Ali Sethi and Nicholas Jaar honour Palestine through the words of Faiz Ahmed Faiz

Pakistani singer Ali Sethi and Chilean-American composer Nicolas Jaar have joined forces to bring back Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s words to pay tribute to the people of Palestine.

The mix between two of the legendary Pakistani poet’s most renowned pieces—Hum Dekhenge and Aaj Bazar Mein Pa Bajola Chalo—the rendition is titled Yakjehti Mein, and is a touching display of support for the oppressed people of Palestine, in light of Israel’s recent aggression against the people of the occupied land.

Sethi opened up about the track during an interview with Dawn’s Images and how he and Jaar created the soulful rendition of Faiz’s poem—also originally inspired by Israeli occupation, amongst other events.

“Faiz was inspired to write Hum Dekhenge by a number of events which included the Israeli occupation. He was in Beirut in 1979 and had witnessed it firsthand. I told Nicolas this and said that I would be singing a few lines and sending them to him. The next day, he sent me back his version, with a beat added to the words,” Sethi told the outlet.

Regarding the fuse between the two poems, Sethi said: “It was an unorthodox mix of music but Nicolas felt that it went well with my words. The part where the beat paces up sounded to me like a march or a procession, which is why I suggested a second poem by Faiz to be sung to its tune.”