1. |
Water and Air
04:57
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فعلى الفرات طفولتي قد أزهرت
وبدجلة نهل الشباب الريق
قلبي بحب بني العروبة يخفق
وفمي بضادهم يشيد وينطق
أولست منهم منبتا وأرومة
قد ضمنا الماضي البعيد الاوثق
ربطت مصائرنا الحياة بموطن
هو ماؤنا وهواؤنا والرونق
My childhood blossomed on the waters of the Euphrates,
And the days of my youth drank of the Tigris
My heart beats with love of the Arabs,
My mouth proudly speaks their language
Do not they and I share a common source?
The distant past drew us together
Our fates have been bound together in a radiant homeland
Which is like water and air to us.
Translated by Reuven Snir
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2. |
Vapor
04:15
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غنت وما غنت عن ضميري
وصرت فرحتي وسروري
وانفصل الفصل بافتراق
فصار في عيبتي حضوري
(Arabic) You went away but remained in me
and thus became my peace and happiness
in separation, separation left me
and I witnessed the unknown
,כ׳װײס: קײנער דאַרף מיך נישט אױף אָט דעם עולם
.מיך, װערטער־בעטלער אױף דעם ײדישן בית־עולם
?װער דאַרף אַ ליד — און נאָך דערצו אױף ײדיש
(Yiddish) I know that in this world no one needs me,
me, a word-beggar in the Jewish graveyard
who needs a poem, especially in Yiddish?
כִּי רֹב מַעֲשֵׂינוּ תֹּהוּ וִימֵי חָיִינוּ הֶבֶל לְפָנֶיךָ
(Hebrew) For most of our deeds are meaningless
and the days of our lives are like vapor before you
فأنت في سر غيب همي
أخفى من الوهم في ضميري
تؤنسني بالنهار حقا
وأنت عند الدجى سميري
(Arabic) You were the hidden secret of my longing,
hidden deep within my conscience deeper than a dream
you were my true friend in the day
and in darkness my companion
נאָר בלױז דאָס האָפֿנונגלאָזע אױף דער ערד איז שײן
,און געטלעך איז נאָר דאָס, װאָס מוז פֿאַרגײן
.און נאָר הכנעה איז מרידה׳ש
(Yiddish) Only what is hopeless on this earth has beauty
and only the ephemeral is godly
and humility is the only true rebellion
כִּי רֹב מַעֲשֵׂינוּ תֹּהוּ וִימֵי חָיִינוּ הֶבֶל לְפָנֶיךָ
(Hebrew)
For most of our deeds are meaningless
and the days of our lives are like vapor before you
Arabic Translation by Maḥmood Jamal Islamic Mystical Poetry: Sufi Verse from the Early Mystics to Rumi
Yiddish Translation by Robert Friend (with small adaptations), The Penguin Book of Modern Yiddish Verse
Hebrew Translation by Adam Zagoria-Moffet, Siddur Masorti
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3. |
What Would You Say?
05:23
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Our histories are torn like shards of mint, each piece perfumed with memory
Wafting imagination fills the cracks, with a rushing realness of your essence
Where do I start? How do I learn? You seem so far, and so I yearn
To burn my tongue on sauce just right, to feel you here in every bite.
Parsley and mint, lemon and beet, baharat and dates, it needs something sweet.
Your scribbled notes are guiding the way. If you were here, what would you say?
Shway, shway, ’bdalak (slowly, slowly, my dear)
Khith-ha ‘ala keifak, ‘omri (take it easy, my life)
Ḥiss al-‘ajin, ‘ayouni (feel the dough, my eyes)
Khaliya ‘ala idak, ḥabibi (trust your hands, my love)
The dough won’t hold, the feel’s not right. Is it too wet? Is it too dry?
It falls apart, I can’t explain — Without your hands, it’s not the same.
How will I know? By look? By touch? A recipe is not enough
To keep what’s left from fading away. If you were here, what would you say?
Shway, shway, ’bdalak (slowly, slowly, my dear)
Khith-ha ‘ala keifak, ‘omri (take it easy, my life)
Ḥiss al-‘ajin, ‘ayouni (feel the dough, my eyes)
Khaliya ‘ala idak, ḥabibi (trust your hands, my love)
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4. |
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5. |
Zamru / זַמְּרוּ
07:41
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זַמְּרוּ לַיְיָ בְּכִנּוֹר בְּכִנּוֹר וְקוֹל זִמְרָה
Praise God with a kinor and the voice of song
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6. |
Will Her Love Remember?
04:26
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הֲיִזְכּוֹר יַעֲלַת הַחֵן יְדִידָהּ
בְּיוֹם פֵּירוּד וּבִזְרוֹעָהּ יְחִידָהּ
וְשָׂם חוֹתַם יְמִינוֹ עַל שְׂמֹאלָהּ
וּבִזְרוֹעוֹ הֲלֹא שָׂמָה צְמִידָהּ
בְּיוֹם לָקְחָה לְזִכָּרוֹן רְדִידוֹ
וְהוּא לָקַח לְזִכָּרוֹן רְדִידָהּ –
הֲיִשָּׁאֵר בְּכָל אֶרֶץ סְפָרַד
וְלוּ לָקַח חֲצִי מַלְכוּת נְגִידָהּ?
Will her love remember his graceful doe,
her only son in her arms as he parted?
On her left hand he placed a ring from his right,
on his wrist she placed her bracelet.
As a keepsake she took his mantle from him,
and he in turn took hers from her.
Would he settle, now, in the land of Spain,
if its prince gave him half his kingdom?
Translation by Peter Cole
The Dream of the Poem: Hebrew Poetry from Muslim and Christian Spain, 950-1492, ed. and trans. by Peter Cole (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2007), p. 27.
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7. |
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אֵל אֵלִיָּהוּ אֵל אֵלִיָּהוּ
בִּזְכוּת אֵלִיָּהוּ הַנָּבִיא הָבֵא נָא
בּוֹ יִרְתּוֹם רִכְבּוֹ נָע בַּשְּׁבִי כִּי בוֹ
לֹא שָׁכַב לִבּוֹ גַּם לֹא רָאָה שֵׁנָה
רַב מַחְלִי בִּרְאוֹת כַּחְשִׁי וּמְשַׂנְאוֹת
יָפוֹת וּבְרִיאוֹת בָּשָׂר וַתִּרְעֶינָה
מַּלְאָךְ הַגּוֹאֵל לִפְנֵי דַל שׁוֹאֵל
אָנָּא הָאֵל אֵל אַבְרָהָם הַקְרֵה נָא
God of Eliyahu, God of Eliyahu (1)
Through the merit of Eliyahu, bring The Prophet now! (2)
Who will stir him to saddle up his steed (3) and free himself
In exile his heart is restless and he can’t sleep a wink.
It hurts to see how gaunt I’ve become,
while those who hate me are hale and hearty, grazing leisurely. (Gen 41:2)
Emissary of the Liberation, I ask (4) before The Humble one,
Please God, Avraham's God (Gen 31:13), make it happen! (Gen 24:12, 27:20)
Translation by Jacob Chatinover
(1) Why pray to God as the “God of Elijah”? Elijah, an enigmatic figure in the history of Jewish folklore, plays a special role on Saturday nights, an auspicious time as Shabbat is departing, and probably the original intended setting of this song. As you’ll see throughout the song, Elijah assumes the role of herald and PR-man of the Messiah, the liberator who will come to initiate a new era of peace and purpose; a world in which evil and oppression cannot exist, and in which the Divine permeates all interactions. The messianic era, and what it entails, is a long topic in itself, and why in particular Elijah was chosen to ride in front of the Messiah’s motorcade, as it were, is not fully clear. Perhaps it is because his story does not end with his death, but with his whirlwind ascent, on a fiery chariot, to the heavens (2 Kings 2:11). The tradition goes as far back as the prophet Malachi (3:23), the last words of that book: “See, I myself am sending you Eliya [ed: a shortening of Eliyahu/Elijah] the Prophet, before the great and awe-filled Day of the Lord. He [Elijah] will turn the hearts of parents back toward their children, and the hearts of the children toward their parents, so that when I come I do not have to strike the entire world, [making it] utterly uninhabitable.”
(2) Throughout the song, the singer will conclude a line with a phrase that seems to be intended for the next line. This enjambment might indicate that the phrase is intended to work with both lines. Here, the meaning might be “in the merit of Elijah the Prophet, bring [the messiah] now!”, or, “In the merit of Elijah, bring the Prophet now!”
(3) The notion of the Liberator arriving on a steed is based in Zecharia 9:9, where the “king” is described as “Righteous and victorious, poor, and riding a donkey; a donkey foaled of she-asses”. This tradition is referenced again in the last stanza, where the singer asks both Elijah (the Emissary) and the liberator-in-waiting (the Humble one) to intercede with God. The line could also be referring to Elijah himself. In the scene of his ascent to heaven, his disciple Elisha cries out “My father, my father! The Chariot Israel rode on, and it’s finest general!”
(4) Throughout the song, the singer has concluded a line with a phrase that seems to be intended for the next line. This enjambment might indicate that the phrase is intended to work with both lines. Here, the meaning might be “I ask in front of the Poor/Humble one” or “Before this poor/lowly one who asks”.
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8. |
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هذا مو انصاف منك غيبتك هلكد تطول
الناس لو تسالني عنك شرد اجاوبهم شكول
الف حيف والف وسفة
مثلك يخون ويه ولفة
لاتظن قليبي يشفى والالم منه يزول
الناس لو تسالني عنك شرد اجاوبهم شكول
قلبي خليته يتجوى بنار هجرانك تلوى
هذي مو منك مروة
لا ولا منك اصول
الناس لو تسالني عنك شرد اجاوبهم شكول
It’s not fair that your absence lasts this long
What am I supposed to say if people ask me about you?
A thousand regrets and a thousand disappointments
That someone like you would betray his beloved
Don’t think that my heart will heal and the pain will fade
What am I supposed to say if people ask me about you?
You let my heart burn with the fire of your absence
I didn’t expect this from you
It’s not the values I thought you represented
What am I supposed to say if people ask me about you?
Translation by Layth Sidiq
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9. |
From the Fragments
05:45
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From the fragments of forgetting, I may never find truth
From the fragments of translation, I may fumble for words
From the fragments of migration, I may never find home
May I know my worth
May I find belonging
May I feel the way I flow from past, I flow to future
From the fragments of the searching, I am finding myself
From the fragments of the journey, I am finding my way
From the fragments of the dreaming, I am finding a prayer
ونحن، شتات يتجاذبه طرفا الفصام. انتماء ولا انتماء
(And we are fragments being pulled by the two sides of the split: belonging and unbelonging.)
From the fragments of the stories, I can hear what’s unsaid
From the fragments of the struggle, I can know my own strength
From the fragments of the voices, I can sing my own song — I’m singing my song
Arabic Translation by Lital Levy - “Poetic Trespass”
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Yoni Avi Battat Boston, Massachusetts
Multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and composer specializing in contemporary and traditional Jewish music from Eastern Europe and the Middle East. He maintains an active performance schedule across the country, playing violin, viola, and oud in collaborative and interdisciplinary projects spanning a wide range of styles. ... more
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