Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Sevgili Canan (Beloved Sweetheart)

Once again I am struggling to translate Nizami. Beautiful song and fun to play on the kamancha, but rife with difficult words.

Sevgili Canan
Mus.: Üseyir Hacıbəyov, Söz.: Nizami Gəncəvi

Hüsnün gözəl ayətləri,
Ey sevgili canan!
Olmuş bütün aləmdə
Sənin şəninə şayan.

Fascination's beautiful laws, oh beloved sweetheart!
In all the world to have been worthy of your happiness.

Gəl eylə nəvaziş,
Mənə ver busə ləbindən,
Çünki gözəlin
Busəsidir aşiqə ehsan.

Come and caress me, Give me a kiss from your sweet lips,
Because your beautiful lips are a blessing to your beloved.

Sordum ki, könül,
Hardadı, aldım du cavabı:
Gəl sorma, tapılmaz,
Onu axtarsa da insan.

I asked where was my heart, and this was my answer:
"Do not ask, the person who seeks it, it will not be found."

Rəhm eylə-deyib, sel kimi
Göz yaşımı tökdüm,
Gəl qanım ilə oynama,
Ey afəti-dövran.

Have mercy, my tears are flowing like a stream,
Don't plague me with pain oh beautiful one.

İnsafın əgər var isə,
Söylə bu Nizami
Sənlə necə rəftar eləsin,
Ey mahi-taban?

If you are merciful, tell Nizami
How must I act towards you, oh moonlight?

Gəl sevgili canan!

Come my beloved sweetheart!

1 comment:

WIPAC said...

Washington International Piano Arts Council has done two projects with our counterparts Sonmarz Mashal, Baku. These were presented in Washington, DC fairly recently.

We have another project with music and songs of Hajibeyov coming up, most likely an online performance,

Your skill in translation is shared by our counterpart in Baku and friends of hers as well.

We are at www.wipac.org You might find our last performance at the Embassy of Azerbaijan on Youtube, look for Andrew Celentano, the composer of a poem of Nazimi, "I cannot fit". This was done with speaker and piano accompaniment.

WIPAC is a fan of Nazimi.

I found your website by looking at the last few lines of Sensiz and requesting a translation.....interesting that I found you that way.

We welcome knowing you. Our email address is wipacusa@gmail.com and we are also on facebook, WIPACUSA WIPAC. (Facebook asks for first and last name, hence the title of the website! They have not interfered with the nature of the page which contains a variety of submitters. We try to limit things to music and the arts, but you may know how difficult that can be amongst a group of friends who wish to comment on absolutely everything that comes to their minds! Regards, John G; WIPAC.org ...