Saladin - Epic Music
7 months
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Music by Farya Faraji, Arabic vocals by Youssef Nassa, Kurdish vocals by Farya Faraji. Please note that this isn't reconstructed era music, it's modern Arabic and Kurdish music with a historical theme.
I was inspired to write a song about Saladin, a now legendary figure not just in Islamic history, but in the world as a whole. Widely regarded as a model of kingship and a great ruler, he even enjoyed a positive perception in Europe as far back as the Middle-Ages. Born to a Kurdish family, Saladin would end up becoming the Sultan of Egypt, and would lead the Muslims against the Christian forces during the Crusades.
The music mostly emulates modern Egyptian Classical music as well as Kurdish folk music. The instruments used are the ney, oud and kanun, a wide array of percussions like the bendhir and darbuka, and a Western string orchestra played in a typical oriental manner, which gives it its recognisable sound, one copiously used in Egyptian music, among others. The Arabic vocals are provided by Egyptian singer Youssef Nassal who sings using Classical Arabic vocal techniques in an improvisational, arythmic manner called mawwal.
The Kurdish lyrics are from a modern poem by Kurdish poet Cigerxwîn. Whilst his poem's intent has a very clear Kurdish nationalist angle, I used these specific verses of his poem as they fit the theme of this piece, with the added bonus of being in Saladin's mother tongue, albeit one of its modern variants. The Arabic lyrics, meanwhile, are contemporary to Saladin's time and were written by 'Arqala al-Kalbî, an Egyptian poet.
Lyrics in Kurdish:
Ez im ê şikand leşkerê Rêşar
Min bi xwîna xwe parastî ev war
Di sînga dijmin ez bûme kelem
Li ser serê min
Sinbil û kulah
Serê hespê min
Digirt Padîşah
Ez im ew gernas
Ew Selahidîn
Bipirs ji dimyat
Bipirs ji Hetîn
English translation:
It was I who defeated
Richard the Lionheart
My own blood I shed
to defend these regions.
A thorn I was in my enemies' side;
Many a king held my horse's halter.
Yes I am the warrior,
I am Saladin.
Translation of the Arabic part:
He was a king whose name dignified pulpits and whose virtues were well-nigh over the stars.
His visage radiated on homesteads like a sun shining from the highest sphere.
No sooner were his banners unfurled than those of his enemies were folded in defeat.
Who but he stemmed the tide of the Frankish faith?
Which battle but his had horses as numerous as the torrential rains?
I was inspired to write a song about Saladin, a now legendary figure not just in Islamic history, but in the world as a whole. Widely regarded as a model of kingship and a great ruler, he even enjoyed a positive perception in Europe as far back as the Middle-Ages. Born to a Kurdish family, Saladin would end up becoming the Sultan of Egypt, and would lead the Muslims against the Christian forces during the Crusades.
The music mostly emulates modern Egyptian Classical music as well as Kurdish folk music. The instruments used are the ney, oud and kanun, a wide array of percussions like the bendhir and darbuka, and a Western string orchestra played in a typical oriental manner, which gives it its recognisable sound, one copiously used in Egyptian music, among others. The Arabic vocals are provided by Egyptian singer Youssef Nassal who sings using Classical Arabic vocal techniques in an improvisational, arythmic manner called mawwal.
The Kurdish lyrics are from a modern poem by Kurdish poet Cigerxwîn. Whilst his poem's intent has a very clear Kurdish nationalist angle, I used these specific verses of his poem as they fit the theme of this piece, with the added bonus of being in Saladin's mother tongue, albeit one of its modern variants. The Arabic lyrics, meanwhile, are contemporary to Saladin's time and were written by 'Arqala al-Kalbî, an Egyptian poet.
Lyrics in Kurdish:
Ez im ê şikand leşkerê Rêşar
Min bi xwîna xwe parastî ev war
Di sînga dijmin ez bûme kelem
Li ser serê min
Sinbil û kulah
Serê hespê min
Digirt Padîşah
Ez im ew gernas
Ew Selahidîn
Bipirs ji dimyat
Bipirs ji Hetîn
English translation:
It was I who defeated
Richard the Lionheart
My own blood I shed
to defend these regions.
A thorn I was in my enemies' side;
Many a king held my horse's halter.
Yes I am the warrior,
I am Saladin.
Translation of the Arabic part:
He was a king whose name dignified pulpits and whose virtues were well-nigh over the stars.
His visage radiated on homesteads like a sun shining from the highest sphere.
No sooner were his banners unfurled than those of his enemies were folded in defeat.
Who but he stemmed the tide of the Frankish faith?
Which battle but his had horses as numerous as the torrential rains?