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Sunday, January 15

Ya Mal el-Sham

Oh treasure of Damascus, oh my God, my treasure.
The time is so long, my beauty, come here to me.

The time is so long and in my mind’s eye,
I see a beauty mark appearing high on her cheek.

The time is so long and it grows longer,
the beauty paces back and forth, oh God,
bring back that wonderful day in that past that escape me.

The time is so long, my eyes spill tears
and my heart is so full I can’t talk, oh my God.

If my love becomes my own it will be a day too wonderful to imagine; It is so long since we have seen each other.

It was a dark day where we said goodbye to them,
oh God, how I wish you could bring us together again,
such a wonderful day I can hardly imagine.

The authentic old Damascene song “Ya Mal el-Sham” was composed and set to music by the Damascene artist Abu Khalil al-Qabbani.
Translated by Andrea Rugh, Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.

To hear the song click here.

15 Comments:

  • loved the Idea...and the traslation.

    you made me homesick!!

    By Blogger Amr T, at 17/1/06 12:53 AM  

  • mmmm i like its smell , actaully i like any girl called yasmeen :P , we have a yasmeen tree infront of our house i wanted to take a pic for it , but i have been lazy lately :P

    By Blogger Dar, at 18/1/06 3:25 AM  

  • That was reallt beautiful, Jasmine is my fav.

    Nice one Ghalia, as always ofcourse ;)

    By Blogger Zena, at 18/1/06 12:18 PM  

  • كالعادة ما عم اقدر شوف الصور ، الله من عندوا يصطفل فيون .
    بالنسبة ليامال الشام فأنا أفضلها بصوت صباح فخري ، و على كل لكل منا ذوقه ...

    تجدونها على :
    هنا

    By Blogger Linux Juggler, at 18/1/06 6:01 PM  

  • Al full wal yasmeen, ghalia i like your pix they are so classic min qalb al sham!

    By Blogger Zeid Koudsi, at 19/1/06 10:38 AM  

  • مرحبا غاليه

    ياسميناتك تعبق في قلبي ...لواشنطن اليوم رائحة الياسمين ...شكرا...

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 20/1/06 6:01 AM  

  • i am very happy to find your blog, i can smell the jassmin, they are so fresh and true.
    Thanks for this wonderful effort.
    best regards from dubai,UAE.
    Mona

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 21/1/06 11:33 PM  

  • I'm happy cuz I made someone happy, thanx all for your visit:)

    By Blogger Ghalia, at 21/1/06 11:43 PM  

  • I was surprised to know that Jasmine is the "national" flower of Tunis..
    of course, Tunisians (being the Lebanese for the african arabs) claim that Jasmine is found mainly in Tunis, and all others got it from there...
    those people live in teir own little world..

    it is strange how certain aspects of our world are kept in the dark, and only us know about it..
    maybe it's time to launch the first un-official online syrian encyclopedia...
    (* Omar walks away from the computer contemplating the idea...)

    ;-)

    By Blogger Omar, at 24/1/06 8:11 PM  

  • مرحبا غاليه
    تأخرت علينا
    أرجو أن تكوني بخير الى اللقاء

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 26/1/06 10:46 AM  

  • I wish you would give credit to the singer singing "ya mal el-sham" who happens to be my sister : Zein Al-Jundi, of Syria now living in Austin,Texas and this is from her first CD: "Traditional songs of Syria" a beautiful collection of all the songs we grew up with in Syria..
    btw: anyone can get or order it through Amazon.com or from her wesite: wmdproductions.com
    Thanks
    Mada Al-Jundi

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31/1/06 8:39 AM  

  • that's a beautiful flower!

    By Blogger Dave Llorito, at 31/1/06 10:41 AM  

  • I remember entire neighborhoods smelling beautifully of jasmine in balmy nights in Florida, when I was a young man.

    I associate the scent with soft night air, moonlight, and first love.

    Thanks.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31/1/06 10:42 AM  

  • Hi from México! Nice blog... I had no idea Jazmín -in Spanish- was originally from that part of our world.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31/1/06 9:03 PM  

  • Everytime I smell the beautiful scent of Yasmin, it reminds me of Sham. (here in Denamrk, the fragrance isnt that strong like in Sha, subhanaAllah!)

    By Blogger Charming-Damascus, at 27/5/06 1:23 AM  

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