Herewith four Anāshīd drawn from Sīrah. Although there are many Anāshīd with good religious meanings, free of music, nashīd artists do not seem very inclined to describe sīrah events. This may be symptomatic of the ummah as whole being not as zealous of Sīrah as it should be. The renditions of the group, Shamāʾil Muḥammadiyyah,two decades ago, were a beautiful exception.

So, for the purpose of drawing our hearts closer to Sīrah, I have compiled four poems from Sīrah which have audio renditions accessible to the public on the internet. I have provided links to some of these renditions; however, their degree of accuracy may vary, whether in reference to the wording or the supposed tune. Please, therefore, refer to the text I have provided for proper wording.

The reader may also wish to read my composition: Biographical Salaat & Salaam, which is a concise Sīrah in the form of 40 Ṣalāh and Salām.

1. Wa aḥsana minka lam tara qaṭṭu aynī

Ḥassān bin Thābit (رضي الله عنه) was the most prominent of the poets of Allah’s Messenger (صلى الله عليه و سلم). His compiled poems constitute an entire book (dīwān). This is the most famous of these. Applying different grammatical interpretations allow for two different recitations, both of which are grammatically correct i.e. wa aḥsana…wa ajmala (my preference) or wa aḥsanu…wa ajmalu

Better than you, my eye has never seen	وَأَحْسَنَ مِنْكَ لَمْ تَرَ قَطُّ عَيْنِ
More handsome than you, women have never given birth to.	وَأَجْمَلَ مِنْكَ لَمْ تَلِدِ النِّسَاءُ
You have been created free of every defect	خُلِقْتَ مُبَرَّأً مِنْ كُلِّ عَيْبِ
As if you have been created the way you wanted.	كَأَنَّكَ قَدْ خُلِقْتَ كَمَا تَشَاءُ

[Dīwān Ḥassān bin Thābit, p.10]

• Ṭalaʿa al-Badru alaynā

The Anṣār (رضي الله عنهم) recited the words of  the first two or three couplets, welcoming Allah’s Messenger (صلى الله عليه و سلم) to Madīnatun Nabī (صلى الله عليه و سلم). The fourth couplet is definitely not in original sources and is a later addition. It should not be considered part of Sīrah but rather part of the cultural heritage of the Muslims.

When was this recited?

1. Either he (صلى الله عليه و سلم) detoured at the end of the Hijrah to avoid the Quraysh and then entered the city.
2. OR when he (صلى الله عليه و سلم) returned from Tabūk via Thaniyyāt al-Wadāʿ (the mountain passes of farewell).
3. OR both.

The full moon has risen upon us	طَلَعَ ٱلْبَدْرُ عَلَيْنَا
From Thaniyyāt al-Wadāʿ	مِنْ ثَنِيَّاتِ ٱلْوَدَاع
Gratitude has become obligatory upon us	وَجَبَ ٱلشُكْرُ عَلَيْنَا
When the caller calls to Allāh	مَا دَعَا لِلّٰهِ دَاعَ
O you who have been sent amongst us	أَيُّهَا ٱلْمَبْعُوثَ فِينَا
You have brought a matter to be obeyed	جِئْتَ بِالْأَمْرِ ٱلْمُطَاع
You have arrived making al-Madīnah noble	جِئْتَ شَرَّفْتَ ٱلْمَدِينَة
Welcome to the best of callers.	مَرْحَبًا يَا خَيْرَ دَاع

[Ibn Kathīr, al-Bidāyah wa an-Nihāyah (3:197), et al]

• Allāhumma law lā Anta mahtadaynā

ʿAbdullāh bin Rawāḥāh (رضي الله عنهم) was another poet of Allāh’s Messenger (صلى الله عليه و سلم). Various books of Hadīth authentically narrate this poem of his, with slight variations in the wording. Allāh’s Messenger (صلى الله عليه و سلم) is recorded as reciting it. For example, at the Battle of the Trench. He recited it “normally” and raised his voice on the last word, abaynā – we shall refuse!

Audio renditions which imply or even state that this was some kind of military march song of the Companions who recited it in unison with a tune, are however a fantasy, probably concocted by juveniles who watched too many videos of Ottoman and Prussian march songs. Furthermore, if you compare the Aḥādīth, the artistic license they take with additional words is clear.

O Allāh, had it not been for You, we would not have been guided	اللّٰهُمَّ لَوْلَا أَنْتَ مَا اهْتَدَيْنَا ‏ ‏
Nor would we have given charity or prayed	وَلَا تَصَدَّقْنَا وَلَا صَلَّيْنَا ‏ ‏
So send tranquillity upon us	فَأَنْزِلَنْ سَكِينَةً عَلَيْنَا ‏
And keep our feet firm when we encounter [the enemy]	‏وَثَبِّتْ الْأَقْدَامَ إِنْ لَّاقَيْنَا ‏ ‏
Indeed, the enemy has aggressed against us	‏ ‏إِنَّ الْأَعْدَاءَ قَدْ بَغَوْا عَلَيْنَا
When they intend a tribulation [against us], we shall refuse [them]!	‏ ‏إِذَا أَرَادُوا فِتْنَةً أَبَيْنَا

 [al-Bukhārī:3034]

• Ataynākum

The wedding song of the Anṣār (رضي الله عنهم):

We have come unto you [folk]! We have come unto you [folk]!	أَتَيْنَاكُمْ أَتَيْنَاكُمْ
So you should greet us and we shall greet you.	فَحَيُّونَا نُحَيِّيكُمْ
If not for the red gold, your valleys would not be permitted	لَوْلَا الذَّهَبُ الْأَحْمَرُ مَا حَلَّتْ بِوَادِيكُمْ
If not for the black wheat, your virgin girls would not be happy.	وَلَوْلَا الْحِنْطَةُ السَّوْدَاءُ مَا سُرَّتْ عَذَارِيكُمْ

[Ibn Qudāmah, al-Mughnī (7:63)]

سليمان الكندي

Twitter: @Sulayman_Kindi