Religions and mystics

This song was co-written by the Rahbani brothers and the Lebanese poet Said Akl^[1] just after the Six Days War (June 1967^[2]). It celebrates Jerusalem and is a homage to the drama that the Six days War^[3] constituted for the Palestinians and their neighbours. The principal themes of the song are the religious and historical symbols of Jerusalem; the meaning and the role of Jerusalem in the history of religions is unavoidable in a song about a city which is symbolic for all three monotheistic religions. In the first part of the song, Jerusalem is represented as the home of all religions. She symbolises this because she houses their different places of worship; the two temples of the Jews, the Christian churches, the Muslim mosques:

The relationship to the history of religion is very important as Jerusalem is the three times holy city: she houses the remains of the temples of Solomon and Herod, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and, finally the complex of mosques (the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque) where Muhammed ascended to Heaven during his nightly walk.

The second part deals with the transformation of this holy city into a resting place of martyrs, all martyrs, but especially those of the Christians and Muslims: there is reference to the child and his mother Mary who weep for the victims of the destruction of this city of peace which has been transformed into a city of war and where, according to the author, there is no longer justice. It is claimed that in this destroyed city Love has recoiled, and war has colonised the heart of the world, while In the grotto, the child and his mother Mary weep, and I pray.

Fayrouz prays for these people who have suffered and calls on others to pray for peace. The image of the child and his mother Mary weeping in the grotto is a strong symbol of the shock felt by the Arab population in Jerusalem.

In her role as a universalist, Fayrouz did not hesitate to perform this song written by Said Akl, which is a homage to Mecca and the festival of Eid Al-Adha , the greatest Muslim festival. In its honour, the song is one of true celebration.

This song gives homage to the Muslims who pray during their festival wherever they find themselves:

But this festival is so special that it goes beyond the boundaries of Mecca since If a grain of sand sang its happiness with the day to its creator, then it would be the string plucked to make music. The last part of the song is dedicated to the people's God who makes them fruitful whatever their kind or colour.

This song reprises the text written by Rushdi al Maalouf^[4] for mothers' day. It is a homage to the woman as mother: God, in your name, I ask that you offer them your blessing, all happiness. The mother is love of life and maternal love. These mothers never sleep because they care so much for their children and they suffer with their children: their joy and their misery is ours (the children's), so I ask you to grant them heaven's mercy and to protect them with it and let them sleep peacefully and let every mother awaken reassured. If God has given to woman the most precious gift, that of giving life (and the Virgin Mary bore His own son), it is because he has trust in them. This song performed by Fayrouz is a hymn to the woman as mother who sacrifices her life for her children. Fayrouz prays to God to protect them from evil and grant them mercy.

This is not the only song in which Fayrouz praises the mother and prays to God to protect her. She has also sung Ya Oum Allah (Oh mother of God), a song in which Mary the mother of Jesus is the protector of men. In this song, the mother of God is the incarnation of compassion, she is the gift of forgiveness, the refuge and hope of men, Fayrouz is the voice of these songs, she would not have been able to sing them had she not believed in the messages of the texts. She is a symbol for women of her time, singer, mother of the family, lover and believer...

To conclude, one can say that while not all of Fayrouz's work can be classed as mystical, the authors of the texts she performs have often chosen her to make her voice a vehicle of original mystical thinking. In fact, there is a curious coherence between the message of the songs, the performer (Fayrouz) and the impact of her voice. This analysis may be questioned from a rational and scientific point of view by some specialists, but is not subjectivity an element in the path to mysticism? In conceiving the texts, Fayrouz' lyricists seek to evoke in the listener a tremulous response, a profound uplifting sentiment which is confined to mysticism. In addition to the unique voice of Fayrouz, oriental music uses a broader sound spectrum than Western music and its effect is to amplify this uplifting feeling. The quest of the mystic which is a search for the divine beyond our soul remains an interior and personal journey, but music is a special tool inasmuch as it can touch many souls at the same time, as Daniel Perret says: “in pursuing the mystic pathway, it is not possible to imitate, to copy anyone. Essentially we must embark on this journey all alone, even if we can arrive at the end of the road together with other pilgrims.”