Helwa ya Baladee.
Beautiful my country, my homeland...
Dust everywhere...A thick veil of desert sand. Indifferently, indiscriminately covering my windows...
Upon the suggestion of an online friend, I appealed to some domestic help.
Geeta, a kind, very sloowwww Sri Lankan soul showed up. She helps me, once a week, to dust off the veil that separates me from the outside world...
We were scrubbing away, today, in unison... The radio was blasting away and Geeta's Arabic and English are very poor. Terribly poor.
Dalida's song played on - Helwa ya Baladee - Beautiful my country-homeland.
I threw the old dusting cloth, and reached for the tissues...
Geeta in her very basic Arabic said :
" Mama enta leish tebkeh ? Enta kharbaan ?" Translation - " Madam, why are you crying ? Are you sad, hurt, broken ?"
Kharbaan - I did translate it for you, before , you little minds. Did I not ?
Kharbaan means non functional, destroyed, broken...
Yes, Geeta, very Kharbaan...
So here is the song I heard, while dusting my thickly veiled window...
And I translated it for you - not that I expect a reaction.
A rough translation :
My country, my homeland – Ya Baladee.
One nice word or two – beautiful Ya Baladee
One nice song or two – beautiful Ya baladee
My hope was to always
Return to you
And be beside you - always.
Memories of all bygones,
Do you remember Ya Baladee ?
My heart is full of stories
Do you remember Ya Baladee ?
My first love was in my country
Will not be possible to ever forget it
Where are the days before our goodbyes?
We used to say separation/ distance is impossible
We had always hoped to stay/remain
in a sea of Love
by the twin shores...
One nice word or two...
beautiful my Baladee
One nice song or two
beautiful, my Baladee
where is the Love of my heart? my Baladee
He is far away from me,
and everytime I sing, I think of him.
Tell me, my love. Where did you leave me to go to ?
This beautiful tune is to be sung by both of us.
What is more beautiful
Than the words my baladee
in a song,
in between two lines...
Another touching version by the Syrian singer Assala can be heard/watched HERE
Not that I expect any reaction. Not that I expect anything...
