Hi everyone!
I saw Faraj Suleiman in concert a week or so ago, and I thought it would be nice to transcribe something written within my lifetime for a change.
Halfway through I realised that there’s a fairly gnarly swearword, which I normally try to avoid. So this post comes with a big old profanity warning and strong advice not to use this word until you’re sure you aren’t going to use it inappropriately (we’ve all been there).
The link for the music is here.
في أسئلة براسي عنِّك عن الحارة
fii 2as2ile braasi 3annek w 3an il7aara
I’ve got questions on my mind, about you and about the neighbourhood
عن كيف مرق الوقت؟ عن شو عملتي عـ السكت؟
3an kiif mara2 ilwa2et 3an shuu 3milti 3assaket
About how the time has passed, about what you’ve been doing in secret
عالسكت – adverbial expressions of this kind are very common (see ع الحامي below). This one means ‘on the quiet’ or ‘on the DL’.
إذا جد نشّف الوادي، إذا بقيت حجارة
2iza jadd nashshaf ilwaadi, 2iza bi2yat i7jaara
If the river’s really dried up, whether there’s a stone left standing
جد – seriously
نشّف – go dry
بقيت – this half-line is a bit opaque both to me and the Palestinian speakers I’ve asked, but I think this is the only possible meaning.
شوي بتوجّع برلين، حلوة وملانة ناس
shwayy bitwajje3 birliin, 7ilwe w malaane naas
Berlin is a bit painful, it’s beautiful and full of people
ملانة – full [of], a variant of مليان malyaan or milyaan
بس بشتاق لإم صبري وبشتاقلِك أنتِ بالأساس
bass bashtaa2 la2imm Sabri w bashta2lek 2inti bil2asaas
But I miss Umm Sabri, and I miss you most of all
بشتقلك إنتي – the 2inti emphasises the -lek. See this post.
احكيلي شو بحكوا أخبار، أعطيني شو عندك نميمة
2i7kiili shuu bi7ku 2akhbaar 2a3Tiini shuu 3indek namiime
Tell me what people are saying, tell me all the gossip you’ve got
شو بحكو أخبار and شو عندك نميمة are examples of the tamyiiz constructions we’ve seen elsewhere with shuu: ‘what they’re saying [in the way of] news’, ‘what you have [in the way of] gossip’.
بلا خراف الجارات القهوة بطل إلها قيمة
bala khurraaf iljaaraat, il2ahwe baTTal 2ilha 2iime
Without gossip, what’s the point in drinking coffee?
خراف الجارات ‘[female] neighbours’ gossip’
القهوة بطل إلها قيمة ‘coffee no longer has meaning’
مين أجّر داره لمشتاپ؟ طيب مين صار أرخص ديلر؟
miin 2ajjar daaro la mushtaap? Tabb miin Saar 2arkhaS diiler?
who’s rented their house out to a collaborator? who’s the cheapest dealer these days?
أجّر ‘rent Y to X’ is a pair with استأجر ‘rent Y from X’
مشتاپ is a Hebrew loanword meaning ‘cooperator’ or ‘collaborator’.
صار here is expressing a change of state, literally ‘who’s become the cheapest dealer?’
مين مسكته مرته عَـ الحامي، ماخد صاحبته عَـ تسيمر؟
miin maskato marato 3al7aami maakhed Saa7ibto 3a tsiimer?
whose wife caught him red-handed taking his girlfriend to a Zimmer?
مسكتو عالحامي maskat-o 3al7aami ‘she caught him red-handed’. The -o refers back to miin.
ماخد – the South Levantine equivalent of آخد, the participle of أخد ‘take’
تسيمر is another loanword (ultimately from German zimmer ‘room’).
بقولوا إنّه حمودة الي كان يتمرّن حديد
bi2uulu 2inno 7ammuude illi kaan yitmarran 7adiid
They say that Hammoudeh who used to lift weights
يتمرن حديد – ‘train iron’, literally. You can also say يلعب حديد ‘play iron’.
محبوس من شي سنتين قال سارق فرع البريد
ma7buus min shii sinteen 2aal saare2 fir3 ilbariid
has been in prison for two years now, they say he robbed a post office
من شي سنتين literally ‘from about two years’, i.e. ‘since two years ago’ (من = منذ in fus7a)
قال ‘apparently’. It looks like ‘he said’, but it doesn’t conjugate and there’s no actual subject.
سرق sara2/yusro2 ‘rob’ or ‘steal’, depending on the object (there’s no distinction in Arabic).
طب بعده عاطف بالعمار؟ بعده ما هدّه التعب؟
Tabb ba3do 3aaTef bili3maar? ba3do maa haddo tta3eb?
Is Atef still a builder? The exhaustion hasn’t got him yet?
بعدو ba3d-o ‘he’s still’, or بعدو ما ‘he’s not yet’.
بعده كل ليلة البوليس بتمنيك عَـ ولاد العرب؟
ba3do kull leele ilboliis bitmanyak 3a wlaad il3arab?
Do the police still come and fuck with the Arab kids every night?
بتمنيك – derived from manyak ‘dickhead’ or ‘fucker’, ultimately from ناك ‘fuck’. Very obviously a swearword that comes with a serious usage warning. I’m told that it can also have a homophobic connotation.
بعده ماكلنا الغضب؟ بعدا الطوش مع الروس؟
ba3do maakilna lghaDab? ba3da TToosh ma3 irruus?
Are we still eaten up with anger? Are there still fights with the Russians?
ماكل – the Jordanian/Palestinian participle of أكل ‘eat’
بعدها – ‘she’s still’ or ‘they’re still’. The subject is الطوش ‘fights’. Note that بعدها and other expressions meaning ‘still’ can appear on their own in the meaning ‘is she still there’ or (idiomatically) ‘is it still going’, which is probably what’s going on here.
بعدا كلّ الحارة بتبكي كل ما كان طلعة عروس؟
ba3da kull il7aara btibki kull ma kaan Tal3et 3aruus?
Does the whole neighbourhood still cry whenever someone gets married?
كل ما كان ‘every time that X happens’
طلعة عروس – literally when the bride leaves her parents’ house to go to her husband’s house. One of the big ceremonial (and public) bits of a wedding.
بعده حسن عم بخزّق عجال الي أخدله الصفّة؟
ba3do 7asan 3am bikhazze2 i3jaal illi 2akhadlo SSaffe?
Does Hassan still slash people’s tyres if they take his parking space?
بخزّق – ‘tear’ or ‘put holes in’, literally
عجال – plural of عجلة ‘tyre’
عجال اللي أخدلو الصفة – ‘the tires of the one who has taken from him the parking space’. This combines a few of those structures we’ve seen elsewhere that are very common in Arabic but require restructuring to translate nicely into English: اللي as a generic ‘people who’, etc, and ـلو ‘for him’ expressing detriment to someone.
والبرندة عَـ البرندة أقرب من شفة عَـ شفة؟
wilbiranda 2albiranda 2a2rab min shiffe 3ashiffe?
Are the balconies still closer than a lip touching a lip?
كبرت الحارة سمعت جابوا ملان أثيوبيّة
kibrat il7aara smi3et jaabu malaan 2atyubiyye
I hear the neighbourhood’s got bigger and that they brought in a bunch of Ethiopians
كبر kiber/yikbar ‘got bigger’
ملان is the masculine form of ملانة we saw above. Note that as well as meaning ‘full’ it can mean something like ‘lots of’, as it does here.
اتيوبية – the plural of اتيوبي. Plurals of ethnicities/nationalities are often formed with a Taa marbuuta. The reference is to the resettlement of Ethiopian Jews.
وأنتِ نقلتي مع صديقك، سكنتوا بالألمانيّة
w 2inti na2alti ma3 Sadii2ek sakantu bil2almaniyye
That you moved with your friend to a place in the German Colony
سكن – you will know this verb as ‘live’. Note that like a lot of verbs of this kind expressing states, however, it also expresses the action that brings that state into existence. Here it doesn’t mean ‘live’, it means ‘you took up residence in’ (but obviously we would just say ‘you moved to’ in English)
طب، عم تقعدي بفتّوش؟ عم بتشوفي إم وديع؟
Tabb 3am tu2u3di bfattuush? 3am bitshuufi 2imm wadii3?
Do you still hang around at Fattoush? Do you still see Imm Wadi’?
All the 3ams here are in the ‘repeated action’ meaning discussed here.
بعده الصبح أشرف حنّا بوخد قهوة عـ السريع؟
ba3do SSubo7 2ashraf 7anna bookhod 2ahwe 3assarii3?
Does Ashraf Hanna still come for a quick coffee in the mornings?
عالسريع – another one of these adverbials formed with 3a-. This one means ‘on the fly’ or ‘quick’. سؤال ع السريع ‘quick question:’ is a very common expression.
بعدا معلّقة السلال؟ بعدا بتمشي الكرمليت؟
ba3da m3alla2a lislaal? ba3da btimshi lkarmaliit?
Are the cable cars still up? Is the Carmelit still moving?
معلق ‘hung up’, ‘hanging’. You can say الصورة معلقة ع الحيط ‘the picture is hanging on the wall’, for example. علّق is ‘to hang X’.
السلال – plural of salle, basket. السلال المعلقة ‘hanging baskets’ are cable cars.
بعده مصمّم موسى الراي ينزل يتصيّد بعتليت؟
ba3do mSammem muusa rraay yinzel yitSayyad b3atliit?
Is Musa from al-Ray still insisting on going fishing in Atlit?
مصمم – has made a definitive decision to, has his heart set on, etc etc
ينزل يتصيد – literally ‘go down to fish’
بعدا بتطوّل البارات، بتسكّر وجه الصبح؟
ba3da biTTawwel ilbaaraat, bitsakker wijh iSSuboh?
Do the bars still open late and only close at dawn?
بطوّل is derived from طويل ‘long’. It has many different contextual translations, but its basic meaning is to ‘stay a long time doing something’. If someone goes out, you can say بدك تطول؟ ‘will you be long?’
وجه الصبح ‘the face of the morning’, i.e. ‘in the early hours of the morning’
بعدن بحكوا بالسياسة وبفتحوا براسك قُدِح؟
ba3den bi7ku bissiyaase w bifta7u braasek 2udo7?
Do they still drive you mad talking about politics?
بعدن is ba3d-en or ba3d-on, which are in turn variants of ba3d-hen and ba3d-hon, with -hen being a uniquely Palestinian form and -hon also found in Syrian and Lebanese
بعدك عم بتصدّقي حالك لمّا تقولي آخر shot؟
ba3dek 3am bitsadd2i 7aalek lamma t2uuli 2aakhar shot?
Do you still believe yourself when you say ‘this is the last shot’?
طب طلعتي مع حدا غيري من البار ونمتوا عَـ الشط؟
Tabb iTli3ti ma3 7ada gheeri min ilbaar w nimtu 3ashshaTT?
Have you left the bar with anyone else and fallen asleep with them on the beach?
طب – a variant of طيّب ‘OK, so’
حدا غيري ‘someone other than me’
نام is another example of the phenomenon I mentioned with sakan above: nimtu can mean ‘you slept’ or ‘you fell asleep’
بقولوا عنك لئيمة، إني بسببك انجنّيت
bi2uulu 3annek la2iime, 2inni bsababek 2injanneet
They say you’re cruel, that it’s because of you that I went mad
بقولو عنك لئيمة ‘they say about you [you’re] nasty’
إنّك أنت اللي تركيني، ودشّرت البلد وهجّيت
2innek 2inti lli taraktiini w dashshart ilbalad w hajjeet
That it was you who left me and that’s why I
دشر – ‘left’, but a more colourful word
هجّ hajj bihijj ‘leave’ or ‘go off’ or something like that
بعرف مش هاد الي صار، بس هاي الحارة بتتغيّرش
ba3raf mish haad illi Saar, bass haay il7aara btitghayyarsh
I know that’s not what happened, but that’s the neighbourhood, it never changes
بتتغيرش – this is the famous –sh negative ending: btitghayyar-sh ‘it doesn’t change’.
دايمًا بتعلق المرا، وبالشب الناس بتسألش
daayman bti3la2 ilmara w bishshabb innaas btis2alsh
It’s always the woman’s fault, nobody cares about the guy
سأل بـ seems to be a variant of سأل عـ ‘care about’ (literally ‘ask about’). In North Levantine you can say ما حدا سائل عليه ‘nobody cares about it’.
بس مش متصل أتأسف أنا متصل أضحك معك
bass mish miTTsel 2at2assaf 2ana miTTsel 2aD7ak ma3ek
But I didn’t call to apologise, I called to have a laugh
متصل (this would be miTTiSel in North Levantine) here is like when you say جاي أحكي jaay 2a7ki ‘I’m here to tell you’.
عَـ إنهن بحكوا قصّتنا وهنّي ينقّشوا كعك
3a 2innen bi7ku 2uSSitna w hinne yna22shu ka3ek
[To talk about] them telling our story as they make ka’k
‘Have a laugh about the idea of them [3a 2innen] telling our story as they…’ The -en is -hen again.
وهنه ينقشو كعك – this is a 7aal construction. التنقيش is apparently the bit where you carve holes in the ka3k. There is no b- here, which is apparently normal in South Levantine. In NL I would expect عم here, which in SL is optional.
حلوة القصّة الي اخترعوها، القصة أحلى من الحقيقة
7ilwe l2uSSa lli khtara3uuha, il2uSSa 2a7la min il7a2ii2a
The story they made up is nice, nicer than the reality
بتضلها أنغش بكثير من كذبة إنّك صديقة
w bitDallha 2anghash bi-ktiir min kizbet 2innek Sadii2a
And a lot better than the lie that we’re still friends
بتضلها literally ‘it stays’. Here it means ‘and it’s still’, or ‘everything else aside, it’s…’ etc.
نغش nighesh ‘nice, cute, sweet’
كذبة إنك صديقة ‘the lie that you’re a friend’. Note the iDaafe
ومتصل أحكي تنضغطيش شهرين وهالحارة بتنسى
w miTTsel 2a7ki tiniDghiTiish, shahreen wil7aara btinsa
And I called to tell you not to worry, in two months they’ll all have forgotten
تنضغطيش the distribution of vowels here is a particularly Palestinian and sometimes Jordanian thing. In North Levantine this would be maa tinDighTi. See here.
شهرين والحارة بتنسى shahreen wil7aara btinsa ‘two months and the neighbourhood will forget’. This kind of construction, with an adverb of time plus w-, is very common: خمس دقايق بكون عندك ‘I’ll be there in five’, etc.
وأنا زي كل ولاد الحارة برجع قلبي بسرعة يقسى
w2ana zayy kull wlaad il7aara birja3 2albi bsur3a yi2sa
And I’m like all the other guys, I’ll get over it quick
زي كل ولاد الحارة ‘like all the guys in the neighbourhood’
يقسى yi2sa (2isi) ‘go hard’, i.e. ‘my heart will go back to being hard’. For يرجع see this post.
ومتصل أحكي عن برلين حلوة ملانة ناس
w miTTsel 2a7ki 3an birliin, 7ilwe malaane naas
And I’m calling to talk about Berlin, it’s beautiful and full of people
بس بشتاق لإم صبري وبشتاقلِك أنتِ بالأساس
bass bashtaa2 la2imm Sabri w bashta2lek 2inti bil2asaas
But I miss Umm Sabri, and I miss you most of all