Filler
Photo of Shira

 

 

PHOTO CREDIT: Above photo by John Rickman Photography, San Jose, California.

From the Site

Arab Song Translations

By Lennie Clark

Lennie

From Lennie Clark's Web Site:

Shatti Ya Dini
(Rain, Life, Rain)

 

 

This page contains a translation into English of the lyrics to the Lebanese song "Shatti Ya Dunya" which was recorded by legendary vocalist Fairouz.

This song is suitable for doing the Lebanese line dance known as debke. Another way to spell the song title is "Shattie Ya Douniah", "Shatti Ya Denyi", or "Shatie Ya Donia".

About Fairouz

Fairouz is a legendary Lebanese vocalist, one of the most deeply respected living singers in the Arab world. She was born in 1934. Her singing career began in the 1950's, and she achieved stardom in the 1960's. Her husband, Assi Rahbani, and his brother Mansour Rahbani, and they achieved legendary status as a composer and lyricist duo. The three worked closely together from the 1950's through 1979, with Fairouz's beautiful voice turning many of their compositions into hits.

Fairouz' name is also sometimes spelled as "Feiruz", "Feirouz", "Feyrouz", "Fayrouz", "Fairoz", or "Fairuz".

Song lyrics are provided for educational purposes. If you like the song, please purchase either the album or a download from an authorized source.

 

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Lyrics

Note from Shira: Two different translations of this song have been contributed to this web site. I have decided to make both available. Song lyrics are poetry, and it can be challenging for a translator to communicate nuances of meaning. By having two translations to use, you can explore two different people's ideas on how to convey these nuances.

 

Translation by Adel Abdallah

Rain, Life, please that our season will be good
And bring water to our plants
That we will be prosperous
Keep your eye on our house
Tomorrow winter will be gone
And a lot of happiness is on the way

Go pick up some flowers for your hands
And flowers for your heart
Meet me by the wind
And let's farm our land together
Rain, Life, Rain
Make our season great
Bring water to our farm
And a good economy

 

Translation by Linda Grondahl

Note from Linda Grondahl: "This is a Lebanese debke and I've had it in my file for fifteen years. I have no idea where I got it."

Arabic Transliteration

English Translation

Shatta ya duniye ta zeed Rain in abundance
Mawzimna yehla So that our crop will get sweet
Tedfug my wa zari jdeed Let the water rise for more crops
Mhaglinta ya 'ala And so that our field will grow
   
Khilly 'a inek 'a da Keep watch over our house
'a syaj illi killu zirar And on the roses covered with buds
Bukra shat wiye but ruh Tomorrow winter will be gone
Wa mniltaga bi anwar And we'll meet in spring
Yahla 'id wa dhawy 'id wa nizra Holidays come and go and we
Wa nlim 'anaquid Plant and pick grapes
   
Wa nturny wa la tibya tfie Wait for me and don't leave
Tisrikny wahdi 'a mtul Me alone looking for you
   
Jam'a tilek hurz i zhoor I picked you a bouquet of flowers
Yazmin, u mantur u fill Jasmine, snapdragons and gardenias
Zihr byed u galb i byed My heart in one hand
Ya khawfi laqeek ab'id I fear of finding you far away
Ruh unzur arth mwa'id With flowers in one hand
  Wait for me in the windy plain
Where the grapes are nearly ripe
Hide me in the shade of your eyes
My love for you torments me
Tell me again and again
Where we will meet at our special place

 

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Where to Get Recordings of this Song

Paradise Music of Arabia CD Cover

 

Artist: Fairuz
CD Title: Paradise Music of Arabia

Music of Lebanon CD Cover

 

Artist: Salatin Al Tarab Orchestra
CD Title: Music of Lebanon

Ya Hnayina CD Cover

 

Artist: Fairuz
CD Title: Ya Hnayina

 

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Translations of
Fairuz's Songs on This Site

Translations on this web site of songs that were performed by Fairouz include:

 

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Acknowledgements

About the Translator

Adel Abdallah is an Egyptian who resides in New Orleans, Louisiana. If you are traveling to that great city, he invites you to stop by the Cafe Picasso, located at 3401 Chartres (on the corner of Chartres and Desire, in the Bywater). The cafe serves delicious Middle Eastern food, and offers shiisha smoking. They are open daily except for Sundays, from 10 A.M. to 6 P.M. (Deliveries until 10 P.M.) The phone number is (504) 948-6881.

The translation summary was done by Adel at Lennie Clark's request. Muchisimas gracias to Kruz, (whose Morocco to India ethnic boutique, located in the historic French Quarter, is not-to-be-missed) for suggesting Adel as a translator.

 

About the Source

This article originally appeared on Lennie Clark's web site, "Arabic Song Translations." Lennie created this web site in 2002 as a response to discussion on the Internet regarding incidents of dancers who performed inappropriate sensual dances to religious music. Lennie's web site resided on a free web hosting service known as Geocities.

When the planned October 2009 closure of the Geocities web hosting service was announced, Lennie and Shira agreed to move the contents of Lennie's site to Shira.net. To explore all the articles and song translations that once appeared on Lennie's Geocities site, visit Lennie's portal page here on Shira.net.

Lennie Clark

 

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Copyright Notice

This entire web site is copyrighted. All rights reserved.

All articles, images, forms, scripts, directories, and product reviews on this web site are the property of Shira unless a different author/artist is identified. Material from this web site may not be posted on any other web site unless permission is first obtained from Shira.

Academic papers for school purposes may use information from this site only if the paper properly identifies the original article on Shira.net using appropriate citations (footnotes, end notes, etc.) and bibliography. Consult your instructor for instructions on how to do this.

If you wish to translate articles from Shira.net into a language other than English, Shira will be happy to post your translation here on Shira.net along with a note identifying you as the translator. This could include your photo and biography if you want it to. Contact Shira for more information. You may not post translations of Shira's articles on anybody else's web site, not even your own.

If you are a teacher, performer, or student of Middle Eastern dance, you may link directly to any page on this web site from either your blog or your own web site without first obtaining Shira's permission. Click here for link buttons and other information on how to link.

 

 

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