A YouTube Link is www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncU-dcWaVzI.
Lyrics are here.
Scores are here, for treble and alto clefs. See comments on scores below.
Rhythm (simplified) is
D-TT
A version with ornaments is (here the notation uses twice as many symbols for the same amount of time):
D--kT-Tk
Score comments¶
This melody uses the Huzzam tetrachord. This is in the Segah family; it is rooted on Segah, the B-very-slightly flat (1 koma flat), then has C and D. Huzzam places the Hijaz tetrachord on D: D, E-flat, F-sharp, G. However, generally in Turkish (and often in Arabic) the wide interval in Hijaz is “softened” by bringing the lower note (E-flat) up and the upper note (F-sharp) down, just a little (1 koma).
While Hijaz is softened generally, in Turkish Huzzam the E-flat is raised even higher, just because.
While this song is traditionally Arabic, I notate it here using the Turkish sytem which is more explicit about the Hijaz softening. Arabic notation would have the B 1 quarter flat and would ignore the Hijaz softening. This isn’t how I hear it performed; I think Arabic performers simply adjust.
Note to perfomers: the song itself doesn’t touch the F-sharp and so doesn’t indicate Hijaz, but if you wish to add harmony or additional melody as ornamentation, experiment with Hijaz; the F-sharp in particular adds tension and color.
Social/historical context¶
This is an extremely important and well-known song in the Islamic tradition. Mohammad’s encounters with the Divine, as Muslims understand it, began when he lived in Mecca. He began building a community, but the leaders of Mecca wanted to suppress this emerging movement. Followers began to move to Medina and formed a community there. Eventually Mohammad slipped through the leadership’s grasp and fled to Medina under pursuit, though eventually he managed to escape their tracking and to reach Medina in peace.
To Muslims, Mohammad’s arrival in Medina signifies the defining moment at which Islam began. As Mohammad entered the city, his followers sang this song which they had already composed for the occasion. Think about that: this isn’t a song that was composed retrospectively, then went on to become a cultural favorite. It was literally sung at the event. It would be analogous to Christmas shepherds singing a specific song to baby Jesus, and we know the song.
I have yet to meet a Muslim who doesn’t know this song.
Thanks to Abdallah Jamaleddine for explaining some aspects of this to me.
