20. Mariem Hassan (Western Sahara) Al Mani (The Preventer of Harm)
Ive just learnt about another Artist who passed away in 2015. Ive read Mariem died of Cancer. In the world in my head I was just reflecting on Prince and who I would have loved to see him collaborate with. I first came across Mariem in the compilation called Sahara Blues. Its a totally awesome CD with new sounds Id never heard before. The track I would love to feature is called Id Chab but I can't find it online. You can however hear a sample of it and sample the whole compilation if you click on the picture below.
Mariem's story reminds me of Al Mani' (The Preventer of Harm). Once upon a time a young girl Ive linked to her website and her story is on the home page. As a woman she stuck up for her people and for her music. She reminds me of how important it is to keep some music alive. As we move into globalisation everything starts sounding the same. Its only our uniqueness that we can rely on to bring in a different quality to the vibrations and sounds we hear. She sings about her struggles and life in the camps. Can you imagine dying of cancer in a refugee camp?
The 89th Name Al Mani’ is the divine protection that guards against all attacks. It means to make a fortress inaccessible and impregnable. Al Mani’ defends against encroachment. It is a spiritual guardian, so to speak. At the inner level, al Mani’ guards you from surrendering to inner doubts and weaknesses. It emanates the inner power necessary to abstain from giving in to negative impressions of yourself. The presence of Al Mani’ also brings the ability to hold back from engaging in revenge or action out of anger. Preventing these reactions broadens the scope of protection of al Mani’ beyond the purely personal sphere.
Im sure most of us have a fight song. Let me know yours. I'll leave you with one of Mariem's. xx
Cheer O revolutionaries! Cheer! (x2)
All revolutionaries! (x2)
Get ready for fighting!(x2)
Beat the colonialists! (x2)
O Sahrawi revolutionary people!(x2)
We are the revolutionaries! (x2)
And the Sahrawi free land is for Sahrawis! (x2)
The Sahrawi people today have scored, (x2)
A great victory! (x2)
And in the war of independence they crushed the imperialists(x2)