A link between a burda and Arabic poetry first appeared in the time of the Prophet. When Kaʿb b. Zuhayr began habitually satirising the Prophet, the latter gave permission for him to be killed; Kaʿb then made haste to go to the Prophet, to whom he presented a qaṣīda expressing his contrition. In return, the Prophet bestowed on him his mantle. Kaʿb’s poem became famous—not by the name Burda, but by a name taken from its opening words, ‘B…