Sing with Fairouz: Give Me the Nay Posted by jesa on Jun 21, 2016 in Arabic Language, Culture
Marhaba! We all just adore Fairouz’s beautiful songs. Am I right? Many of you Arabic lovers always reach out to express your desire to learn more of her great songs. Well, you came to the right place! I am sure you know by now that Lady Fairouz is one of my favorite Arab artists. She is one of the most admired and respected musicians in the Arab world and beyond. Today, I want to share with you yet another beautiful ballad by the great Fairouz! The song is called A’tini al-nay wa-ghanni (أعطني الناي وغني), which literally translates to Give me the Nay and Sing. The Nay is a type of flute which is used overwhelmingly in the Arab world, especially the Levant. The words of this beautiful ballad were taken from a poem written by Gibran Khalil Gibran, one of the world’s most renowned poets. As always, I have added the song in the form of a YouTube video as well as the lyrics in Arabic. Similar to other musical posts, I have added the lyrics in Arabic so that you can follow and sing with Fairouz, and translated them to English so that you can learn what these beautiful lyrics mean.
فيروز —أعطني الناي وغني
Fairouz — Give me the Nay (Flute) and Sing
أعطني الناي وغني
Give me the nay and sing
فالغنا سر الوجود
for singing is the secret of existence
وأنين الناي يبقى
And the sound of the nay remains
بعد أن يفنى الوجود
After the end of existence
هل إتخذت الغاب مثلي
Have you, as I did, taken the forest
منـزلاً دون القصور
A house without limitations
فتتبعت السواقي
Have you followed the streams
وتسلقت الصخور
And climbed the rocks
هل تحممت بعطره
Have you bathed in its fragrance
وتنشفت بنور
And dried yourself in its light
وشربت الفجر خمراً
Have you tried drinking the Dawn as your wine
من كؤوس من أثير
Out of divine/ether cups
هل جلست العصر مثلي
Have you, as I did, sat in the afternoon
بين جفنات العنب
Between the vines
والعناقيد تدلت
With the clusters hanging
كثريات الذهب
Like golden chandeliers
هل فرشت العشب ليلاً
Have you slept on the grass at night
وتلحفت الفضاء
And used the sky as you blanket
زاهداً في ما سيأتي
Ascetic in what will come
ناسياً ما قد مضى
Forgetting what has passed
أعطني الناي وغني
Give me the nay and sing
وانسى داء ودواء
Forget the disease and its cure
إنما الناس سطورٌ
For people are only lines
كتبت لكن بماء
Written on water
For now take care and stay tuned for upcoming posts!
Happy Learning!
Have a nice day!!
نهاركم سعيد
Build vocabulary, practice pronunciation, and more with Transparent Language Online. Available anytime, anywhere, on any device.
About the Author: jesa
Salam everyone! Born as an American to two originally Arab parents, I have been raised and have spent most of my life in Beirut, Lebanon. I have lived my good times and my bad times in Beirut. I was but a young child when I had to learn to share my toys and food with others as we hid from bombs and fighting during the Lebanese Civil War. I feel my connection to Arabic as both a language and culture is severing and so it is with you, my readers and fellow Arabic lovers, and through you that I wish to reestablish this connection by creating one for you.
Comments:
Asni Amin:
Thank you for the lyrics in Arabic . Love Fairuz and this song. Learning Arabic with songs is great. Looking forward to more. Perhaps some songs by Abdel Halim Hafiz as well.