Raihan’s Sesungguhnya, in English

A translation of the classic nasheed Sesungguhnya by Raihan into English. [two_first] In truth this heart longs for You In truth this being longs for You Yet I cannot understand Why love still has not appeared Yet I cannot understand Why longing has not yet blossomed [/two_first][two_second] Sebenarnya hati ini cinta kepada Mu Sebenarnya diri […]

Hold Fast

To God was his call, and those who hold fast to him hold fast to a rope that shall never break. Baginda mengajak umat ke jalan Allah. Maka sesiapa yang berpegang teguh dengan ajarannya, bererti ia telah berpegang teguh dengan tali yang kuat yang tidak akan berputus. Verily, God and His angels send prayers upon […]

Doa Taubat

One famous prayer of repentance, or dua taubat, could be roughly transliterated as follow: Ilahi lestu lil-firdawsi a’la wa la akhwa ala nar il-jaheemi Allah fa habli tawbata wa-ghfir dhunubi fa innaka ghaafiru dhanb il-adzimi This doa has been put to song, together with a lovely malay translation, by Junied, a nasheed group from Singapore […]

Mawlid Barzanji

12 Rabi’ul Awwal has come and gone again. In the past, I’ve written about a famous book of poetry about the birth of Prophet Muhammad (s) called Mawlid Daiba’i. Actually the Mawlid poetry more widely read in Malaysia is Mawlid Barzanji, named after its composer, Imam Zayn al-`Abidin Ja`far ibn Hasan al-Barzanji (d. 1177) (r). […]

Hidupnya Insan

My favorite definition of poetry is “Compact Emotion”. So when I found that my translations are mulitiplying the word count at least three or five times, I knew right there I’m losing something. This is the last of the lyrical pieces on the “Pelita Hidup” album, and for me it was the hardest. I think I’ll go back to nursery rhymes after this; it’s more at my level. Anyone know where to get lyrics for “Bangau O Bangau”?