Muḥammad al-Ḥusayān

Yā Ilāhī (Fī Laylatin min al-Layālī)

Kuwait mosque

Interior of the Grand Mosque of Kuwait. (Photo: Mario Lechuga Suárez)

Yā Ilāhī (يا إِلهي), “O God of mine!”, also known by its first line Fī Laylatin mina l-Layālī (في ليلة من الليالي), “One fateful night”, is a deeply moving contemporary Arabic nasheed set to the tune of Leonard Cohen’s famous song “Hallelujah”. The lyrics evocatively express the remorse of a sinner turning back to Allah in repentance. Written and first sung by the Kuwaiti munshid Muḥammad al-Ḥusayān, the nasheed has since been covered by several other artists. For a different but equally stirring Islamic cover of “Hallelujah”, check out Nader Khan’s “Presence (AlhamduliLlah)”.

Lyrics

– verse 1–

فِي لَيْلَةٍ مِنَ اللَّيَالِي
لَسْتُ أَدْرِي مَا اعْتَرَانِي
ظُلْمَةٌ تَغْمُرُنِي يَا رَبّ
اَلْأَرْضُ ضَاقَتْ وَالسَّمَاءْ
وَقَلْبِي مَا عَرَفَ الضِّيَاءْ
وَالدَّمْعُ بَاتَ يَبْكِي، يَا إِلَٰهِي

Fee laylatin minal–layaal(ee)
lastu adree ma ‘taraan(ee)
ẓulmatun taghmurunee yaa Rabb
Al-arḍu ḍaaqat was–samaa’
wa qalbee maa ‘arafaḍ–ḍiyaa’
wad–dam‘u baata yabkee
Yaa ilaahee!

One fateful night,
I don’t know what came over me,
a darkness enveloped me, O Lord.
The earth caved in on me, as did the sky,
my heart failed to see the light,
and my tears spent the night flowing.
O God of mine!

...

Audio Samples

🎙️a cappella · 🪘drum(s) · 🎶music · ♀️female vocals
Muhammad al-Husayan 🎶
Muhammad al-Husayan 🎙️
Abdelhak Sahraoui 🎶

Mikhaeel Mala 🎶
Mohamed Tarek 🎶
Fu'ad al-Khateeb 🎶

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