Ya Aswad

Aswad refers to the color black or a black skinned person.

In the wedding, when the song Ya Aswad was played, a lot of women got up to dance and all the darker skinned women in particular who had not danced before, made a move to the dance floor, flaunting their attributes and swaying their bodies to the beat.

The woman on my left told me that one of her friends loves this song and always dances to it at weddings.

I asked her why her friend liked this song in particular. She shrugged and said: ” I don’t know. She just likes it.” After some thought she said: “A Saudi Arabian guy sings it. He’s not singing about the beauty of black people but about the color black. You know how in Saudi all the women are dressed in black. You can’t see anything of the women except black forms.”

I nodded my head and pursed my lips in a thoughtful “Hmmm” and said “Interesting.”

It doesn’t sound plausible really. Here is Ali Abdul Kareem singing Ya Aswad

The lyrics certainly express admiration for black and blackness and I would think it is very clearly a statement on the beauty of black skin rather than black abayas. There is reference to ambergris and musk, and to the blackness of night and all its sensual connotations, in addition to likening black beauty to the beauty of planets (Jupiter) and the brightest stars (Suhail) But I suppose everyone interprets the song according to their own perception.

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