Current Treasure: Kun Faya Kun

If God sent a song to us, then his messenger was A. R. Rahman.

Kun Faya Kun/ Kun Fayakun/ Kun Faaya Kun

CLASSIFICATION: MUSIC

Album: Rockstar (soundtrack)

Composed by A. R. Rahman

Lyrics by Irshad Kamil

Artists: A. R. Rahman, Javed Ali, Mohit Chauhan

Length: 7:53

LISTEN HERE | LYRICS AND TRANSLATION

Dear Allah Rakha Rahman,

already your song Khwaja Mere Khwaja made me feel that you might have seen something that I have not. Not with your eyes, but with your heart. And that you want to show it to as many people as possible, with the help of instruments, voices and music sheets.

Mr. Rahman, I caught a glimpse of this something through all of your songs, even the disco song Fanaa – which is so much more than that – but it was never as clear as in the work/ creation/ gift from heaven you sent to us in 2011. 

The song Kun Faya Kun is, and I feel that I'm understating it, the most beautiful song I have heard in my life, with the exception of The Sound of Silence. 

I can not believe that I found my two favorite songs in the same year, I simply can't. How did this happen, and why? Is it true that 16 is the magic age?

By any means, there has never before been a year where I learnt and saw as much as I did this previous year. 

As I thought about your magic song, and the letter I was going to write about it, I realized that I didn't even know what "Kun Faya Kun" means. I found a wonderful website; rahman360.com, which has the most poetic english translations of your songs, and it said:

Kun Faaya Kun... (refrain): 

„Verily, when He intends a thing, His command is, "Be", and it is!“

You didn't write the lyrics of the song, I know, but it is clear to see, that Kun Faya Kun is a song about the belief in God. As this letter is going to published online, I will not write too much about religion, because this is one of the few subjects I find very private. 

...I am not a muslim, that is for sure, but on the other hand, maybe I am. Because I believe that all religions are the same. And to say it shortly: yes, I do believe in God, even though it is not a person in my eyes.

In an interview, you said that God is everywhere and that you too believe in religious equality. Thank you for speaking my mind. Maybe this is too personal for my readers, but I hope they stay with me and this rather philosophic letter.

A Qawwali is a religious islamic song, and Kun Faya Kun is a Qawwali. Yet it speaks to me on every level, and I can listen to it every day, all the time. However, the most beautiful thing is always, to listen to your favorite song, when you haven't listened to it for a long time.

I don't know why I am writing this to you, if there's one person who knows everything about music, it must be you. 

There also not much more I can write, to be honest, because I know that my words will never measure up to your incredible music, and because all these thoughts are getting mixed up in my head.

In the end, "thank you" is not enough to describe what I feel for your, let's call it song, but it is all I can say. Thank you.