‘En al-Ándalus’ is a sublime reimagining of Ibn al-Khatib’s muwashshah ‘Jadaka al-Ghaith’. First performed live to a rapturous, overflow audience at the Fes Festival of World Sacred Music in Morocco, Sami Yusuf masterfully brings this cherished piece back to its Andalusian and European roots.

This innovative work by British composer Sami Yusuf is arranged in a Western scale, subtly evoking the Celtic influences that shaped the Iberian Peninsula over six centuries ago. The music, true to the dreamlike poetry of love beneath radiant stars and rain, begins with a sense of profound interconnectedness. Sami Yusuf’s unitive vision soon reveals itself in a dramatic turn: the resonant voice of flamenco singer Israel Moro introduces Spanish verses from San Juan de la Cruz’s ‘Dark Night of the Soul’. As oud and classical guitar give way to the vibrant energy of flamenco guitar and the raw, rhythmic pulse of palmas (flamenco clapping), the piece reaches new emotional heights.

The evocative soundscape is further enriched by the impassioned Arabic mawwal of Ismail Boujia, seamlessly blending with the luminous voice of Nabyla Maan in a tender interplay with Sami Yusuf’s own vocals. Together, they weave a tapestry of cultures and traditions, culminating in an electrifying call-and-response outro that completes the circle.

Through ‘En al-Ándalus’, Sami Yusuf transcends the lyrical beauty of ‘Jadaka al-Ghaith’, transforming its message of harmony and interconnectedness into a resonant tale for the modern age.