Poems and Songs of Vladimir Vysotsky. There Was Once a Man.
Commentary to the song “Thank Thee, O good God, for Thy grace...”
This song calls to mind the words about the awaited messenger from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah (chapter 53, verses 1 ‒ 5): “Who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the LORD been revealed? For he grew up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised, and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and as one from whom men hide their face he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”
Here can be drawn a parallel between the awaited messenger and Uwais al-Qarani, peace be upon him, who was also considered an insignificant person by his fellow tribesmen until the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, called him his friend and the best one in the generation of followers (the presented collected stories are in Russian).
The song was performed in the film “Vertical” (1967).