as sung by the remarkable Saad Temsamani تهْ دلالاً فأنتَ أهلٌ لذاكا وتَحكّمْ، فالحُسْنُ قد أعطاكَا ولكَ الأمرُ فاقضِ ما أنتَ قاضٍ فعلّي الجمالُ قدْ ولاّكا Translation: Be haughty, because you’re worth it, and have your way Because of what beauty has given you The command is yours, so judge what you’re the judge of Because…
Vide Cor Meum (See My Heart)
A nice libretto based on the third chapter of Dante’s La Vita Nuova Vide Cor Meum Italian/Latin Chorus: E pensando di lei Mi sopragiunse uno soave sonno Ego dominus tuus Vide cor tuum E d’sto core ardendo Cor tuum (Chorus: Lei paventosa) Umilmente pascea Appreso gir lo ne vedea piangendo La letizia si convertia In…
Ibn al-Fāriḍ: My heart told me… -ابن الفارض : قلبي يحدّثني
A portion of one of my all-time favorite poems, beautifully recited قلْبي يُحدّثُني بأنّكَ مُتلِفي روحي فداكَ عرفتَ أمْ لمْ تعرفِ لم أقضِ حقَّ هَوَاكَ إن كُنتُ الذي لم أقضِ فيهِ أسى…
The Poetry of Prayer- صلاة مشيشة
Although not strictly speaking poetry, the famous prayer of the Maghribi Shaykh ‘abd as-Salaam ibn Mashish on the Prophet of Islam, joins beautiful and profound symbolism with an nearly equally profound beauty of sound. Every poem seems tinged with prayer, and every sincere prayer bears the perfume of poetry, as these recitations show: …
‘Attar and Carminho
The Soul’s Dilemma Once again, each day, I travel the path of your love Every night without fail I mourn your absence anew. My soul lacks the courage to love one such as you- and my heart lacks the strength to abandon you too -‘Attar From Love’s Alchemy: Poems from the Sufi Tradition. New World…
Songs from Andalus
Fado: Casa de Fados (from Carlos Saura’s film Fados) Lyrics (from the film’s subtitles): First singer: A lost friendship can never return It’s a forged firendship That jokingly comes and goes It’s a forged friendship that jokingly comes and goes No one gives a thing If behind that gesture there is no value Only a…