Essence of Eloquence 💫

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

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Imam Abi Al-Qasim, Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Juzayy al-Kalbi al-Gharnati al-Andalusi (d.741H) wrote the following lines of beautiful poetry in attempting to delineate his feelings towards the act of praising the noble Prophet  ﷺ:

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اروم امتداح المصطفى ويردني
قصوري عن ادراك تلك المناقب
ومن لي بحصر البحر والبحر زاخر
ومن لي باحصاء الحصى والكواكب
ولو ان اعضائي غدت السنا اذا
لما بلغت في المدح بعض مارب
ولو ان كل العالمين تسابقوا
الى مدحه لم يبلغوا بعض واجب
فامسكت عنه هيبة وتادبا
وعجزا واعظاما لارفع جانبي
ورب سكوت كان فيه بلاغة
ورب كلام فيه عتب لعاتب

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❝ I desired to praise Al Mustafa, being hindered by my own inability to grasp the extent of his immaculacy.

How can one such as I confine the ocean, when the ocean is vast? And how can one such as I count the stones and the stars?

If all of my limbs were to become tongues, even then I couldn’t begin to praise him as intended.

And if all of creation gathered to compete in attempting to praise him, even then they would fall short in his due.

I have altogether ceased trying – awestruck, clinging to courtesy, laced by timidity in glorifying his most lofty rank.

Indeed, sometimes silence has within it, an essence of eloquence. And often speech becomes mere fuel for those who like to find fault. ❞

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Reference:

ابن جزي ومنهجه في التفسير 2/236