“Fi Balady”
poem by amr el-tobgi
reading and music by seif al-din
foreword by marwa helal
translation by marwa helal & seif al-din

ENGLISH TRANSLATION:
in my country
a bird - caged
a prince - forbidden from his throne
a musician - without a violin
dawn - devoid of the prayer’s call

a poet - cast from his pen
a nation - its flag trampled upon

where are you going, my son?
shouldn’t egypt come first?
our grandfathers built and formed her
and wars neither gave nor took from her

why call a bad thing “balady”?
are you not from this country?

have you not drank from her nile?
have you not tasted her dusty air?
have you not heard the call to return her favors?

balady bread...
balady coffee...
balady dance...

mesh and torshy and tameyya
feteer and halawa and semsemya
-- perfectly sweet, and perfectly bitter

afternoon, and we began in the night
we coped with, and lived our life
and as its dawn broke
the sun and stars shined in noon’s light

as the sun sets
the light of hope retreats
and the days pass
whether we wake or sleep

as long as our dream is one 
we’ll achieve it as it comes
put your hand in mine, beautiful country...
let us build it as one.

ARABIC:
في بلدي
طير محبوس في قفص
فارس محروم من فرس
عازف من غير كمان
فجر ما يتسمعلوش اذان

شاعر مسلوب منه قلمه
وطن بيتداس على علمه

مهاجر على فين يا ابن بلدي؟
ما مصر اولى بيك يا ولدي؟
بناها و عمرها جدك و جدي
الهروب لا بيجيب ولا بيودي

ليه بتقول على الوحش بلدي؟
مش انت برده من البلد ده؟

ما شربتش من نيلها؟
ما اكلتش سنابلها؟
ما انش الاوان تردلها خمايلها؟

العيش البلدي
القهوة البلدي
الرقص البلدي
مش و طرشي و طعمية
فطير و حلاوة و سمسمية
حلوها و مرها مئة مئة  

عصر و تولدنا في عشاه
و صبرنا على حالنا و عشناه
و لما طلع علينا فجره
شوفنا النجوم في عز ظهره

ساعة الشمس و هي بتغرب
معاها نور الامل بيهرب
مش فرقة نصحى او ننام
اهي ايام بت عدي ورا ايام

طول ما احلامنا واحدة
هتتحقق واحدة واحدة
هاتي ايديكي في ايدية
نبنيها سوا يا بهية

fenmag