Lyrics
Kaa nami ni usiku tena
Usiniache gizani Bwana
Msaada wako haukomi
Nili pekee yangu, kaa nami
Siku zetu hazikawii kwisha
Sioni la kunifurahisha
Hakuna ambacho hakikomi
Usiye na mwisho, kaa nami
Nina haja nawe kila saa
Sina mwingine wa kunifaa
Mimi nitaongozwa na nani
Ila wewe bwana, kaa nami
Sichi neno uwapo karibu
Nipatalo lote si taabu?
Kifo na kaburi haviumi
nitashinda kwako, kaa nami
Swahili HYMN for Abide with Me
Perfomed BY Angela Chibalonza
Nilalapo nikuone wewe (Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;)
Gizani mwote nimulikie (Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.)
NUru za mbinguni hazikomi (Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;)
Siku zangu zote kaa nami (In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.)
Video
Meaning & Inspiration
Kaa Nami ni Usiku Tena is a Swahili setting of the hymn "Abide with Me," and the recording carries the same request from beginning to end: stay with me through the night. The Swahili verses ask God not to leave the singer in darkness, naming the fear of being alone before naming God as the only help that does not run out.
The hymn's title request is close to Luke 24:29, where two disciples on the road to Emmaus urge Jesus to stay because it is toward evening and the day is far spent. Both texts treat approaching darkness as the reason for the request rather than a footnote to it.
The closing lines shift toward death and the grave directly, "kifo na kaburi haviumi," death and the grave do not hurt, naming the very fear the request was meant to answer. Angela Chibalonza's version keeps the hymn's own English refrain visible alongside the Swahili, closing on the line the original hymn ends on: in life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.
Related Scripture
- Luke 24:29 'Abide with us... for it is toward evening'