[Sinfonia: harpsichord continuo, strings, grave] [Recitative: countertenor, free time] And he drew near, and said: Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? I who am but dust and ashes… Afar va-efer… [Aria: slow, ornamented] Fifty in the city, would you spare it for the fifty? Forty-five, then forty, would the forty turn your hand? I am bargaining with Heaven like a merchant in the market And the coin I'm holding up is only sand [Chorus: choir, dhikr] Ya Rahman… Ya Rahim… Ya Rahman… Ya Rahim… [Allegro: frame drum, belly dance rhythm, fugue] [Aria II: rising] Thirty, then twenty, I am counting down the mercy Every number that I offer is a door I didn't close Ten, I said, for ten, and then I didn't ask for nine What the angels found there, only morning knows [Recitative: hushed, harpsichord alone] And he returned unto his place. And the smoke went up as the smoke of a furnace. [Lament: countertenor, dark blues inflection] Dust I came and ashes I will be Dust I came and ashes I will be Was I bargaining for them Or were they bargaining for me [Synth Solo: heavenly descant over strings] [Final Chorus: full choir, da capo] Ya Rahman… Ya Rahim… Hu… Hu… [Outro: harpsichord cadence, single held string]
