The first two minutes and 52 seconds of Ummati Qad Laha Fajrun are undeniably beautiful. It is little more than an Arabic chant, sung by a man whose voice is so relaxed you expect him to drift off halfway through. It sounds timeless – as if it has been dug up from the eighth century. The man’s melody has got a gentle swing, something you could easily imagine a jazz drummer playing behind to give it some oomph. Soon he starts layering his voice, so it sounds like a whole choir is trading lines, the song’s impact growing as he does. Musically, it’s better than just about any other religious song you could name.
But just as you are starting to enjoy it – perhaps thinking you might tell your yoga teacher to play it in class – some sound effects drop in. There’s a sword being unsheathed, the stomp-stomp-stomp of soldiers’ feet and some stuttering gunfire (at 2:46). And it is about that point you remember exactly what you are listening to. This is, to give it its English name, My Ummah, Dawn Has Appeared.
