Ali Elsayed was born in Lebanon, and had moved to the United States in the early 1990’s. He comes from a family of Sufi scholars and Nasheed singers. At the request of his spiritual master in the United States, Shaykh Hisham Kabbani, he started reciting traditional and classical Arabic songs in praise of Allah (Our Divine Lord), and of Prophet Muhammad (His Mercy to humanity). Ali is a unique Nashid Artist and songwriter. He is able to combine East and West in his music. In the same performance he can start with a song he wrote in English sounding like Roy Orbison, while in another song, he will perform a song in Arabic using the classical Arabic Maqams (scale) and sound like Abdul Haleem Hafiz. Although Ali’s love for the Arabic language and music runs deep in his heart, he now writes his songs in English. This is so, because during the last six years, he traveled extensively with his teacher Shaykh Hisham Kabbani. He performed in front of audiences in the USA, Europe, Southeast Asia and Africa. He learned from his travel, that the majority of his audience in the West and all over the world, were deprived of understanding the meaning of the beautiful Arabic poetry, words which can make the spirit dance in ecstasy. He started to write songs in English, in order to communicate the love these great poets had for Prophet Muhammad and all holy people. Ali continuously expresses his gratitude for his masters. His art is Inspired by the love and teaching of his masters Mawlana Shaykh Nazim Al-Haqqani and his deputy Shaykh Hisham Kabbani. He wants to share that love and happiness, which he received from being in the company of such people, with the whole world. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.