About Muslim Hymns

Salam and welcome to MuslimHymns.com!

This is a project that was born out of love and frustration. Love for the rich Islamic heritage of songs and poems, and for the gatherings in which these are sung and recited. But frustration at the difficulty of finding reliable, legible, and accurate lyrics for these poems online.

The goal is to be the go-to online resource for Islamic songs and poems (qasidas, ilahis, na‘ats, nasheeds, etc). Each page features a short introduction to the hymn, legible lyrics in the original language, a transliteration, an English translation, audio samples of the hymn being sung, and a list of categories.

Why ‘hymns’?

Mainly because “Muslim Hymns” has a nice ring to it. The word is intended in the broader sense – without specifically Christian connotations – of “religious song, often in praise of God, usually sung in congregation as a form of worship”. The songs and poems featured here come from across the Muslim world, and cover a variety of genres and themes.

Lyrics

Since much of the Muslim poetic tradition is oral, there will often be variations in the lyrics for the same poem. In such cases, I have tried to look for the original wording, or gone with the most commonly sung variant. The font used for Arabic is KFQPC Naskh, a very legible font based on the calligraphy of Uthman Taha, familiar to many Muslims from printed editions of the Quran. Full vowelling has been provided for easier reading.

Transliteration

There are many different standards used for transliterating Arabic (and other languages). We have focused on ease of reading for those not familiar with more complicated transliteration schemes. For notes on transliteration and pronunciation of specific languages, see the following pages:

Arabic transliteration guide
Urdu transliteration guide
Turkish pronunciation guide

Translation

In those cases where a poem has been successfully translated into English verse, this “singable translation” has been provided, and the translator properly credited. In such cases, I have referred to the translation as an “English Rendition”. In other cases, a more literal translation is provided that gives the meaning of the original but is not intended to be sung. Where no translator is mentioned, the translation is my own.

Audio Samples

To help readers get a feel for how the hymns are sung, I have included audio samples from the web (usually YouTube or SoundCloud). To accommodate the differences of opinion regarding the permissibility of musical instruments in Islam, the following system of icons has been used:

[no icon] = Vocals only (a capella). No musical accompaniment.
🥁 = Percussion. Vocals accompanied by some drumming, usually one or more frame drums (dafs).
🥁🪈 = Percussion and flute. Vocals accompanied by both drumming and the traditional reed flute (ney).
🎶 = Music. Any other musical accompaniment, including string, brass and keyboard instruments (oud, sitar, guitar, piano, etc).

Additionally, audio samples with female vocals are marked with the ♀️ symbol.