This manuscript entitled 'Qasidah al-Burda' or The Poem of the Mantle is written in Arabic on cream paper. It comprised of 32 folios with the first, fifth and ninth lines of each page written in bold 'muhaqqaq' script, surrounded by diagonal lines in 'thulth' script contained in hexagonal boxes.It was composed by Abu ‘Abdallah Muhammad Ibn Said al-Busiri who had a dream whereby the Prophet Muhammad appeared and placed his mantle on his shoulders thereby curing him of his partial paralysis. This composition was wirtten in honour of that miraculous event. Since its composition in the 13th century, it has retained its spiritual signifiancane to the Muslim community to this day. Verses are recited at burials and used for talismanic pruposes as well.
