Home | Salaams on the Beloved Prophet Sall'Allahu 'Alaihi Wa Sallam

OTHER SALAAMS IN URDU

There are numerous other salaams in the Urdu language, almost all of which have the "Yaa Nabi Salaam Alayka" response. One such salaam is in Shajarah Shareef Silsila Qadiriyya 'Aaliyyah (The Noble Family Tree in the Highly-Placed Qadiriyyah Chain of Shaikhs) whose opening couplets are:

Bakht ka chamke sitaara

Haazri ka ho ishaara

Dekh kar roza pyaara

Phir kahay khadim tumhaara

When the star of fortune shines

And the sign to be present before you is received

Seeing your beloved "Rawdha"

Your servant exclaims

Yaa Nabi Salaam 'alaika

We notice that the mashaaikh (spiritual masters) refer to the tomb of the beloved Prophet as "Rawdha" (garden of paradise). The theme of "Rawdha" recurs in many salaams, as for example in these couplets in Khatme Gauthiyyah (Zikr To Commemorate The Anniversary Of Gauth u'l A'zam Shaikh 'Abdul Qadir Jilani Radhy Allahu 'Anhu).

Haafiza apne haath utha kar

Sab ke haq may ye dua kar

Sab parhen rawdha pe jaa kar

Salawaatullah 'alaika

O Hafiz raise your hands

And pray for one and all

That they may visit the "Rawdha" to pray

"Allah's blessings be on you".

Wherever they are, Muslims yearn to be together with HabibAllah Muhammad u'r Rasulullah Sall'Allahu 'alaihi wa Sallam. This burning desire is expressed in many salaams as in this couplet in the salaam in Naghma-e-Habib (Hymns on the Beloved), compiled by Janab Muhammad Shafi' Khatib Okadvi Saheb.

Dhoor ho jaae ye dhooree

Hasil ho jaae huzoori

Dhekh loon wo shakl noori

Dhil ki hasraten ho poori

May this separation vanish

As your presence is obtained

May I behold your shining face

And my heart's desire be fulfilled.

Another approach that the 'ulama (learned scholars) have taken is to request those going for pilgrimage to Makkah and for ziyara (visit) of the noble Prophet Sall'Allahu 'alaihi wa Sallam in Madina to give him their salaams. In these opening verses of the salaam by Maulana Abdul Aleem Siddiqi Rahmatullahi 'alaih in his kitab Zikr-e-Habib (Rememberance of the Beloved Prophet), he requests the morning breeze to deliver his salaams!

Baade Saba Nabi say mera salaam kehna

Sardaar Hashmi say mera salaam kehna

Shah-e-'Arab say mera salaam kehna

Ummi laqab say mera salaam kehna

'Aali nasab say jaakar mera salaam kehna

O breeze of the morning give my salaams to the Prophet

Give my salaams to the Hashmi leader

Give my salaams to the King of the Arabs

Give my salaams to the one whose title is Ummi

Give my salaams to the one with the best ancestry.

All the verses in the above quintet end in the phrase "say mera salaam kehna" ("give my salaams to"). Such a phrase is referred to as the "redif". We notice then that the words that come just before the "redif" rhyme. For example, the words "Nabi" and "Hashmi" rhyme, and "Arab", "laqab", and "nasab" rhyme"!

Salaams have also been composed in Urdu's sister languages, for example in the Cutchi dialect of the Sindhi language by Janab Noormuhammad Laving Saheb (who was popularly known as "Mithoo Master") of Mombasa, Kenya. Some of its verses are:

Aun ayaan bhandho Khudhajo

Ne putar Adam Hawa jo

Ne khaadim ayan aun aanjo

Yaa Rasul munja salaam ain

Kar Khuda tu ero rasto

Aun gina Makke jo rasto

Aay Madino dhil may wasto

Yaa Rasul munjaa salaam ain

I am Allah's creation

And the son of Adam and Hawa

And your servant O Messenger of Allah

My salaams on you

O Allah make such a way for me

That I take the road to Makkah

Madina abides in my heart

O Messenger of Allah my salaams on you.

Yaa Nabi Salaam 'Alaika