Tomorrow is a special day in the Arab world. The 21^st. March of every year marks يصادف Mother’s day عيد الأم  as well as Children’s day عيد الطفل . On this occasion, I chose a kids’ song to learn and that is: أمي كم أهواها  “My mother, oh how much I love her”.

The song was featured ظهرت in a what used to be a very popular cartoon show رسوم متحركة in the Arab world about 12-15 years ago and it was called دروب ريمي  “Reemy’s Roads”. The song is performed by the main teenage character in the show ريمي  Reemy who dedicates the song to her birth mother who lost her فقدتها since birth. The cartoon show, which is about Reemy’s quest to find her mom رحلة بحث  , was dubbed تمت دبلجته from Japanese into Arabic.

* You can watch all the episodes الحلقات in Standard Arabic on YouTube. All of the 26 full episodes are available on this playlist here.

Let’s listen together. 

*The song contains a number of fancy/poetic words that needs some explanations. So, I decided to add another line below the English translation where I simplify/paraphrase (in Arabic) what is already being said/sung in Standard Arabic.

أمي كم أهواها

Mother, oh how much I love her

أمي كم أحبها

 

  أشتاق لمرآها

I miss seeing her

أشتاق لرؤيتها

 

وأحنّ لألقاها
I long to meet her

وأنتظر لقاءها

 

وأقبّل يمناها

and kiss her right hand

وأقبّل يدها اليمنى

=  =  =  =  =  =  =

 

أمي هي نبع حنان

My mother is a spring of kindness

أمي هي مصدر الحنان

 

أمي هبة الرحمن

My mother is a gift from the most merciful (Allah)

أمي هدية من الله

 

والروح كما الريحان

And her soul is like basil

وروحها كرائحة الريحان

 

أتعطّر بشذاها

I’m fragrant with her fragrance

تملؤني رائحتها / أستمتع برائحتها 

=  =  =  =  =  =  =

 

أمي كم أهواها

Mother, oh how much I love her

أمي كم أحبها

 

  أشتاق لمرآها

I miss seeing her

أشتاق لرؤيتها

 

وأحنّ لألقاها
I long to meet her

وأنتظر لقاءها

 

وأقبّل يمناها

and kiss her right hand

وأقبّل يدها اليمنى

=  =  =  =  =  =  =

 

¹Heavenly virgins (mentioned in Quran) – and is believed to refer to the most beautiful women in heavenأمي هي أحلى الحور

My mother, is the prettiest of the prettiest

أمي أجمل من أجمل النساء

 

يبدو في الوجه النور
In her face, there is light

وجهها مضيء

 

²extreme joyأمي فرح وحبور

My mother is full of joy and happiness

أمي فرح وسعادة

 

وضياء يغشاها

and light covering her

ونور يغطيها

=  =  =  =  =  =  =

 

أمي كم أهواها

Mother, oh how much I love her

أمي كم أحبها

 

  أشتاق لمرآها

I miss seeing her

أشتاق لرؤيتها

 

وأحنّ لألقاها
I long to meet her

وأنتظر لقاءها

 

وأقبّل يمناها

and kiss her right hand

وأقبّل يدها اليمنى

=  =  =  =  =  =  = 

 

فأدِم³Imperative verb from the noun دوام – ديمومة أمي بأمان

So always keep my mother safe

فأبقِ أمي في أمن

 

وسلام يا حنّان
and in peace, the kindest (Allah)

وسلام يا الله

 

ولترضى يا رحمن
And in order to get your satisfaction, most merciful (Allah)

ولكي ترضى عليّ يا الله

 

أكرمني برضاها
Bless me with her satisfaction

كن كريمًا معي بأن تجعلها ترضى عني

• 1
  Heavenly virgins (mentioned in Quran) – and is believed to refer to the most beautiful women in heaven
• 2
  extreme joy
• 3
  Imperative verb from the noun دوام – ديمومة