''Simtud Durar'', ''Simthud Durar'' or ''Simthud Duror'' ( ar, سمط الدّرر; ) is the book of poem praising

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...

The

Prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

written by

Habib Habib ( ar, حبيب, ''ḥabīb''; ), sometimes written as Habeeb, is an Arabic masculine given name, occasional surname, and honorific, with the meaning "beloved" or "my love", or "darling". It also forms the famous Arabic word ‘''Habibi’'' ...

Ali bin Muhammad al-Habshi. The poem is usually recited during a

Mawlid Mawlid, Mawlid an-Nabi ash-Sharif or Eid Milad un Nabi ( ar, المولد النبوي, translit=mawlid an-nabawī, lit=Birth of the Prophet, sometimes simply called in colloquial Arabic , , among other vernacular pronunciations; sometimes , ) ...

event. The poem is popular among Hadhrami descents, especially of

Sayyid ''Sayyid'' (, ; ar, سيد ; ; meaning 'sir', 'Lord', 'Master'; Arabic plural: ; feminine: ; ) is a surname of people descending from the Prophets in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad through his grandsons, Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali ...

s in

Hadhramaut Hadhramaut ( ar, حَضْرَمَوْتُ \ حَضْرَمُوتُ, Ḥaḍramawt / Ḥaḍramūt; Hadramautic: 𐩢𐩳𐩧𐩣𐩩, ''Ḥḍrmt'') is a region in South Arabia, comprising eastern Yemen, parts of western Oman and southern Sau ...

, in the island of

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

and in the towns of Lamu, Mambrui and

Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of the British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital city status. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

The Author

Habib Ali bin Muhammad bin Husin al-Habshi was born on Friday November 17, 1843 CE (24 Shawwal 1259 AH) in Qasam, a town in Hadhramaut. He grew up under the care and supervision of both his father, Muhammad bin Husin bin Abdullah Al Habshi and mother, Syarifah Alawiyyah bint Al-Hussain bin Ahmad Al-Hadi Al-Jufri, who at the time was known as a piety woman. At a very young age, Ali had studied and finished reciting

al-Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing ...

and successfully mastered the outward and inward knowledge before reaching the age that is usually required for that. Since then, he was consented to by the teachers and instructors to give lectures and studies in public, and in short time he became the center of attention and admiration and a place of honor in the hearts of every person in his town. He was handed the responsibility to teach at educational institutions and at large meetings. Furthermore, he also collected, directed and educated his students to acquire knowledge, as well as to inspire them in the pursuit of high ideals and noble. To accommodate them, he built a mosque called "al-Riyadh" in

Seiyun Seiyun (also transliterated as ''Saywun'', ''Sayoun'' or ''Say'un''; ar, سَيْئُوْن Hadhrami pronunciation: , Literary Arabic: ; Old South Arabian: 𐩪𐩺𐩱𐩬 ''S¹yʾn'') is a city in the region and Governorate of Hadh ...

, as well as boarding schools which were equipped with various facilities to meet their needs, so that they can study in peace and quiet, free from all disturbing thoughts, especially those concerned with the needs of everyday life. Ali died in Seiyun, on Sunday March 7, 1915 CE (20 Rabi al-Akhir 1333 AH) and survived by sons who have obtained the best education of his own, who continued his ideals in preaching and disseminating Islam. Among his sons, his youngest son Habib Alwi bin Ali Al-Habshi was well known in Indonesia as he founded "al-Riyadh" mosque for his father namesake in Pasar Kliwon,

Surakarta Surakarta ( jv, ꦯꦸꦫꦏꦂꦠ), known colloquially as Solo ( jv, ꦱꦭ; ), is a city in Central Java, Indonesia. The 44 km2 (16.2 sq mi) city adjoins Karanganyar Regency and Boyolali Regency to the north, Karanganyar Regency and Sukoh ...

as well as to hold the ''Simtud Durar'' mawlid for the first time in the country.

The Poem

The book ''Simtud-Durar'' (literally means ''A Necklace of Pearls'') is written by al-

‘Ali bin Muhammad al-Habshi when he was at the age of 68 years. He started to write the poem on March 19, 1909 CE (26 Safar 1327 AH). Habib 'Ali dictated the initial paragraph of the Simtud Durar by saying

basmalah The ''Basmala'' ( ar, بَسْمَلَة, ; also known by its incipit ; , "In the name of Allah"), or Tasmiyyah (Arabic: ), is the titular name of the Islamic phrase "In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful" (Arabic: , ...

. In the beginning of Rabi 'al-Awwal 1327 AH (around April 1909 CE), he ordered his students to read the poem. He opened it with great Fatiha. Then on Wednesday night, 9 Rabi al Awwal, he began reading the masterpiece at his home after it was perfected. He said, "The poem is very touching, after having just finished". The poem is similar to

Qasida The qaṣīda (also spelled ''qaṣīdah''; is originally an Arabic word , plural ''qaṣā’id'', ; that was passed to some other languages such as fa, قصیده or , ''chakameh'', and tr, kaside) is an ancient Arabic word and form of writin ...

, but mostly in the form of two-column

stanza In poetry, a stanza (; from Italian language, Italian ''stanza'' , "room") is a group of lines within a poem, usually set off from others by a blank line or Indentation (typesetting), indentation. Stanzas can have regular rhyme scheme, rhyme and ...

. It consists of 15 chapters which contain the history in poetic prose and praises of the Prophet. In chapter one it starts with

Salawat ''Salawat'' ( ar, صَلَوَات, ' ''salat''; also referred to as ''divine blessings on Muhammad'', ''durood shareef'' or ''durood-e-Ibrahim'') is an Islamic complimentary Arabic phrase, which contains the salutation upon Muhammad. This ph ...

poem. The poem is recited during a

or other similar events. Usually the recitation is started by one person and after finishing one chapter the book is passed along to another person next to him to continue reciting it. Sometimes people recite it while sway to and from as if in spiritual ecstasy. It is also common during recitation of certain chapters the chanting accompanied with

Rebana The rebana or terbangan is a tambourine that is used in Islamic devotional music in Southeast Asia, particularly in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, and Singapore. The sound of the rebana often accompany Islamic ritual such as the zikir. The name ...

, especially when reciting chapter eight. The congregation raises during ''Mahallu al-Qiyaam'' (''Qiyaam'' literally means ''standing'' in Arabic) when the eighth chapter is chanted.

References

* * * * * {{cite web, url=http://berandamadina.wordpress.com/2010/03/04/terjemahan-maulid-simtud-dhuror-maulid-habsyi/, title=Terjemahan Maulid Simtud Dhuror, date=4 March 2010, accessdate=September 26, 2014 Sufism Shia days of remembrance