This is a live rendition of three traditional nashids in the 'hugaz maqam' of Arabic music scales. Manaqib Nashids recite these nashids as a set, rolling from one nashid to another.

alayka sallaLlah with min ghina balabil and salatuna ala l-nabiy Manaqib Nashids

"Qad Kafani `Ilmu Rabbi" (My Lord's Knowledge Suffices Me) is a powerful statement of reliance and trust on Allah, authored by Imam Abdullah b. Alawi al-Haddad (1634 CE [1044 Hijri] - 1720 CE [1132 Hijri]), the great Islamic scholar and spiritual guide from Hadhramawt, Yemen. Imam al-Haddad was a distinguished poet, and this particular qasida (devotional song) is one of his most-recited poems. A brief bio of the Imam may be found here: http://www.alhaddad.org/blog/?p=382.

(Accompanying picture of the Imam's mosque in Yemen is taken from http://thedowra.com.)

This particular rendition of the qasida is something I'd first heard performed at the Seekers Retreat in Melbourne (April 2011), by "The Singaporean Haqqani Ensemble" - Sidi Abdul Shakor Hadi leading the vocals, along with drumming and choral support from Sidi Muhammad Nassir, and the rest of the ensemble.

I was fortunate enough to recite this rendition of the qasida to Habib Umar bin Hafidh, at a private gathering in Melbourne Australia, in May 2011, before returning to Canada.  Many thanks to Sidi Usama Canon for facilitating this auditioning.


TECHNICAL NOTES:
I've recorded it here in Apple's GarageBand, using a Blue Yeti USB microphone (reviewed here at wired.com: http://www.wired.com/reviews/2009/11/pr_yeti/), a recent gift from a good friend that I'm putting to good use.

[NOTE: Booking requests are not processed through this website.  To book Nader Khan, please contact "bookings@naderkhan.com"]

ENGLISH TRANSLATION:
(the lyrics in Arabic, along with the translation, may be downloaded from: http://www.halaqa.org/Media/Docs/Qad%20kafani%20english.pdf)

My Lord’s knowledge has sufficed me
 from asking or choosing
For my du’a and my agonising supplication
 is a witness to my poverty.
For this secret (reason) I make supplication 
in times of ease and times of difficulty
I am a slave whose pride 
is in his poverty and obligation
----------
O my Lord and my King
 You know my state
And what has settled in my heart 
of agonies and preoccupations
Save me with a gentleness 
from You, O Lord of Lords
Oh save me, Most Generous 
before I run out of patience (with myself)
----------
O One who is swift in sending aid
 I ask for aid that will arrive to me swiftly
It will defeat all difficulty 
and it will bring all that I hope for
O Near One Who answers 
and All-Knowing and All-Hearing
I have attained realisation through my incapacity, 
my submission and my brokenness
----------
I am still standing by the door, so please my Lord
 have mercy on my standing
And in the valley of generosity, I am in i’tikaf (solitary retreat)  
So, Allah, make my retreat here permanent
And I’m abiding by good opinion (of You) 
 For it is my friend and ally
And it is the one that sits by me and keeps me company  
All day and night
----------
There is a need in my soul, O Allah 
so please fulfill it, O Best of Fulfillers
And comfort my secret and my heart
 from its burning and its shrapnel
In pleasure and in happiness  and 
as long as You are pleased with me
For joy and expansion is my state  
and my motto and my cover
----------

Qad Kafani - My Lord is Sufficient - by Imam Haddad, sung by Nader Khan

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Wird al Latif (morning) of Imam al Haddad recited by Shaykh Ibrahim Osi-Efa at the Trodden Path 1437

Wird Al Latif (morning) - Shaykh Ibrahim Osi-Efa

08 Salallahu ‘ala Taha

Mawlid Mabrukations to all of you. Here's a gift for the 12th of Rabi' 1440 to all of you.

 This is an experimental recording, not exactly a polished studio finish.  Singers and drummers from multiple cities have worked it - Jason Labrecque from Montreal, me and The Blacksmiths (Faisal Shaheen and D Morisson) from Brampton, Abu Baker Al Kaff from Toronto, Ahson Ahmad from San Francisco, and Mikaeel Lateef from Seattle.

The Shaykh who composed the lyrics is Muhammad Ibn Yallis At-Tilimsani (1264–13461 H / 1847–1927 G), and this Qasida is very, very dear to me for many reasons.  I hope you enjoy listening to it and singing along with it, even more than I do every single time I sing it.

CHORUS:
صَلِّ يَا سَلامْ عَلَى الْوَسِيلَة
وَشَمْسِ الْاَنَامْ طَلْعَةِ لَيْلَ

Salli ya salam A’lall waseelah,
Washamsil anaam tal A’aati layla

Send blessings, O Source of Peace, upon the Intermediary
The Sun of mankind, Layla’s visage
_____

يَا سَاقِي الْعُشَّاقْ اَمْلَ الْكُوُوْسَا
مِنْ خَمْرِ الْاَذْوَاقْ يُحْي النُّفُوْسَا
حَضْرَةِ الِاطْلَاقْ اَبْدَتْ شُمُوسَا
مَحَتِ الرَّوَاقْ عَنْ وَجْهِ لَيْلَى

Ya Saqil Ushaaq amlil ku’oosaa
Min khamril adhwaaq yuHyinufusa
Hadratil itlaaq abdat shumoosaa
Mahatirawwaaq A’an wajhi layla

O cupbearers of the lovers, fill up the cups
with the wine of spiritual tastes that revives souls
From the Infinite Presence, suns arose
Effacing the passage away from Layla’s countenance
_____

مُبْتَغَى الْعُشَّاقْ حِيْنَ تَجَلَّى
فِيْ ذَاتِ الْخَلَّاقْ الْمَوْلَى جَلَّ
مِنْ بَحْرِ الْاِطْلَاقْ حِيْنَ تَجَلَّى
بِكُلِّ رَوْنَقْ جَمَالُ لَيْلَى

Mubtaghal Ushaaq heena taddalaa
Fi dhaatil khallaaq almawla jallaa
Min bahril itlaaq heena tajallah
bi kulli rawnaaq jamaalu layla

The lovers’ desire at the point of manifestation
In the Essence of the Creator: the Exalted Master
The Boundary of Infinity that was adorned
With every splendour, such as Layla’s beauty!
_____

صَاحَتِ الْاَطْيَارْ فَوْقَ الْمَنَابِرْ
وَفَاحَ الْاَزْهَار وَالرَّوْضُ عَاطِرْ
رَنَّتِ الْاَوْتَارّ وَالْحِبُّ حَاضِرْ
غَنِّ يَا خَمَّارْ بِحُسْنِ لَيْلَى

Saahaatil atyaar fawqal manaabir
Wa fahal azhaar wa rawdu aateer
Rannatil awtaar wal hibu haadheer
Ghanni ya khammaar bi husni layla

Birds carolled atop the pulpits 
Fragrances emanated from flowers and gardens
Strings resonated at the presence of the Beloved 
Sing! O wine keeper, of Layla’s beauty
_____

يَا عَيْنَ الْعُيُونْ ظَهَرْتَ جَهْرَا
بِجَمْعِ الْفُنُونْ كَاْساً وَخَمْرَا
زَالَتِ الشُّجُونْ طَابَتِ الْحَضَرَة
بِاسِّرِّ الْمَكْنُونْ مِنْ كَنْزِ لَيْلَى

Ya Aynal uyoon dhahrata jahraa
Bi jam’il funoon ka’san wa khamra
Zalatishujoon tabatil hadhraa
Bi siril maknoon min kanzi layla

O Fountain of Fountains, you appeared lucid
In every symbolisation, cup and wine
Sorrows disappeared, the Presence made sweet
By the concealed secret of Layla’s treasure
_____

اِبْنُ يَلَّسْ هَامْ لَمّا سُقِيَا
مِنْ خَمْرِ الْاَذْوَاقْ فَانِيْ بَاقِيَا
عَلَيْكَ السَّلَامْ خَيْرَ الْبَرِيَّة
مَا سُقِيَ الْمُدَامْ فِيْ حَيِّ لَيْلى 

Ibnuyalis-haam lamma suqeeya
Min khamril adhwaaq faani Baqeeya
Alaykas salaam khayral baariya
Ma suqiyal mudaam fi hayyi layla

Ibn Yallas was enraptured upon drinking
The wine of spiritual tastes, annihilated then subsisted
Upon you be peace, Best of Creation
For as long as this wine is drunk in Layla’s life
_____

Salli Ya Salam -- Nader Khan & The Blacksmiths & friends

Auteur : Akim El Sikameya 
Compositeur : Akim El Sikameya

Med'Set Orkestra

He Mama

He Mama, Akim El Sikameya (album Med'set Orkestra - live in Sete Sois 2008)

4- Talama

Il existe 100 mots différents en arabe pour dire l’amour.
Malgré ce fait méconnu, qui dit combien la civilisation arabo-musulmane est riche et subtile, les mots « arabe » et « musulman » résonnent de connotations négatives dans les médias et l’actualité française. C’est peu dire qu’il n’est pas simple pour un artiste vivant en France  aujourd’hui d’arriver avec un projet arabophone.
Qu’à cela ne tienne, Akim El Sikameya  a décidé de retourner le stigmate : il est désormais le Lovist, le fanatique (oui, mais) de l’amour…
Ce nouveau projet, mûri à la faveur de plusieurs années de silence marquées par la maladie, est celui de la résurrection et de la maturité. Akim Le Lovist revient à l’essentiel : les racines arabo-andalouses toujours, les amitiés musicales, le coeur de l’artiste exposé dans les textes de ses chansons…

Old BIO
Akim was born in Oran, the Algerian music capital. From the age of eight, he joins a well-known Arab-Andalusian music school – a music born in Spain with the encounter and the exchanges between the three monotheistic cultures. To have learnt his art in such conditions gives him not only a strong musical background – which allows him to play easily lots of other repertoires – but also a philosophy of life and art, based on the experience of cross-cultural mixing. Thus at the age of twenty, Akim creates a band, El Meya : for the first time and for this band, he transforms Arab-Andalusian nubas into songs, adding a flamenca guitar and a piano to a music which ignored such instruments.

But the civil war which condemns his elder brothers, threatened by fatwas, to the exile, will definitely mark Akim’s destiny. He follows in his brothers’footsteps and leaves Algeria to Marseille where he discovers love, freedom, and becomes the whooping-cough of the artistic and intellectual Phocaean background. He is quickly spotted because of his rare top C voice, his unique way of playing the violin (standing, the instrument leant on his thigh), and his very Mediterranean charisma. Thus he rapidly signs up with an independent label, who releases his first album (Atifa-Oumi) in 1999.

After a promising tour with prestigious first parts (Alain Souchon, Julien Clerc, Noa, Khaled, Cesaria Evora…), Akim releases a second album, Aïni-Amel, in which he writes and composes all songs entirely. This second album, mix of many influences, can be seen as the reflection of the assumed paradoxes of a complete artist, being able to compose nice melodies and to perform them on stage with a remarkable impetuosity. Besides, the WOMAD International Festival (created by Peter Gabriel) chooses Akim El Sikameya to become its 2004 « coup de cœur ».

Thanks to this judgement of Thomas Brooman, the WOMAD’s director, Akim is applauded on tour until 2006, in the different cities welcoming this itinerant festival : Las Palmas, Madrid, London (Live 8), Singapore….The international dimension of Akim’s music is quickly confirmed by other world tours (India, Spain, Sicilia…), by many releases abroad, added to several selections on famous compilations (Live 8 Africa Calling by Real World, The Rough Guide To North African Coffee by World Music Network, Arabian Lounge by Nascente…). His fourth album is comming soon.

He Mama, Akim El Sikameya (album Med'set Orkestra - live in Sete Sois 2008)

Akim Le Lovist Official

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Ted Mason 1

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