By: Sami Yusuf

Lament Lyrics

By: Sami Yusuf

My father be the ransom of him for whose sake I melted with anguish!
My father be the ransom of him for whose sake I died of fear!
The blush of shame on his cheek is the whiteness of dawn conversing with the 
Redness of eve
They left me at al-Uthayl and an-Naqá

Who will compose my distracted thoughts?
Who will relieve my pain?
Guide me to him!
Who will ease my sorrow?
Who will help a passionate lover?

Whenever I keep secret the torments of desire
My tears betray the flame within and the sleeplessness
They left me at al-Uthayl and an-Naqá

And whenever I say, ‘Give me one look!
The answer is, ‘Thou art not hindered but for pity’s sake.’
My father, my father, my father

Lament:
The encounter with the Transcendent inspires an unspeakable awe, in the face of which our worldly existence appears as a source of separation and sorrow. Lament meditates on lines written by Ibn ‘Arabi communicating the terror and wonder of an experience of the Infinitely Beyond. The poet uses visceral language that associates the desolation of the lover with the desolation of the desert to evoke the meeting of overwhelming attraction and overwhelming fear in a heart that trembles in the face of the Absolute.