Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.The song’s origins lie in 17th-century Yemen, where the lyrics were written by Rabbi Shalom Shabazi, a revered scholar and kabbalist; he left behind 850 poems written in Hebrew and Arabic (it’s thought he may have written around 15,000), though his life remains shrouded in mystery. Shabazi’s poems were often set to music and sung and danced to at weddings and celebrations throughout Yemen. His poetry was both celestial and cosmic, romantic and religious, as in the opening lines of “Im Nin’Alu”, which express a transcendent yearning for redemption: “If there be no mercy left in the world/The doors of heaven will never be barred.”Forty years ago, when Haza released “Im Nin’Alu”, it was the dawn of what became known as world music, and the song has gone on to become a truly global phenomenon. Perhaps this is music’s greatest gift to humanity: its ability to bridge time, space, cultures and sounds. As Shalom Shabazi wrote 400 years earlier: “And with their free wings sweetly sing/Together, in unison.”Let us know your memories of ‘Im Nin’Alu’ in the comments section belowThe paperback edition of ‘The Life of a Song: The stories behind 100 of the world’s best-loved songs’, edited by David Cheal and Jan Dalley, is published by ChambersMusic credits: Hed Arzi; Universal; Fono Müzik; Nettwerk; Music 4me; Six Degrees; Warner; United; Altra Moda; Eliyahu Sills; Piranha Musik; Anzic; VLB
