Qasaid and sama': Sufi spiritual song

The sama’ (literally ‘listening’) denotes in Sufism spiritual audition: sacred song, poetry set to music, sometimes accompanied by movement. The qasaid (singular: qasida) are those sung poems, often praises of God and the Prophet, whose words carry the teaching as much as the melody does. This page gathers the recordings that can be listened to on the site, with their transliterated and translated texts.

Understanding the sama’

The sama’ holds a central place in the Qadiriya Boutchichiya tariqa: it nourishes the soul and accompanies the dhikr, the invocation of the divine names. Listening to these songs is a practice in itself: in the tradition, right hearing ‘stirs what words alone cannot move’. The essay Listening in spirit: the sama’ traces its history, its rules of listening and its place in the orders.