UGA Middle East Music Ensemble Concert
April 22, 2025
Songs Texts and Translations
Translation by UCSB Middle East Ensemble
ahwāk w-atmannā law ansāk w-ansā rūḥī wayyak
w-an ḍa‘it tib’a fdāk law tinsānī w-ansāk w-atārīnī bansā gafāk w-ashtā’ li-‘azābī ma‘āk w-al’ā dumū‘ī fākrāk arga‘ tānī fī lu’āk id-dunyā tigīnī ma‘āk wi-riḍ āhā yib’ā riḍāk wi-sā‘atahā yihun fī hawāk fī hawāk ṭūl ḥ irmānī
I love you, and hope that if I were ever to forget you, I’d forget my soul too. If my soul gets lost, don’t worry if you forget me and I forget you. I found myself forgetting your rejection, and longing for my suffering. I found my tears remembering you, and I will return again to your arms. With you the world comes back to me, and its contentment is yours.
At that moment the extent of my suffering becomes insignificant with your love.
w-alā’īk mashghūl wi shāghilnī bīk wa ‘ayneyyā tīgī fī ‘aynik wi kalāmhum yib’ā ‘alik w-inta tdārī w-arā‘īk w-aṣḥ a min il-layl anādīk w-ab‘at rūḥī tṣaḥ ik ’ūm yallī shāghilnī bīk garab nārī
I find you preoccupied and I worry about you, and my eyes meet yours. My eyes are calling you, and you pretend not to notice. I care for you, and I wake up at night calling you.
I send my soul to awaken you, arise my heart desire, and test my burning passion.
Ahwak “I Love You”
Kamancha “Kamancha”
Translation by Jon Hollis
Verse 1:
Amen sazi mechən govats, dun tamam tasn is kamancha, Nakaz mard kiz chi kana tesni, dun nəra pasn is, kamancha, Ghast ara el lav oreru edivən hasnis, kamancha, Kiz indznits ov kana khəli, ashughi basn is, kamancha.
Of all the lyres praised by the people, you sound the fullest, kamancha!
He who is low, and does not go to the feast: you are silent before him, kamancha!
Strive for the best, you will conquer the whole world, kamancha!
I will not give you up, you belong to me, kamancha!
Verse 2:
Angachəd ertsaten piti, gəlukh əd javahir karats, Kutəd shirmayemen piti, purəd sadapov naghsh arats, Siməd osken kashats piti, erkatəd panjara arats, Ochov ghimet əd chi gidi, lal u almasn is, kamancha.
Your bow is silver, you sparkle like a diamond
Your belly is mother-of-pearl
Your strings are gold
You are a diamond you will put everyone in the court to shame, kamancha!
Verse 3:
Chipotəd varaghnats piti, tahr unenay hazar rangov, Dzarəd rrashi kuden piti, vur dun khosis kaghtsər hangov, Shatin zartun ku lusatsnis, shatin ku kənetsnis bangov, Anushaham ginov likǝn dun oske tasn is, kamancha.
With singing hair, from the tail of a winged horse
To those you comfort, you give sleep
You entertain revelry all night
You are a golden vessel of wine, and you make everyone drunk, kamancha!
Nubar
Nubar “ Nubar Nubar”
Translation by Jon Hollis
Verse 1 & Refrain:
Nubari boyǝ chinar e
Achqerǝ nush u khumar e
Yerek orva lusani naman
Unqerǝker u kamar e
Verse 2:
Arev tsolats sari qarin
Nubar kerata hand ǝ verin
Ov vor tesni im Nubarin
Nubar is like a tall plane tree 1
Her eyes are almonds
Like a three-day-old moon
Her eyebrows lie like a crescent on her face
The sun is shining in the mountains
Nubar walks toward the hills
Whoever sees my Nubar chi morana amboghj tarin
Cannot forget her the whole year
Verse 3:
Nubar kerata oror shoror
Nubari yarn kayne molor
«Akh!» kǝ qashe gisher u zor
U man guta gyughi bolor
Nubar sways from side to side all day
Nubar’s lover loses his mind
He sighs all night long
Wandering the whole village
1 Called a plane tree in English; it is a type of sycamore that grows in Anatolia.
Verse 1:
Sa’altek Habibi
“I Asked You, My Love”
Translation by Jared Holton and Malek Mushref
Refrain:
sa’altek ḥabībī lawayn rāyaḥīn
khalīnā khalīnā w-tasba’nā snīn izā kinnā ‘ṭūl a-ta’aynā ‘ṭūl laysha mintlafat khayfīn
I asked you, my love, where are we going? Let’s just stay together, and let the years race by. If we are always meeting, Why, then, are we looking around scared?
anā kill mā bishūfik ka’innī bishūfik li-awwil marra ḥabībī anā kill mā tw‘idanā ka’inna tw‘idanā li-akhir marra ḥabībī
‘ilī aḥkīlī naḥnā mīn wa-laysha mintlafat khayfīn? w-min mīn khayfīn min mīn, ah…
Every time I see you, it’s like I see you for the first time, my love Every time we part, it’s like we part for the last time, my love Speak to me, tell me who we are and why we are looking around scared? Who’s afraid of whom? / From whom? Ah…
Verse 2:
maw‘adnā bukra w-shū ta’akhar bukra 'awlak mish jayi ḥabībī ‘am shūfik bi-sā‘a bi-takāt a-sā‘a min il-madā jaya ḥabībī w-yā dunyā shattī yāsmīn 'āllī itlā’ū w -mish ‘ārfīn w-min mīn khayfīn min mīn, ah…
Our tryst is tomorrow, and how late tomorrow seems. Are you saying that tomorrow will not come, my love?
I see you in the clock…the tick-tock of the clock. From far away, my love is coming Oh world, rain down jasmine on those who meet and do not know . Who’s afraid of whom? / From whom? Ah…
‘Atini
al-Nay wa-Ghanni
Refrain:
a‘ṭinī n-nāya wa-ghanni
“Give me the Nay and Sing”
Translation by Jared Holton
Give me the nay and sing fa-l-ghinnā sirru l-khulūd for song is the secret of eternity. wa-anīnu n-nāy yabqā and the wail of the nay remains ba‘da an yafnā l-wujūd after all that is present disappears.
Verse 1:
hal takhadhta l-ghāba mithlī
Have you taken the forest, like me, manzilan dūn al-quṣūr as a home instead of palaces, fa-tatabba‘ta s-sawāqī following the rivulets, wa-tasallaqta ṣ-ṣukhūr and climbing the rock boulders?
hal taḥ ammamta bi-‘iṭrin
Have you bathed with perfume wa-tanashshafta bi-nūr and dried yourself with light? wa-sharibt al-fajra khamran
Have you drunk dawn as wine fī ku’ūsin min athīr in chalices of ether?
Refrain
Verse 2:
hal jalasta l-‘aṣra mithlī
Have you sat at dusk, like me, bayna jafnāt al-‘aynab among the grapevines, wa-l-‘anāqīdu tadallat grape clusters dangling ka-thurayāti dh-dhahab like chandeliers of gold?
hal farashta l-‘ushba laylan
Have you spread the grass as bedding tonight wa-talaḥḥ afta l-faḍā and wrapped up in the airy expanse, zāhidan fī mā sayā’tī ignoring what will come, nāsīyan mā qad maḍ ā forgetting all that has passed?
Refrain:
a‘ṭinī n-nāya wa-ghanni
Give me the nay and sing fa-l-ghinnā ‘adlu l-qulūb for song sets hearts aright. wa-anīnu n-nāy yabqā And the wail of the nay remains ba‘da an yafnā dh-dhunūd after all sins disappear.
a‘ṭinī n-nāya wa-ghanni
Give me the nay and sing w-ansā dā’an wa-dawā and forget diseases and cures. innamā n-nāsu suṭūrun Truly, are not people lines, kutibat lākin bi-mā written not by pen but by water?
The lyrics of this song derive from a longer poem by Khalil Gibran, entitled “al-Mawākib” (The Processions). In both the song and original poem, the couplet beginning with ‘atini al-nay wa-ghanni is used as a reoccurring text/refrain. In the original poem, Khalil Gibran changes the couplet slightly each time. The last iteration is as follows:
Give me the nay and sing for song is better than prayer. And the wail of the nay remains after life disappears.
Arabic text of al-Mawākib is available at https://www.kahlilgibran.com/archives/written -works/49-almawakib-the-processions-misr-niqula-aridah-1923-1st-edition-new-york-mir-at-al-gharb- al-yawmiyah1919/file.html
