O Night oh Wanderer

| كلمات: خالد بن يزيد | ألحان و غناء: عبادي الجوهر |
الترجمة بواسطة الموقع

English Translation

O night traveler, my journey is bewildered and lost.

Imagine that I walk so slowly, pacing my steps with the blinking of my eyelashes,

while this dark path is paved only by my destiny.

This world is so difficult—a continuous game after game.

This world is so difficult—a continuous game after game.

In it, hope is but a lie, and what is the fault of my heart,

that it must stay awake, keeping vigil over my burning fire?

Oh, speech becomes a mournful lament (Mawal) when the silence of grief lingers;

it forces my tongue into silence, yet my heavy tears,

with their endless flowing streams, have made me weep.

O my brother! In my soul lies something… and so many things! I am thirsty,

O light of my life, quench my thirst with a single drink of water,

drawn from your beautiful, flowing river.

I stay awake entirely alone, resting my hand upon my cheek.

I stay awake entirely alone, resting my hand upon my cheek.

In a lost, dark night that bears witness to my sleeplessness,

while you remain… completely unaware of my state!

Explaining:

مجرور: One of the most famous traditional rhythmic group dances in the Taif and Hejaz regions of Saudi Arabia, it is characterized by its sweet melodies, graceful movements, and the chorus’s chanting of the “Ya La La La” sighs.

يا ليل يا ساري: “Sari” refers to one who travels at night; the call here conveys the bewilderment of a traveler who has taken the night as a companion on an unknown path, a path shared by anxieties. This resonates emotionally with the atmosphere of waiting and long nights spent awake.

خُطى لخطى رمشي: A highly precise and deliberate rhetorical image; the poet likens his rapid movement as he gropes his way to the “deliberate and fearful movement of a blink,” expressing intense caution, spiritual hesitation, and a sense of being lost amidst the paths of destiny.

الدرب أقداري: Complete surrender to the will of fate; the lover does not walk according to his own will, but is led by the days and their twists and turns to a place unknown.

الدنيا ذي صعبة، لعبة ورى لعبة: a symbolic description of life as a stage for constant upheavals and successive deceptions that drain the innocence of hearts.

فيها الأمل كذبة: the shock of realization and awareness; all promises of reunion and recovery prove to be illusions that the lover’s heart feeds on to remain awake to the fire of longing.

صمت الحزن لو طال / الحكي موال: when words fail to express the bitterness of loss, the long silence transforms into a mournful, stifled song (a lament) that echoes in the depths of the soul.

يا خي: an intimate address in Saudi and Hijazi colloquial Arabic (“my brother”), here carrying a warm sigh of complaint to a friend or companion of the night about the pain and anguish churning within.

ظميان يا عمري، أسقيني شربة مي من نهرك الجاري: a sweet metaphor of utmost purity; the lover portrays himself as a thirsty traveler hoping for a warm sip of water from the spring of his beloved’s tenderness and union to quench the dryness of his weary soul.

كفي على خدي: The most famous sensory embodiment of a state of melancholic contemplation and prolonged sleeplessness; where the universe stands witness to the lover’s silent vigil while the beloved drowns in their indifference and apathy (“And you are unaware”).

The song “Ya Layl Ya Sari” presents the tragedy of emotional thirst and wandering silently and neglectfully through the paths of destiny. This heartwarming, traditional work deeply intersects with the masterpieces of Abadi Al-Johar, it reflects the struggle of surrender and sleeplessness at night, which we sense in the song “Lahazat” (Moments), and it also intersects with the anguish of neglect, emotional inequality, and acceptance of refined emotional servitude, documented in the masterpiece “Wash Aswi Bih” (What Can I Do With Him); where the lover endures his torment alone, surrendering to his beloved who is unaware of his anguish and sleeplessness (“And you are unaware”).

The beauty of the song lies in this warm brotherly supplication (“O brother”) and in its exposure of the vicissitudes of life and the helplessness of humans in the face of their great destinies, so that the last hope remains confined to obtaining a sweet sip of union with the beloved to extinguish the fire of longing and long sleeplessness.

Arabic Text

يا لا لالا، يا لا لالا،
يا لا لالا، يا لا لالا

يا ليل يا ساري، مِحتار مشواري
يا ليل يا ساري، مِحتار مشواري
تخيل إن أمشي خُطى، لخطى رمشي
و الدرب أقداري

يا لا لالا، يا لا لالا،
يا لا لالا، يا لا لالا

الدنيا ذي صعبة، لعبة، ورى لعبة
الدنيا ذي صعبة، لعبة، ورى لعبة
فيها الأمل كِذبة، و القلب وش ذنبه؟
يسهر على ناري!

يا لا لالا، يا لا لالا،
يا لا لالا، يا لا لالا

الدنيا ذي صعبة، لعبة، ورى لعبة
الدنيا ذي صعبة، لعبة، ورى لعبة
فيها الأمل كِذبة، و القلب وش ذنبه؟
يسهر على ناري!

يا لا لالا، يا لا لالا،
يا لا لالا، يا لا لالا

أه الحكي موال، صمت الحزن لو طال
أه الحكي موال، صمت الحزن لو طال
يُسكت لساني غصب، لا شك دمعي،
بالمذاريف أبكاني

يا لا لالا، يا لا لالا،
يا لا لالا، يا لا لالا

أه الحكي موال، صمت الحزن لو طال
أه الحكي موال، صمت الحزن لو طال
يُسكت لساني غصب، لا شك دمعي،
بالمذاريف أبكاني

يا لا لالا، يا لا لالا،
يا لا لالا، يا لا لالا

يا خي، أنا يا خي، في نفسي شيء، و شيء
يا خي، أنا يا خي، في نفسي شيء، و شيء
ظميان يا عُمري، أسقيني شُربة مَيْ،
من نهرك الجاري

يا لا لالا، يا لا لالا،
يا لا لالا، يا لا لالا

يا خي، أنا يا خي، في نفسي شيء، و شيء
يا خي، أنا يا خي، في نفسي شيء، و شيء
ظميان يا عُمري، أسقيني شُربة مَيْ،
من نهرك الجاري

يا لا لالا، يا لا لالا،
يا لا لالا، يا لا لالا

ساهر أنا وحدي، كفي على خدي
ساهر أنا وحدي، كفي على خدي
في ليل، ليل تاه يشهد عَلي سُهدي
و أنت، و لا داري!

يا لا لالا، يا لا لالا،
يا لا لالا، يا لا لالا

يا لا لالا، يا لا لالا،
يا لا لالا، يا لا لالا

يا لا لالا، يا لا لالا،
يا لا لالا، يا لا لالا