A Comparison of Poetry of Imām Bauṣīrī and Iqbal in Praise of the Prophet (PBUH)

Abstract

Several leading writers have expressed their love for the Prophet (SAW) after his birth and revelation. Among these, Imām Bauṣīrī  and Allama Iqbal are well-known Muslim poets and scholars who paid rich tribute in the honor of the last Prophet (SAW) in terms of love-through the extension of their poetry. In the present work, their poetry is compared in the same aspect. Imām Bauṣīrī, for instance, elaborates characteristics of the Prophet (SAW) in such a good-humored way that a reader feels as if no one like the Prophet (SAW) has ever existed! He is very exceptional in expressing his love, sorrow and helplessness. His poetry more philosophical and more realistic, at the same time, touches the ground realities and fill it with the fragrance of love for the Holy Prophet (SAW). To be more precise, his poetry feels like a (fluent) speech of his love for the Prophet (PBUH). Allama Iqbal, on the other hand, has a very typical and revolutionary approach in his poetry on the same issue. He, for example, targets the character building of youth through the love of the holy prophet (SAW). Moreover, his poetry put the love for the Holy Prophet (SAW) as an indispensable part of every individual, predominantly of a Muslim one. The qualitative research techniques have been used in the present work for the comparison of both these scholars’ poetry, particularly that part which is related to the love for the Holy Prophet (SAW)-by one way or another.