While studying abroad in Morocco, Fareeha Khan entered a mosque and heard a recitation of a famous ancient Islamic poem, the Burdah, which is now being made into a musical — the first Muslim one to be produced in America.

At the time, Khan said she did not know Arabic very well. “Even though I couldn’t understand it, it was very beautiful.”

She said her immediate love for the poem led her to help develop the first Islamic American musical in history.

The musical, “The Poem of the Cloak,” will premiere March 17 at the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center in Dearborn. The story applies the precepts of the Burdah to the struggles of a Muslim American family.

Khan, a doctoral student in Near Eastern Studies at the University, was joined by Parvez Ahmed and Jonathan Glasser in the Rackham Building last night for a panel discussion of the Burdah called ‘Changing Voices for the Poem of the Cloak: Cross-cultural Adaptations of Qasidah al Burdah.’

Parvez Ahmed, a student in the Department of Asian and Near Eastern Studies at Wayne State University, discussed the historical aspects of the poem.

Written in 1212 CE by al-Busiri, an Egyptian-born poet, the Burdha has been translated into many languages. It has been set to pop melodies in Egypt and South Asia, sung at wedding ceremonies, memorized by children and recited at conversion ceremonies and on Ramadan.

The poem was inspired by the story of al-Busiri’s miraculous cure by Muhammad. According to the tale, the Prophet appeared to al-Busiri — who was paralyzed from a stroke — in a dream, tossed him a cloak and cured him.

The 160 to 165 lines of the poem, varying with the translation, praise Muhammad for his act of kindness. Ahmed described it as the ecstatic love that Muslims feel for the founder of their religion.

“It’s really a deep sense of love and veneration,” Ahmed said.

Jonathan Glasser, a Rackham student in Near Eastern Studies, played different samples from a recent recording of the Burdah in Morocco and explained the variety of arrangements.

Glasser also examined the conflict between restrictions on music in the orthodox practice of Islam and the way the Burdah is performed.

He said controversy arises when the Burdah is performed with instruments, contravening the beliefs of some Muslims.

LSA sophomore Azmat Khan said she appreciated the way the event was centered on the Burdah. She said people at the University need to discuss the poem more.

“Islam is (not only) a religion of peace, but (also) a religion of art,” she said.

Rackham student Ali Hashmi said he appreciated the University’s willingness to discuss the Burdah.

“I think overall the message is so very popular,” Hashmi said.

Hashmi said the need for discussion of the Burdah comes from its themes of love and gratefulness.

“That’s really the backbone of Islam,” Hashmi said.

The event was the first production put on by the Office of Diversity Affairs, which is part of the Rackham Graduate Studies Program. Patricia McCune, the director of the Office of Diversity Affairs, organized a series of events after discovering the theme of the semester would be Cultural Treasures of the Middle East.

Tashara Bailey, a doctoral student in higher education who works at the Office of Diversity Affairs, hosted the show.

“I thought it was wonderful, a good chance for students to learn about the literary form,” Bailey said.