Tala' al Badru 'Alayna

Tala‘ al-Badru ‘Alaynā (Arabic: طلع البدر علينا) is a traditional Islamic poem known as nasheed that the Ansar (residents of Madinah) sang for Muhammad upon his arrival at Medina.

Many sources claim it was first sung as he sought refuge there after being forced to leave his hometown of Mecca. Some others, disagree by saying the second line reads "From the valley of Wada" (ﻣﻦ ﺛﻨﻴﺎﺕ ﺍﻟﻮﺩﺍﻉ). The valley of Wada was the place where people would walk with their loved ones who were travelling and say goodbye. It is located north of Medina and Mecca is south and the Prophet arrived at Quba which is south, so it is geographically impossible that it was sung at the Hijrah, some say.

The alternative opinion mainly put forth by Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani is that it was sung for Prophet Muhammad upon his arrival at Medina, to welcome him after completing the Battle of Tabuk.^{[1] [1] [2]}

The song is currently over 1450 years old, and one of the oldest in the Islamic culture.

Lyrics

Metre

The poem is written in a variety of the Arabic metre known as ramal, and goes as follows (where – is a long syllable, u is a short syllable, and x either long or short), from left to right:

x u – – | x u – – || – u – – | – u –

Performances

See also

• Hijra
• Yathrib (Medina)

References