# Dream as if you'll live forever, Live as if you'll die today



## jamee

Hey guys, need some help in translating this James Dean quote.

'Dream as if you'll live forever.
Live as if you'll die today.'

Cheers!


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## Xence

احـلمْ كأنـّك تعيش أبـدا
  وعِشْ كأنـّك اليومَ تموت


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## jamee

Cheers Xence, but does that first sentence not translate to 'Dream as if you never live' ?


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## clevermizo

jamee said:


> Cheers Xence, but does that first sentence not translate to 'Dream as if you never live' ?



No, أبدًا doesn't only mean "never" - only in a negative context. For example, لن تفعل أبدًا you will never do such-and-such. أبد means "eternity" or "perpetuity".


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## jamee

Oh ok, that clears a few things up, thanks. So would احـلمْ كأنـّك تعيش أبـد  make sense seeing as how أبد  means eternity or forever?


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## clevermizo

jamee said:


> Oh ok, that clears a few things up, thanks. So would احـلمْ كأنـّك تعيش أبـد  make sense seeing as how أبد  means eternity or forever?



Yes, but grammatically it has to be أبدًا in this case, as per Xence's post. Alternatively you could say إلى الأبد but it flows a bit better as Xence has it.


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## jamee

Ok, and just one last question. Which of these translations for the second sentence (Live as if you'll die today) makes more sense.

'عش كأنك تموت اليوم'     or    'وعِشْ كأنـّك اليومَ تموت '


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## Tattoodan

Good afternoon all

You guys helped me before and I am hoping you can help me again with the following translation -

Dream as if you'll live forever, Live as if you'll die today.

I have seen this question before on the forum but the person asked some other questions but didnt get any responses.


Also is there any reason why there is a space indent before the first word (on far left first sentence which I assume is actually the last word of first part)? Can they be blocked ie can they be written centred? 


I look forward to hearing from you guys soon.

Thanks


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## Tattoodan

I opened a new thread because there were questions unanswered on the original one. Perhaps someone would be so kind as to confirm if the translation given to the other person was correct and what the answer to their other question was. 

Thanks


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## barkoosh

Regarding jamee's last question in #7, they both mean the same thing. They're both correct. I even like Xence's original rendering more.

Your question is a bit confusing. Are you talking about Xence's suggestion in #2?
احـلمْ كأنـّك تعيش أبـدا
وعِشْ كأنـّك اليومَ تموت
If yes, I think you mean the 'space indent before the first word on far the RIGHT of the first sentence', that is, the indent where there's a red underscore below:
‫_احـلمْ كأنـّك تعيش أبـدا
وعِشْ كأنـّك اليومَ تموت
(unless there's some inconsistency in the way text alignment is displayed).

Well, this is not an indent. It's only because the first sentence is shorter, Arabic is a right-to-left language, and the two sentences are left-aligned. Similarly in English, you get this when the text is right aligned (here the second sentence is shorter):
Dream as if you'll live forever
Live as if you'll die today​
Anyway, since you possibly need it for a tattoo, below is the Arabic translation in a centered position, while removing the unnecessary diacritics (less pain for the one being tattooed ):
احلم كأنك تعيش أبدا
وعش كأنك اليوم تموت​


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## Tattoodan

Many thanks for this. What difference does those bits you have removed make? Surely it makes some difference otherwise what was the point in them in the first place?

Yeah it is for a tattoo i am having done so really appreciate the help. 

Thanks


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## AndyRoo

Tattoodan said:


> Many thanks for this. What difference does those bits you have removed make? Surely it makes some difference otherwise what was the point in them in the first place?
> 
> Yeah it is for a tattoo i am having done so really appreciate the help.
> 
> Thanks



The bits removed are diacritics to show the pronunciation and are optional in written Arabic.

If you are just going to cut and paste the Arabic (not recommended) it is probably safer not to put them as some text editors misalign them. However, a good Arabic calligrapher can use them to good artistic effect. 

I would also point out that the diacritics given by Xence are incomplete, which is common in written Arabic, but might not look great in a tattoo.


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## Tattoodan

Thanks AndyRoo. 

So the final one that Barkoosh did (centred) with the bits removed is correct?

I do screenshots on ipad rather than cut and paste. 

Thanks


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## AndyRoo

Tattoodan said:


> Thanks AndyRoo.
> 
> So the final one that Barkoosh did (centred) with the bits removed is correct?
> 
> I do screenshots on ipad rather than cut and paste.
> 
> Thanks



Yes, what barkoosh wrote is correct, but I still think it would look better if you got a calligrapher to do it. And you might want to post the image you have just so we can be sure your ipad hasn't garbled it.


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## Tattoodan

Ok I will do that shortly and post it on here so you can see. Thank you.


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## Andrew___

Is the word احلم (imperative case in the context of this thread) pronounced "ahlam" or "ihlam"?

Thanks,


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## barkoosh

Andrew___ said:


> Is the word احلم (imperative case in the context of this thread) pronounced "ahlam" or "ihlam"?


It's "uhlum".


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## Andrew___

Thank you Barkoosh.


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## cherine

barkoosh said:


> It's "uhlum".


Really? I would pronounce it i7lam. Could it be a dialectal influence?


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## barkoosh

Yes, "i7lam" and "7laam" (in Lebanon) are dialectal forms. But it should be "(u)7lum" in MSA, since the present tense of حلَم is يَحْلُم, making the imperative احْلُم (same as خرج يخرُج اخرُج and كتب يكتُب اكتُب).


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## cherine

Good point. And thanks for the link.


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