"Wainun" (Where are they?) - Written by the Rahbani brothers

From: The Natoret Elmafatieh play - (Arabic Lyrics)

Translated to English by: Grace de Koekkoek



Where are they? 

Where are their voices, 

Their faces..

Where are they?

Now, there's a valley between us!

Where are they?



They rode the carriages of time,

Fled in the arms of oblivion.

They left their children's laughter

Abandoned on the walls.

They left me the keys,

They left the cry of the wind,

They went away and left no address.



Lovers in the streets went in separate ways,

No words, no promises.

I'm the only voice in the streets;

I'm the bird on the roof.

The horses fled in the night,

And I'm the lonely lantern of sorrow. 





"Nehna Welamar Jiran" (We are neighbors with the moon) - Written by the Rahbani brothers

From: The Reminiscing With Fairuz album - (Arabic Lyrics)

Translated to English by: Grace de Koekkoek



We are neighbors with the moon

She dwells behind our hills

Rises up ahead

Listens to the tunes



We are neighbors with the moon

She knows of our rendezvous

Leaves in our roofs

The most beautiful tunes



We have often stayed up together

In nights of happiness, with sighs

We have often, as it has risen,

Told stories about love



We are neighbors with the moon

When it rose and visited us

Above the domes of our homes

And spread the corals





"Kinna nitla'a min 'ashiyyi" (We met in the evenings) - Written by the Rahbani brothers

From: The Mais Erim play - (Arabic Lyrics)

Translated to English by: Grace de Koekkoek



We met in the evenings,

Sat on the old bridge,

The fog covered the meadows,

Erased the distance and the road;

No one knew our whereabouts

But the sky and October leaves;

He would tell me "I love you"

And we would get swept away with the sad clouds.



Oh, years in the memory,

Come back to me some time;

Forget me on the door of childhood,

So I can run in the sunlit streets.

Years in the memory,

Come back to me some time;

Bring back the laughter of those who are gone

That lingered in the corners of the roads



I remember how much they talked

When I waited and you forgot,

And the rain came down on me,

And summer arrived but you never did. 





"Dakhilik ya immi" (Oh, Mother!) - Written by the Rahbani brothers

From: The Is'har album - (Arabic Lyrics)

Translated to English by: Grace de Koekkoek



Oh, Mother!

What is the matter with me?

Leave me in my sorrow;

I am tired of the world



I remember, a year ago,

And over a year,

I saw him under the almond tree

In that pleasant shade.

And he gave me something,

Probably a lily;

And since, Mother,

I do not know what the matter is!



A word he said and went away;

And I returned alone,

But my heart never did.

I read a story, in blue books,

About a fair maiden 

Suffering separation.

Her story made me cry,

Took me away,

And since, Mother,

I do not know

What the matter is!