You Are The Death Of Me and My Life
Recited by Ḥājj Dākōn and recorded by Sam Liebhaber at home, al-Ghaydha, May 2004.
| Poem | Translation |
|---|---|
| 1) mawtī we-ḥyōtī hēt // ān tšaḫber we-l-ʾāmēr | You are my death and my life // if you’d ask, so I’d tell you, |
| 2) we-ffəwōdī we-bṣār // w-ferḥātī we-bśēr | My soul, my sight // my happiness and joy. |
| 3) ḳalbī yentəwīren būk // we-k-rawḥ yhenśēr | My heart is illuminated by you // and with my soul, is refreshed |
| 4) we-mʾawleḳ le-ǧsēd // wēt enūrek lī źhēr | As are all other bodily senses // when your light appears before me; |
| 5) kel yhenśīrem šūk // hād tḳōbel we-tdēr | Every one of them is refreshed // when you approach and come around. |
| 6) w-ān ġyebk lī nhōr // ṣawl w-hegs yekkədēr | If you disappear from me even for a day // my clarity of thought and emotions are roiled, |
| 7) we-mhawges yerḥeyḳ // yeźlūlem ke-fkēr | My thoughts go far away // and get lost along with my mind. |
| 8) nūnī lād yeḳtərūr // be-ttəḳawleb le-nśēr | My pupils get no rest at night // while tossing back and forth at [every] stage of sleep, |
| 9) yedfīrem men ʾāllōt // we-mšawḏeḫ le-ǧmēr | They burn from sickness // like splinters of hot embers. |
| 10) hēs eṭāfel ḏ-ītwōḥ // mōn yʾōmer heh ṣbēr | When a baby wails // who tells him to be patient? |
| 11) tē leźeyṭem teh b-laṭf // men essəfā we-khēr | Instead they take him gently // from the hot gust [of tears] and [their] continuous force. |