and thus named them the enemies (2 [al-Baqara]:
97–101).
Courage It seems that the trials and tribulations imposed upon Sheikh
Ahmadu Bamba while he was at sea could not thwart his plans to serve the
Lord, as he relied on His guidance and protection: “Your Lord is He / that makes
the ship / go smoothly for you / through the sea, in order that / you may seek of
his bounty. / For He is unto you / most Merciful” (Qurʾān, 17 [al-Isrāʾ]: 66–68).
The servant of the Prophet The distinction Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba claimed
for himself for being at the service of the Prophet Muḥammad.
The Sincere Advisor One of the 201 attributes of the prophet Muḥammad.
Traditions of the Prophet The ḥadīth or traditions are beside the Holy
Qurʾān the primary sources of enlightenment for the Muslim world. They
account for the deeds and utterances of the Prophet Muḥammad as witnessed
by his immediate family and companions, but not found in the Qurʾān. There
154 commentary and notes
are two categories of ḥadīth: the ḥadīth qudsī (or sacred ḥadīth) and the ḥadīth
sharīf (or genuine ḥadīth). The ḥadīth qudsī are a compilation of the sayings
of Muḥammad as revealed to him by Allāh, but not inserted into the Qurʾān.
The ḥadīth sharīf are the acts and sayings of the Prophet. The subject-matter
of the ḥadīth literature is a world unto itself in that it translates the whole sys-
tem of belief and conduct of the Muslim world in a manner complimentary to
the system of rules and regulations found in the Qurʾān. The Imām Mālik ibn
Anas (ca. 715–795) is one of the first authorities on the compilation of ḥadīth,
followed by Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal (780–855) and al-Shāfiʿī (767–820). The Per-
sian scholar Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ismāʿīl al-Bukhārī (810–870) is credited with
having compiled the most authoritative collection of ḥadīth known as Ṣaḥīḥ
al-Bukhārī. It took him sixteen years to devise the corpus, divided into ninety-
seven books and 3,450 chapters. His book is said to contain more than 7,000 of
the 200,000 more ḥadīth in existence. The other editors known to have collected
genuine ḥadīth are Abū al-Ḥusayn Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj (ca. 817–875), whose
book is known as Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Abū Dāwūd al-Sijistānī (817–888), whose book
is known as the Sunan abī Dāwūd, Abū ʿĪsā Muḥammad al-Tirmidhī (824–892),
whose book is the Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī, Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Mājah
(822–887), whose book is the Sunan ibn Mājah, and Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān an-
Nasāʿī (830–915), whose book is the Sunan an-Nasāʾī. These scholars appealed
to the Muslim community in the ways they collected the more trustworthy
ḥadīth described as the six correct books of Sunni traditions (Kutub al-sitta),
which laid emphasis on the subject-matter of the ḥadīth (the matn), and on the
chain of narrators (the isnād), and identified the companion who relayed each
of the Prophet’s statements or deeds. The isnād must always be in direct speech
and consists of a chronological list of the narrators, each giving the name on
whose authority they heard the ḥadīth (see Guillaume 1924; Fakhry 1991; Eaton
2008).
My solitude When the decision was made to exile him, Sheikh Ahmadu
Bamba refused the companionship of his disciples on the journey to Gabon
asking them to bear his ordeal with the utmost patience. His withdrawal from
the world offered him the opportunity to settle into practice and contempla-
tion of Allāh and the Prophet free from the distractions of daily life. His hours
of meditation and study were occasionally disrupted by the injunction of some
French officers without preventing him to reach his goal.
lo! they see (aright)!” (7 [al-Aʿrāf ]: 201). He refused to be lured into evil, as were
the infidels of Babylon by the two angels Hārūt and Mārūt (2 [al-Baqara]: 102).
Allāh is Seer The ubiquity and power of Allāh allows him to hear and see all
things.
The Book of Allāh The Book should be taken here like all the holy books
Allāh has sent down to mankind in different generations. They include the
Tawrā sent to the Prophet Mūsā, the Zabūr sent to the Prophet Dāwūd, the Injīl
revealed to ʿĪsā ibn Maryam, and even the Scroll of the Prophet Ibrāhīm. Allāh
enjoins Muslims to have true faith in them: “Say: ‘I believe / in whatever book /
Allāh has sent down’” (Qurʾān, 42 [al-Shūrā]: 15).
The cave When the Prophet Muḥammad fled from Mecca to Yathrib (al-
Madīna), he bid ʿAlī ibn Abū Ṭālib to lie down in his bed so that the Quraysh
enemies would think that the Prophet was still lying asleep. The Prophet then
asked Abū Bakr the Veracious, also known in Sūra 9: 40 as “the Second of the
Two”, to accompany him to a cave in the desert hills where they hid for a while
before their Hijra to al-Madīna came to a close. With the help of Allāh, the
miracle of the spider’s web deterred the Quraysh infidels from entering the cave
where the Prophet and Abū Bakr were hiding (see Muir 1923: 37–38).
When Muḥammad was traveling The Hijra, the Prophet’s flight from Mecca
to Yathrib (June 20th, 622a.d.) to avoid the plot of the Quraysh enemies to kill
him. It marks the first year of the Islamic calendar.
Wise sword In the Qurʾān, the wisdom and might of Allāh are often coupled,
suggesting that Bamba’s use of the word “sword” is symbolic of the power
of Allāh and not, as hinted by some detractors, the violent nature of Islam:
“Let there be no compulsion / in religion: Truth stands out / clear from error”
(Qurʾān, 2 [al-Baqara]: 256). Ghandi was of the same opinion that Islam did
not win over the world community with the sword: “… I became more than
156 commentary and notes
ever convinced that it was not the sword that won a place for Islam in those
days in the scheme of life. It was the rigid simplicity, the utter self-effacement
of the prophet, the scrupulous regard for his pledges, his intense devotion to
his friends and followers, his intrepidity, his fearlessness, his absolute trust in
God and his own mission. These, and not the sword carried everything before
them and surmounted every trouble” (Young India, 1924).
The Rope The Rope (al-Ḥabl) is one of the attributes of the Qurʾān. It refers
to the covenant or book of Allāh mentioned about thirty times in the Qurʾān:
“And remember We took / your covenant / and We raised above you / the mount
(Sinai) / (saying): ‘Hold firmly / to what We have given you / And bring (ever) to
remembrance / what is therein: / Perchance you may fear Allāh’” (2 [al-Baqara]:
63).
A Glorious Book al-Majīd is one of the appellations of the Qurʾān (50 [Qāf ]:
1; 85 [al-Burūj]: 21).
The seeds of corruption Even in the desolation of his island of exile Sheikh
Ahmadu Bamba strives to maintain his purity, his dignity and sense of honor
against the corruption of the dissolute administrators who misuse their office
to ruin his reputation.
His Book for my entry into Heaven For Muslims, the Qurʾān is indeed the
word of Allāh and should therefore be held in reverence. The faithful and
meticulous approach to the text, and commitment of the text to memory, is
a pathway to heaven, as stated therein: “This is the Book; / in it a guidance sure,
without doubt, / to those who fear Allāh: / Who believe in the unseen, / are
steadfast in prayer, / and spend out of what We / have provided for them; / and
who believe in the revelation / sent to you, / and sent before your time, / and
(in their hearts) / have the assurance of the hereafter” (Qurʾān, 2 [al-Baqara]:
2–4) Abū Hurayra is reported to have relayed from the Prophet Muḥammad
this ḥadīth: “Whoever follows a path in pursuit of knowledge, Allāh will make
easy for him a path to heaven. No people gather in one of the houses of Allāh,
reciting the book of Allāh and teaching it to one another, but the angels will
Poem 7 Mawāhibu n-Nāfiʿi fī Madāʾiḥi sh-Shāfiʿi 157
surround them, tranquility will descend upon them, mercy will envelop them
and Allāh will mention them to those who are with Him.”
The Cursed One In Islam, anyone who worships evil (tāghūt) will incur the
curse and wrath of Allāh. The cursed one can be a hypocrite, a slanderer, or a
polytheist.
The formula For the Muslim community the well-known formula, ‘There is
no deity but Allāh’ ‘Lā ilāha illa Llāh,’ is the central theme in the profession of
faith in the unity of the Creator of the universe. This belief should also be rein-
forced by the acknowledgment of the attributes of Allāh as the Almighty, Maker
of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba
indicates here his unswerving devotion to ritual observances. He never missed
prayer or continual recitation of the Qurʾān in a state of purity. Even though
he was persecuted by the French colonial administration for his theological
stand, he remained exultant at the thought that Allāh had endorsed him with
the promise of heaven after he devoted his life in ascetic practices and with
ingenuity in composing poetry.
To behave in the image of the Prophet See Ibn Saʿd’s chapter on the person
and character of Muḥammad in Muir’s biography of the Prophet (1923).
Healer The name al-Shāfi (the curer or healer) is one of the attributes of
Allāh. The majority of Muslims believe that healing is from Allāh, who sent
down the Qurʾān also known as the book of healing: “O mankind! there has
158 commentary and notes
come / to you an admonition from your Lord / and a healing for the (diseases)
/ in your hearts, and for those / who believe, a guidance / and a mercy” (Qurʾān
10 [Yūnus]: 57); “We send down (stage by stage) / of the Qurʾān that which / is
a healing and a mercy / to those who believe: / to the unjust it causes / nothing
but loss after loss” (17 [al-Isrāʾ]: 82). ʿĀʾisha narrated the following ḥadīth, “The
Prophet used to treat some of his wives by passing his right hand over the place
of ailment and saying, ‘O Allāh, the Lord of the people! Remove the trouble and
heal the patient, for You are the Healer. No healing is of any avail but Yours;
healing that will leave behind no ailment’” (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī (7), 38: 639).
The straight path Islam as a religion is grounded in the pursuit of the right
path (al-Ṣirāṭ al-Mustaqīm). The religion of the messengers of Allāh enjoins on
all believers that which is right, the divine unity of Allāh and His lawful moral
guidance.
My mantle The celebrated poet Kaʿb ibn Zuhayr composed the “Mantle
Ode”, in which he praised the qualities of the Prophet Muḥammad who, filled
with joy, offered him his mantle, now known as the blessed mantle or the
holy mantle. The gift was precious (see Stetkevych 2010). Hence it was bought
and safeguarded by the Caliphs before it fell into the hands of the Sultan
of the Tatars of Constantinople, who named it the noble remnant (al-Khirqa
al-Sharīfa). What better award could Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba desire than a
symbolic mantle coming from the Prophet of Islam?
The power to do wonders like those reserved for the saints Karāmāt are
wonders wrought by saints for the good of the people as well as in proof of
their own status as saints (see Trimingham 1998).
The best of creatures In assuming the title of “The Seal of the Prophets”
(Khātim al-Nabīyīn, or Khātim al-Anbiyāʾ) in the Qurʾān, Muḥammad also
accepts being called the best of creatures.
I have returned from exile The poem was written during his first exile in
Gabon and probably revised upon his return home, though he was once again
exiled in Mauritania (1903–1907).
help build the mosque while he was praying for them: “O Allāh! There is no joy
but the joy of futurity; / O Allāh! Have mercy upon the Citizens (Anṣār) and
the Refugees (Muhājirūn)!” (Muir 1923: 175) The mosque was restored several
times after the Prophet’s death by the ruling Caliphs. The Prophet spent most
of his day in the mosque, praying and preaching, and conveying the verses of his
new revelations. He was buried in the mosque in ʿĀʾisha’s house (Hujra). Abū
Bakr and ʿUmar were buried next to the Prophet’s grave, now covered by the
green dome of the mosque. In response to the increasing number of pilgrims,
the Masjid al-Nabī keeps expanding, thanks to the efforts of the ruling family
of Saudi Arabia.
A gazelle spoke to him Umm Salama, the Prophet’s wife and “mother of the
believers” reported that by divine power a gazelle in captivity in a glade spoke to
the Prophet entreating him to free her so that she could nurse her fawns before
returning to captivity. The Prophet freed her and she testified that there was no
God but Allāh and that Muḥammad was His Messenger (see Bukhārī 1981).
A lizard hailed him ʿUmar reported that a Bedouin who was trying to put
the Prophet Muḥammad to a test said to him: “If this reptile testifies to you, I
shall believe in you.” The Prophet asked the lizard, and it testified to his status
as prophet (see Bukhārī 1981).
A bird expressed all it owed him The miracle of the pigeons is tied to that
of the spider of the cave of Mount Thawr, where the Prophet Muḥammad
and Abū Bakr took refuge. The animals helped to ward off the swords of the
polytheists who attempted to kill the Prophet and his companion. The two
pigeons perched on a tree in front of the cave where the Prophet Muḥammad
and Abū Bakr sheltered, and diverted the attention of the polytheists. The
Prophet blessed the pigeons and made them sacred in Mecca. The spider
covered the entrance of the cave with a well-woven web and was also blessed
by the Prophet (see Bukhārī 1981).
160 commentary and notes
A heavy rain fell, thanks to his call Anas narrated, “A man came to the
Prophet on a Friday while he (the Prophet) was delivering a sermon at al-
Madīna, and said, ‘There is lack of rain, so please invoke your Lord to bless
us with the rain.’ The Prophet looked at the sky when no cloud could be
detected. Then he invoked Allāh for rain. Clouds started gathering together
and it rained till the al-Madīna valleys started flowing with water. It continued
raining till the next Friday. Then that man (or some other man) stood up while
the Prophet was delivering the Friday sermon, and said, ‘We are drowned:
Please invoke your Lord to withhold it (rain) from us.’ The Prophet smiled and
said twice or thrice, ‘O Allāh! Please let it rain [around] us and not upon us.’
The clouds started dispersing over al-Madīna to the right and to the left, and it
rained [around] al-Madīna and not upon al-Madīna. Allāh showed them (the
people) the miracle of His Prophet and His response to his invocation” (Ṣaḥīḥ
al-Bukhārī (8), 73: 115).
A dry well gushed forth at his request al-Barāʾ narrated, “We were one-
thousand-and-four-hundred persons on the day of al-Ḥudaybiyya (Treaty), and
al-Ḥudaybiyya was a well. We drew out its water, not leaving even a single drop.
The Prophet sat at the edge of the well and asked for some water with which he
rinsed his mouth and then he threw it out into the well. We stayed for a short
while and then drew water from the well and quenched our thirst, and even
our riding animals drank water to their satisfaction” (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī (4), 56:
777).
A tree stump groaned after his departure in a sad voice Ibn ʿUmar narrated,
“The Prophet used to deliver his sermons while standing beside a trunk of a
date-palm. When he had the pulpit made, he used it instead. The trunk [began
to cry] and the Prophet went to it, rubbing his hand over it (to stop its crying)”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī (4), 56: 783).
A wolf came up to him requesting to watch his herd graze on the spot Abū
Hurayra narrated, “The Prophet said, ‘While a man was riding a cow, it turned
towards him and said, I have not been created for this purpose (i.e. carrying),
I have been created for ploughing.’ The Prophet added, ‘I, Abū Bakr and ʿUmar
believe in the story.’ The Prophet went on, ‘A wolf caught a sheep, and when
the shepherd chased it, the wolf said, Who will be its guard on the day of wild
beasts, when there will be no shepherd for it except me?’ After narrating it, the
Prophet said, ‘I, Abū Bakr and ʿUmar (too) believe it’ ” (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: (3), 39:
517).
Poem 7 Mawāhibu n-Nāfiʿi fī Madāʾiḥi sh-Shāfiʿi 161
opened; and when I entered the fifth region, behold, I saw Hārūn. And Jibrīl
said, ‘This is Hārūn, salute him.’ Then I did so, and he answered it, and said,
‘Welcome, good brother and good Prophet.’ After that Jibrīl took me to the sixth
heaven, and asked the door to be opened; and they said, ‘Who is there?’ He said,
‘I am Jibrīl.’ They said, ‘Who is with you?’ He said, ‘Muḥammad.’ They said, ‘Was
he called?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ They said, ‘Welcome Muḥammad; his coming is well.’
Then the door was opened; and when I entered the sixth heaven, behold, I saw
Mūsā. And Jibrīl said, ‘This is Mūsā, salute him.’ And I did so, and he returned it,
and said, ‘Welcome, good brother and good Prophet.’ And when I passed him
he wept. And I said to him, ‘What makes you weep?’ He said, ‘Because one is
sent after me, of whose people more will enter Paradise than of mine.’ After
that Jibrīl took me up to the seventh heaven, and asked the door to be opened;
and it was said, ‘Who is it?’ He said, ‘I am Jibrīl.’ And it was said, ‘Who is with
you?’ He said, ‘Muḥammad.’ They said, ‘Was he called?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ They said,
‘Welcome Muḥammad; his coming is well.’ Then I entered the seventh heaven,
and behold, I saw Ibrāhīm. And Jibrīl said, ‘This is Ibrāhīm, salute him;’ which I
did, and he returned it, and said, ‘Welcome, good son and good Prophet.’ After
that I was taken up to the tree called Sidrat al-Muntahā; and behold its fruits
were like water-pots, and its leaves like elephant’s ears. And Jibrīl said, ‘This is
Sidrat al-Muntahā.’ And I saw four rivers there; two of them hidden, and two
manifest. I said to Jibrīl, ‘What are these?’ He said, ‘These two concealed rivers
are in Paradise; and the two manifest are the Nile and the Euphrates.’ After that,
I was shown the Bayt al-Maʿmūr (Sacred House). After that, a vessel full of wine,
another full of milk, and another of honey, were brought to me; and I took the
milk and drank it. And Jibrīl said, ‘Milk is religion; you and your people will
be of it.’ After that the divine orders for prayers were fifty every day. Then I
returned, and passed by Mūsā; and he said, ‘What have you been ordered?’ I
said, ‘Fifty prayers every day.’ Then Mūsā said, ‘Verily, your people will not be
able to perform fifty prayers every day; and verily, I swear by Allāh, I tried men
before you; I applied a remedy to the sons of Israel, but it had not the desired
effect. Then return to your Lord, and ask your people to be released from that.’
And I returned; and ten prayers were taken off. Then I went to Mūsā, and he said
as before; and I returned to Allāh’s court, and ten prayers more were curtailed.
Then I returned to Mūsā, and he said as before; then I returned to Allāh’s court,
and ten more were taken off. And I went to Mūsā, and he said as before; then
I returned to Allāh, and ten more were lessened. Then I went to Mūsā, and he
said as before; then I went to Allāh’s court, and was ordered five prayers every
day. Then I went to Mūsā, and he said, ‘How many have you been ordered?’ I
said, ‘Five prayers every day.’ He said, ‘Verily, your people will not be able to
perform five prayers every day; for, verily, I tried men before you, and applied
Poem 8 Tuḥfatu l-Mutaḍarriʿīna 163
the severest remedy to the sons of Israel. Then return to your Lord, and ask them
to be lightened.’ I said, ‘I have asked Him till I am quite ashamed; I cannot return
to Him again. But I am satisfied, and resign the work of my people to Allāh.’
Then, when I passed from that place, a crier called out, ‘I have established my
divine commandments, and have made them easy to my servants’ ” (see Hughes
1973; Arnold 2004: 117) The same event is narrated in the “Book of Salāt” of the
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, 8: 345.
al-Burāq al- Burāq, the Bright one, is the name given to the animal upon
which the Prophet Muḥammad rode to heaven in the company of Jibrīl (Jeffery
1959). It is described as a white creature smaller than a mule and bigger than a
donkey, with long ears and hooves that could stretch as far as the animal could
see. al- Burāq is also the name given by Palestinians to the Western Wall in
Jerusalem, where the Prophet Muḥammad tethered the steed when he prayed
at the Aqsa Mosque (see Campo 1991).
The Redeemer al-Farūq is the title confered upon ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb for
discerning truth from falsehood.
Ṭalḥa Ṭalḥa ibn ʿUbayd Allāh was born around 597 and lived long enough
to witness the rule of the four Rightly Guided Caliphs, ʿUthmān, Abū Bakr,
ʿUmar, and ʿAlī. Ṭalḥa ibn ʿUbayd Allāh, a cousin of Abū Bakr, was married
to his daughter. He became a rich and successful merchant who traveled all
over the Arabian region and inherited Abū Bakr’s generosity. Ṭalḥa converted
to Islam after hearing that Abū Bakr had pledged allegiance to the Prophet’s
new faith. Ṭalḥa is also said to have been told by a scholar in Syria about
Muḥammad’s appearance in Mecca as the last Prophet. Abū Bakr introduced
him to the Prophet, and thereupon he pronounced that there was no god but
Allāh and that Muḥammad was His Messenger. His conversion caused him
to suffer torture and violence from the Quraysh but he was unabated in his
conviction. Though he did not fight at the battle of Badr, he received his reward
from the Prophet. Ṭalḥa was called by the Prophet the “Living Martyr” for
fighting fiercely and saving the life of the Messenger of Allāh at the battle of
Uḥud. In return Ṭalḥa was honored with the rank of one of the ten patriarchs of
the Muslim faith to whom the Prophet Muḥammad promised Paradise. He was
164 commentary and notes
killed at age sixty-four in the battle of the Camel that opposed the forces allied
to ʿAlī’s war to the forces allied to ʿĀʾisha (the Prophet’s widow) and Zubayr (see
Muir 1923; Ibn Hishām 1967).
Zubayr (d. 656): al-Zubayr ibn ʿAwwām ibn Khuwaylid was the nephew of
Khadīja and the son of the Prophet’s aunt, Ṣafiyya. He was the 5th convert who
pledged allegiance to the creed of the Prophet Muḥammad. He was among
the believers who migrated with the Prophet to Abyssinia. He was married
to Asmāʾ, the daughter of Abū Bakr. He was one of the ten well-betided ones
to whom the Prophet guaranteed Paradise. He was killed in the battle of the
Camel.
Saʿd There were about eight soldiers at the battle of Badr who answered
to the first name Saʿd: Saʿd, a freedman of Ḥāṭib of the Banū ʾAsad, Saʿd ibn
Khawla, an ally of the Banū ʿĀmir, Saʿd ibn Khaythama of the Banū Ghanm,
Saʿd ibn al-Rabīʿ, Saʿd ibn Zayd, Saʿd ibn Saʿd, Saʿd ibn Suhayl of the Banū
Dinār, Saʿd ibn ʿUbayd, Saʿd ibn Muʿādh and Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ. Saʿd ibn
ʿUbayd of the Banū Umayya, who was also known as Mālik ibn Wuhayb, was
one of the Anṣārī companions and chief of the Khazraj. He became the first
of Muḥammad’s twelve leading authorities, who were entrusted to lead the
public prayers during his absence. He carried the ensign of the citizens in
the company of the Prophet during the hours of battle (Muir 1923). Saʿd ibn
Muʿādh was the chief of the Banū ʿAws. He converted his whole tribe to Islam
in one day upon the recommendation of the Prophet Muḥammad. He too was
one of Muḥammad’s twelve leading authorities. The Prophet gave him one of
the ensigns to carry during the battle of Badr. He was wounded by an arrow
at the battle of Khandaqa, also known as the battle of the Ditch, when in
defense of al-Madīna the men of the Prophet dug a trench in order to deter the
enemy’s attack (Muir 1923). Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ of the Banū Zuhra ibn Kilāb
was the seventh convert, who embraced Islam in his sixteenth or seventeenth
year. He was the nephew of Āmina, mother of the Prophet Muḥammad. Saʿd
distinguished himself in the manufacturing of arrows, and was known as the
first man who shot an arrow on the side of Islam. He also caused the first
bloodshed in the name of Islam (Muir 1923).
Zayd Zayd was the adopted son of the Prophet Muḥammad (see Ḥāritha
below).
Abū ʿUbayda Abū ʿUbayda of the Banū al-Ḥārith was the son of al-Jarrāḥ
also known as ʿĀmir ibn ʿAbd Allāh, an uncle to the Prophet Muḥammad. Abū
Poem 8 Tuḥfatu l-Mutaḍarriʿīna 165
ʿUbayda was one of the earliest converts and close companions of the Prophet.
He is also remembered as one of the early scholars to have written a treatise,
Majāz al-Qurʾān, ‘The Metaphor of the Qurʾān’, comparing pre-Islamic poetry
and the Qurʾān (Adonis 1990).
Bin Masʿūd ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd was an ally of the Banū Zuhra at the battle
of Badr. He was described as small in body and weighty in faith. He constantly
served the Prophet in al-Madīna (see Muir 1923; Ibn Hishām 1967).
Ibn Salam Abū Salama was the son of al-Faḍl also known as ʿAbd Allāh ibn
ʿAbd al-ʾAsad. He was ten years older than the Prophet. After his conversion,
he migrated to Abyssinia with his wife Umm Salama Hind, whom Muḥammad
married after Abū Salama died of wounds received at the battle of Uḥud (see
Muir 1923; Ibn Hishām 1967).
al-ʿAbbās ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib was the Prophet Muḥammad’s pater-
nal uncle and early companion. He was the brother of Abū Ṭālib, the father of
ʿAlī. ʿAbbās was present when Muḥammad proclaimed his status as prophet.
He was one of the richest merchants of the Banū Hāshim. ʿAbbās adopted
Abū Ṭālib’s son, Jaʿfār in order to relieve him from the ordeals of the prevail-
ing famine that affected Ṭālib’s large family. He was the founder of the ʿAbbāsid
dynasty of caliphs. His son Ibn ʿAbbās was a celebrated figure in ḥadīth narra-
tives (see Muir 1923; Ibn Hishām 1967).
Ḥamza ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib (568–625): Ḥamza was the Prophet Muḥam-
mad’s paternal uncle though their age difference was two to four years. Ḥamza
was described as a valiant warrior well known for his mastery of the arts
of wrestling and swordsmanship. Ḥamza was also praised as a great hunter.
He was a staunch companion to the Prophet Muḥammad. His conversion
to Islam was in part prompted by his aggressive nature in reacting against
166 commentary and notes
adversity. When he heard that Abū Jahl, the fiercest enemy of Islam among
the Quraysh, abused his nephew, Ḥamza took it upon himself to correct the
wrongdoings of the Prophet’s enemy. He fought at the battle of Badr and was
killed at the battle of Uḥud, during which he proclaimed himself the “Lion
of Allāh”. His death caused a great deal of grief to the Prophet, who ulti-
mately named him the “Chief of the Martyrs” (see Muir 1923; Ibn Hishām
1967).
Ṭāhir al-Ṭāhir, whose real name was ʿAbd Allāh, was the Prophet’s second son
by Khadīja. He died in infancy (see Hughes 1973).
Ṭayyib al-Ṭayyib was the Prophet’s third son by Khadīja. None of these three
sons lived to witness the advent of Islam (see Hughes 1973).
Ibrāhīm He was the Prophet’s son by Mārya, his Coptic slave. She was offered
as a gift to the Prophet along with another Coptic maid named Sīrīn, and a mule
by Muqawqīs, the Byzantine viceroy of Egypt. After the birth of Marya’s child
she was elevated to a favorable position by the Prophet who enjoyed having
another living son at his late age. Sīrīn was married to the poet Ḥassān ibn
Thābit by the Prophet Muḥammad (see Hughes 1973).
Fāṭima The third daughter of the Prophet by Khadīja. She was married to
ʿAlī, the Prophet’s cousin, and bore him three sons: al-Ḥasan, al-Ḥusayn and al-
Muḥsin. She died six months after her father. She was one of the four perfect
women mentioned in the Qurʾān, beside her mother Khadīja, Āsiya the wife of
Firʿawn and Maryam the mother of ʿĪsā (see Hughes 1973).
Ruqqaya She was the second daughter of the Prophet by Khadīja. She was
married to ʿUtba, the son of Abū Lahab, an uncle to the Prophet (see Hughes
1973).
Zaynab Zaynab was the Prophet’s eldest daughter. She was given in mar-
riage to Khadīja’s nephew, Abū al-ʿĀṣ, a rich Meccan trader. Zaynab chose to
remain with her husband in Mecca when her close family migrated to al-
Madīna. The story of the conversion of Abū al-ʿĀṣ is told by Muir (1923: 344–
345).
Poem 8 Tuḥfatu l-Mutaḍarriʿīna 167
ʿAws The ʿAws were an Arab tribe who emigrated from Yemen to Syria and
al-Madīna in the beginning of the 4th century. They came to settle near the
Khazraj tribe closely tied to the Prophet Muḥammad in blood (Muir 1923).
ʿĀmir Another tribe whose name occurs in the early history of Islam, like the
Banū Quraysh, the Banū ʿAmr, the Banū Asad. There were more than fifty of
these tribes whose sons accompanied the Prophet at the battle of Badr.
Ḥarām The Ḥarām tribe sent four men to the battle of Badr: Abū Zayd Qays,
Abū al-Aʿwar, Sulaym, and Ḥarām.
Masrūq Masrūq ibn al-Ajdaʿ (d. 682) was a well-known and respected jurist
and a transmitter of prophetic traditions, quoted by al-Bukhārī. He was one of
the students of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿud. Masrūq would later become a popular
teacher in his own right, including future Islamic scholars, such as Ibrāhīm al-
Nakhaʿī. It is said that Masrūq worshipped Allāh very earnestly and that he used
to sleep in prostration before the Kaʿba (see Bukhārī 1981).
Rabīʿ Rabīʿ ibn Iyās and his brother Waraqa ibn Iyās were both companions
of the Prophet at the battle of Badr. Another Rabīʿ, a descendant of the Banū
Shams, was married to the sister of Khadīja, and had a son named Abū al-ʿĀṣ
(see Karamustafa 2007).
Miqdād al-Miqdād ibn ʿAmr al-Bahrānī was one of the companions of the
Prophet Muḥammad at the battle of Badr, thus one of the early converts to
Islam. He was also known as Miqdād ibn Aswad al-Kindī, taking on the name
of his owner, al-Aswad al-Kindī. When the Prophet Muḥammad reached al-
Ghāba, near al-Madīna, in the sixth year of his expeditions, he was raided by
the Ghaṭafān cavalry of ʿUyayna ibn Ḥisn, who took away his camels, killing
the herdsman and taking away his wife. ʿUyayna’s incursion is remembered as
the attack on Dhū Qarad from the heights of Salʾ, during which the Prophet
might have asked Miqdād to mount the flag on his spear, thus making him the
leader of the expedition, according to Muḥammad’s renowned poet, Ḥassān
168 commentary and notes
ibn Thābit (Ibn Isḥāq). al-Miqdād was among the Muhājirūn soldiers who
offered protection to the Prophet Muḥammad against the polytheists who
resented him and his religion. Aswad remained faithful to Allāh and the
Prophet Muḥammad, and to the teaching of the Qurʾān until his late death at
the age of ninety (see Muir 1923).
ʾAmīr ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf, also known as ʿAbdu
ʿAmr was of the Banū Zuhra. He was the fifth convert under the influence of
Abū Bakr. In his first visit to the house of the Prophet, four of his companions
came along and embraced Islam after being preached. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān was ten
years younger than the prophet Muḥammad. He was a wealthy merchant of
good character, like Abū Bakr. After he became a Muslim the prophet used to
call him ʿAbd Allāh. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abū Bakr was the eldest son of the
Caliph Abū Bakr, and brother to ʿĀʾisha, ʿAbd Allāh and Asmāʾ. It is believed
that he was late in converting to Islam.
bered as the martyred hero of Persia. ʿAmir ibn ʿAbd al-Qays (d. ca. 661–680)
was a scholar who lived to witness the caliphate of ʿUthmān, for whom he
proofread the Qurʾān. He was one of the early prominent Ṣūfīs of Basra who
opted for renunciation. He was believed to perform miracles because of the
depth of his mystical knowledge. Rābiʿa al-ʿAdawiyya al-Qaysiyya (d. 801) was
one of the rare female ‘renunciants’ who gained fame in posterity. Very little
is known about her life except that she was from Basra and distinguished her-
self in her asceticism and fear of God (Karamustafa 2007). Uways al-Qaranī, was
another Ṣūfī ‘renunciant’ who lived during the lifetime of the Prophet Muḥam-
mad. Although the two never met, it is believed that the Prophet revealed
al-Qaranī’s mystic powers to his intimate companions, ʿUmar and ʿAlī. They
met with him during the last year of ʿUmar’s caliphate. It is also believed that
Uways al-Qaranī was spiritually acquainted with the Prophet and other peo-
ple without meeting them in person. Hence, an Uwaysī in the Ṣūfī register
is someone who receives the spiritual transmission of knowledge from some-
one else without the need for physical interaction between them. al-Rabīʿ ibn
Khuthaym al-Thawrī (d. ca. 682): al-Rabīʿ was a pupil of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās
and a well-known ascetic of Kūfa. He was crippled but would not miss the
congregational prayer and the observance of all religious recommendations in
his attempt to experience intimacy with Allāh (see Lewishon 1999; Houstma
1987).
Ḥasan al-Baṣrī (d. 728): the Ṣūfī Ḥasan al-Baṣrī was a scholar-ascetic of Bagh-
dad who spent much of his life in retreat in favor of an extensive learning and
understanding of the inner meanings of the Qurʾān and the ḥadīth. He died at
the age of eighty-nine in Basra (see Karamustafa 2007).
Bilāl Bilāl was the son of an Abyssinian slave-woman. He was also an early
convert whom Muḥammad called ‘the first fruit of Abyssinia’. He will forever
be remembered as the Prophet’s muezzin (muʾadhdhin).
170 commentary and notes
Abū al-Dardāʾ (d. 652): Abū al-Dardāʾ was a trader in al-Madīna. He con-
verted to Islam after the battle of Badr. He obtained a great reputation for
his scholarship, his piety and frugal lifestyle. He was cited by Abū ʿAbd Allāh
Muḥammad ibn Ismaʾīl al-Bukhārī (194–256) in his certainly genuine collec-
tion of ḥadīth: “Abū al-Dardāʾ narrated: ‘We set out with Allāh’s Apostle on one
of his journeys on a very hot day, and it was so hot that one had to put his
hand over his head because of the severity of the heat. None of us was fasting
except the Prophet and Ibn Rawāḥa’” (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī (4), 35: 115). Abū al-
Dardāʾ preached the love of death because of one’s yearning to meet Allāh, the
love of poverty for humility, and the love of illness in order to atone for one’s
sins.
Khālid ibn al-Walīd He is described as the famous warrior who turned the
tide of the battle at Uḥud against the Muslims. He pledged an allegiance to
the cause of Islam after his aunt Maymūna, fifty-one years of age, was married
to the Prophet. He was one of Muḥammad’s generals who successfully led the
march towards Mecca and forced Abū Sufyān and ʿIkrima, the son of Abū Jahl,
to flee. He led many expeditions under the exhortations of the Prophet and
forced many enemy rulers to embrace Islam. He was named the “Sword of
Allāh” for being a warrior of note. He died in 639 after conquering the Arab
country as far as the Euphrates (see Ibn Hishām 1967).
ʿUrwa ibn al-Zubayr (d. 713): ʿUrwa was the son of Asmāʾ bint Abū Bakr and
Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwām. He was among the seven scholars who wrote the books
of Islamic jurisprudence known as fiqh. He became an authoritative voice on
the ḥadīth articulated by ʿĀʾisha.
Ḥāritha Ḥāritha was the real father of Zayd, Muḥammad’s adopted son. They
were Christians from the south of Syria. Zayd ibn Ḥāritha was captured as
a slave when he was a child. Muḥammad and his wife Khadīja adopted him
when he was about twenty years old. When Ḥāritha heard the news, he set
out to Mecca to reclaim his son who, instead, chose to stay with Muḥammad.
At age forty-four, when Muḥammad proclaimed himself divinely ordained a
prophet, Zayd became an immediate adherent of his claim. Zayd is believed to
be the second to claim precedence in the profession of Islam after ʿAlī. Zayd was
married to Zaynab bint Jaḥsh. Their marriage was later dissolved and Zaynab
bint Jaḥsh became the Prophet Muḥammad’s wife (Ibn Hishām 1967; Muir
1923).
Poem 8 Tuḥfatu l-Mutaḍarriʿīna 171
ʿĀʾisha ʿĀʾisha was the daughter of Abū Bakr. She was married to the Prophet
Muḥammad at an early age, and was believed to have been his favorite wife,
after Khadīja. After the murder of the Caliph ʿUthmān, ʿĀʾisha joined forces with
Ṭalḥa ibn ʿUbayd Allāh and al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwām to fight the appointment
and decisions of the new Caliph, ʿAlī ibn Abū Ṭālib, the cousin and son-in-
law of the Prophet Muḥammad. ʿĀʾisha and her allies were however defeated
at the battle of the Camel by the Shīʿa forces loyal to ʿAlī. She was known as
“the Mother of the Believers”, Umm al-Muʾminīn. She is known to have best
described the character of the Prophet Muḥammad when she said: “His nature
was the Qurʾān [Khuluquhu al-Qurʾān]; he approved what it approved and he
hated what it hated” (Esposito 1991: 96). She narrated many ḥadīth and sunna
on the Prophet’s sayings and deeds. ʿĀʾisha died in her mid-sixties in al-Madīna
and was buried in the al-Baqī cemetery.
Ḥafṣa Ḥafṣa was the daughter of ʿUmar (ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb), and first the
wife of Khunays ibn Ḥudhayfa, an early convert to Islam. She became a widow
at age eighteen, and was married to the Prophet Muḥammad about six months
after her former husband passed away. Ḥafṣa bint ʿUmar knew how to read and
write and was entrusted with the compilation of the verses of the Qurʾān during
the caliphate of ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān. She too recorded several of the Prophet
Muḥammad’s sayings (see Ibn Hishām).
Zaynab bint al-Khuzayma Zaynab was the daughter of Khuzayma and the
widow of ʿUbayd, the Prophet Muḥammad’s cousin who was killed at the
battle of Badr (Hughes 1973) or Uḥud (Esposito 1991). She was known for her
charitable nature, giving profusely to the poor, for which she was called Umm
al-Masākin, “the Mother of the Poor”. Besides Khadīja, she was the only wife of
the Prophet Muḥammad to die before him.
172 commentary and notes
Zaynab bint Jaḥsh Zaynab, the daughter of Jaḥsh, was also the Prophet
Muḥammad’s wife. She was first married to the Prophet’s adopted son, Zayd
ibn Ḥāritha. Zaynab was of noble descent, and ultimately she looked down
upon Zayd because of the low social class of slaves from which he arose.
After their marriage was dissolved, Zaynab waited for the required period of
celibacy [ʿidda] to be over before she could marry the Prophet Muḥammad.
Although this union was seen as controversial, a verse was revealed to clear
such unlawfulness: “Then when Zayd / had dissolved (his marriage) / with her
/ We joined her / in marriage to you: In order that (in future) / there may be
no difficulty / to the believers in (the matter / of) marriage with the wives /
of their adopted sons, when / the latter has dissolved / (their marriage) with
them. / And Allāh’s command must / be fulfilled” (Qurʾān, 33 [al-Aḥzāb]: 37).
The Prophet had other wives not mentioned in Bamba’s poem. Umm Ḥabība
was the daughter of Abū Sufyān. Her name was Ramla. Umm Salama was the
daughter of Abū Umayya. Her name was Hind. Sawda was the daughter of
Zamaʿa. Maymūna was the daughter of al-Ḥārith. Her father was miraculously
questioned by the Prophet, who asked him when he was about to pay his
daughter’s ransom: “But where are the two camels which you hid in al-ʿAqīq in
such and such a pass?” al-Ḥārith said, ‘I testify that there is no God but Allāh and
that you are the apostle of God, for by God none could have known of that but
God most high’” (Ibn Hishām 1967: 793). The Prophet also married Juwayriya,
daughter of another al-Ḥārith and Ṣafīya, daughter of Ḥuyay.
the principles of Ṣūfī mystical practices, the purpose and preparation involved
in engaging in the sacred invocation (Dhikr Allāh), and associated practices,
such as the spiritual retreat. Moroccan Ṣūfī Muḥammad ibn Sulaymān al-Jazūlī
(d. 1465) of the same lineage composed a book of blessings on the Prophet
Muḥammad, Dalāʾil al-Khayrāt, known to all the Ṣūfī brotherhoods in Senegal.
Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī al-ʿUjaymī (d. 1702) wrote the Risāla (Epistle), a collection of
the invocations associated with distinctive orders.
Our wise healer The Prophet Muḥammad was quoted by many of his follow-
ers as saying, “If there is any healing in your medicines, then it is cupping, a
gulp of honey or cauterization that suits the ailment, but I don’t like to be cau-
terized” (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī (7), 4: 586). The Prophet also used prayers to cure
the sick. According to Qāḍi ʿIyāḍ ibn Mūsā al-Yaḥṣubī (1083–1149), ʿUthmān ibn
Ḥunayf narrated that a blind man came to the Prophet and said to him, “O Mes-
senger of Allāh, ask Allāh to remove the veil from my eyes,” upon which the
Prophet told him, “Go and make ablution, then offer two acts of prayer (rakaʿa)
and say, ‘O Allāh, I ask You and I turn to You by the Prophet Muḥammad, the
Prophet of mercy. O Muḥammad, I turn to your Lord to remove the veil from
my eyes. O Allāh let him intercede for me.’ The man followed the instructions
and returned, and Allāh restored his sight” (al-Qādī 2006: 187). The same story
has been narrated in the Musnad of Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal on the same authority
of ʿUthmān ibn Ḥunayf.
Ramaḍān the most great Ramaḍān is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar
calendar in which the Qurʾān was sent down with the recommendation that all
believers, expect for those who are ill or on a journey, should spend the daylight
hours in a complete fast: “O you who believe! / Fasting is prescribed to you / as
it was prescribed / to those before you, / that you may (learn) / self-restraint”
(Qurʾān, 2 [al-Baqara]: 183). Fasting is made compulsory during the holy month
of Ramaḍān to expiate sins committed previously. According to ḥadīth writings,
when the blessed month of Ramaḍān starts, the gates of heaven are opened and
those of hell closed.
The unlettered Prophet al-Ummī (the unlettered one) is one of the titles
assumed by the Prophet Muḥammad as he did not have any systematic instruc-
tion before he received the divine revelations: “And you were not (able) / to
174 commentary and notes
recite a book before / this (book came), nor were you / (able) to transcribe it
/ with your right hand: / In that case, indeed, would / the talkers of vanities /
have doubted” (Qurʾān, 29 [al-ʿAnkabūt]: 48). The Qurʾān reveals another pas-
sage in which the Prophet Mūsā already prophesied to his people the coming
of the ummī Prophet: “And Mūsā chose seventy / of his people for Our place /
of meeting: when they / were seized with violent quaking, / He prayed: ‘O my
Lord! / If it had been Your will / You would have destroyed, / long before, both
them / and me: would You / destroy us for the deeds / of the foolish ones among
us? / This is no more than / Your trial: by it You cause / whom You wish to stray,
/ and You lead whom / You wish into the right path. / You are our Protector: / So
forgive us and give us / Your mercy; for You are / the Best of those who forgive.
/ And ordain for us / that which is good, / in this life / and in the hereafter: / For
we have turned unto You.’ / He said: ‘I afflict My punishment / on whom I will;
/ but My mercy extends / to all things. That (mercy) / I shall ordain for those /
who do right, and pay / zakāt, and those / who believe in Our signs; / Those who
follow the Messenger, / the unlettered Prophet, / whom they find mentioned in
their own (scriptures), / in the Tawrā and the Injīl; / for he commands them /
what is just and forbids them / what is evil; he allows / them as lawful what is
good / (and pure) and prohibits them / from what is bad (and impure): / He
releases them / from their heavy burdens / and from the yokes / that are upon
them. / So it is those who believe / in him, honor him, / help him, and follow
the light / which is sent down with him, / it is they who will prosper.’ / Say: ‘O
men! I am sent / unto you all, as the Messenger / of Allāh, to Whom belongs /
the dominion of the heavens / and the earth: there is no god / but He: it is He
that gives / both life and death. So believe / in Allāh and His Messenger, / the
unlettered Prophet, / who believes in Allāh / and His Words: follow him / that
(so) you may be guided’” (7 [al-Aʿrāf ]: 155–158).
Appendices
The words in this glossary are Arabic where no specific indication is given.
W (Wolof), Fr (French).
Kirāma (pl. kirāmāt) The miracle of saints as distinct from the miracles
of prophets.
Lawḥ (pl. alwāḥ) A tablet.
Lugha Language, speech.
Madīḥ (madḥ) Encomium, eulogy, panegyric poetry.
Madāris (sing. madrasa) Colleges for the study of religious sciences.
Màggal (w) Reverence, glorification. The grand màggal is a pil-
grimage to the holy city of Touba to commemo-
rate the day Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba was exiled to
Gabon.
Majlis (pl. majālis) A seated gathering, assembly; collection of a saint’s
sayings.
Masjid Mosque.
Mbéb (w) Gum-plant (sterculia setigera).
Miḥrāb A niche in the wall of a mosque indicating, the qibla
or direction of prayer.
Miʿrāj Ascension of the Prophet Muḥammad to the heav-
ens.
Miṣrāʿ Hemistich
Mithāl Symbol.
Muʿjizāt Miracles performed by a prophet.
Muʾminūn (sing. muʾmin) Believers.
Murīd An ‘aspirant’, disciple of some mystical order.
Murshid Ṣūfī guide or Shaykh of an order.
Mutakallim (pl. mutakallimūn) A scholar of the science of discourse (ʿilm al-
kalām).
Nabī (pl. anbiyāʾ) A prophet.
Nafs The lower ‘self’ or ‘soul’.
Naḥw Grammar.
Nāsikh Copyist, scribe.
Nubuwwa Prophetship, prophesy.
Nūr Light.
Nuskha Transcript, manuscript, copy.
Qabr Tomb, grave.
Qadar Divine decree, predestination.
Qāḍi (pl. quḍā) Jurisconsult, a judge who administers Islamic law.
Qalam Pen.
Qalb Heart.
Qaṣīda (pl. qaṣāʾid) An ode.
Qibla The direction a worshipper faces during ritual
prayer.
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Akhīru z-Zamāni
A-lā Innanī Arjū mina l-Wāsiʿi l-Ḥaqqi.
A-lā Innanī Uthnī ʿalā Khayri Munʿimī.
ʿAlā al-Muntaqā.
ʿAlā Man ʿalayya.
ʿAlā l-Muṣṭafā minnī Ṣalātun Taqī ḍ-Ḍayrā.
bibliography 203
Tazawwudu sh-Shubbāni.
Tuḥfatu l-Mutaḍarriʿīna.
Wajjahtu. (There are several poems of Sheikh Ahmadu Bamba entitled Wajjahtu)
Wa-Llāhu Yaḥsimuka mina n-Nāsi.
Wa-Innahu lā Kitābun.
Wa-Innaka la-ʿalā Khuluqin ʿAẓīmin.
Wa-laqad Karramnā Banī Ādama.
Wa-l-Baladu ṭ-Ṭayyibu Yakhruju Nabātuhu bi-Idhni Rabbihi.
Yā Khayra Ḍayfin Atā bi-l-Bishri wa-l-Madadi.
Yā Kitāba l-Karīmi Anta Ḥabībun.
Yā Mukrima ḍ-Ḍayfi.
Yawmu l-Mawlidi ʿĀma Baksashin.
Yawmu l-Mawlidi Hādhā.