# I wish you were here



## secret ninja

it would be realy lovely if
some1 could tell me how to say 
this in arabic 


I wish you were here 
I wish you were close 
and those are the times that I'm wishing the most. 

I gave you that ring you wear on your hand 
and like time in an hour glass, you slip away like sand. 

I want you so bad to hold, and to touch 
and that is because I love you so much. 

And I want you to know whatever you do 
I will always be here 

and I will always love you.


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## Josh_

Ok, here is my attempt. There are probably many ways one could translate that into Arabic and in many dialects. I chose Egyptian Arabic. You can wait for others to offer there suggestions which will most likely be better than mine. Getting it to rhyme in Arabic and still be similar to your English version, would take some time and effort, so I hope it's alright if it does not rhyme.

  To a male:

   batmanna 2innak kunt hina
   batmanna 2innak kunt 2urayyib
   il-aw2aat di batmannaaha fi 2aghlab il-2a7yaan

   2iddeetak id-dibla illi tilbis∙ha fi 2iidak
   wa-zayy il-wa2t fi saa3a ramliyya, tiflit (inta) zayy ir-raml

2ashtaa2 a7Dunak wa-almisak
   wa-s-sabab inni ba7ibbak kitiir

   wa-3ayzaak ti3raf inn illi ti3milu
   7akuun hina dayman

   wa-7a7ibbak dayman
    --------------------------------

   To a female:

   batmanna 2innik kunti hina
   batmanna 2innik kunti 2urayyiba
   il-aw2aat di batmannaaha fi 2aghlab il-2aHyaan

   2iddeetik id-dibla illi tilbisiiha fi 2iidik
   wa-zayy il-wa2t fi saa3a ramliyya, tifliti (inti) zayy ir-raml

   2ashtaa2 a7Dunik wa-almisik
   wa-s-sabab inni ba7ibbik kitiir

   wa-3ayzaki ti3rafi inn illi ti3milii
   7akuun hina dayman

   wa-7a7ibbik dayman
  -------------------------------

For an explanation of the numbers go here.


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## elroy

A couple of comments from me as a non-Egyptian.



			
				Josh Adkins said:
			
		

> 2iddeetak id-dibla illi tilbis∙ha (I would say "laabisha") fi 2iidak
> 
> wa-3ayzaak ti3raf inn illi ti3milu (does this really mean "whatever you do?")
> 7akuun hina dayman
> 
> (same comments apply to the female version)


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## elroy

I'll provide a translation into standard Arabic, and one into transliterated Palestinian Arabic:

Standard Arabic:​يا ليتك كنت هنا
يا ليتك كنت قريباً
وهذه هي الأوقات التي أتمناها أكثر من أي شيء آخر

أعطيتك الخاتم الذي أنت لابسه في يدك
وكالوقت في ساعة رملية، إنك تفلت مثل الرمل

أريدك جداً لأتمسك بك وألمسك
وذلك لأنني أحبك كثيراً

وأريدك أن تعلم أنك مهما فعلت
سوف أكون هنا دوماً

وسوف أحبك دوماً​
Palestinian Arabic:

Ya reetak kunet hoon
Ya reetak kunet 'ariib
U haay hiyyeh 'l-aw2aat illi batmannaaha aktar ishi.

A3teeTak il-khaatem illi inteh laabso bi-iidak
U mitel il-wa2et bisee3a ramliyyeh, 3am btiflat mitel ir-ramel.

Biddi iyaak ktiir ktiir, amsikak u almisak
U hada kullo 3ashanni ba7ibbak ktiir.​
U biddi 'yaak ti3raf inno shuu ma3milet
Ana ra7 akuun daayman hoon

U ra7 a7ibbak daayman.

*Let me know if you'd like me to transliterate the standard Arabic version.
*These are both addressed to a male. Let me know if you'd like the female versions of either or both.
*Note that "ee" and "oo" do not correspond to the English "ee" and "oo" in "feet" and "hoot," but are simply longer versions of "e" and "o," which are pronounced as the "a" in "day" and the "o" in "cord," respectively.​


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## elroy

By the way, Secret Ninja, in the future please try to give your threads more informative titles.  That will help with future searches and with location of threads.

If you haven't done so, please read the rest of our rules here.

Welcome to the forums!


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## Josh_

elroy said:
			
		

> A couple of comments from me as a non-Egyptian.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> [B said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Josh Adkins][/b]
> 
> 2iddeetak id-dibla illi tilbis∙ha (I would say "laabisha") fi 2iidak
> 
> wa-3ayzaak ti3raf inn illi ti3milu (does this really mean "whatever you do?")
> 7akuun hina dayman
> 
> (same comments apply to the female version)
Click to expand...



 Yes, "laabis∙ha/labsaaha" would be better.
Yes, the second sentence means "whatever you do."  "illi" is the all inclusive relative pronoun. I can't think of anything else. I thought about 'mahma', but in Egyptian that means "now matter how much..."


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## elroy

Josh Adkins said:
			
		

> Yes, the second sentence means "whatever you do." "illi" is the all inclusive relative pronoun. I can't think of anything else. I thought about 'mahma', but in Egyptian that means "now matter how much..."


 
I know what "illi" means; we use it in Palestinian Arabic as well. It's just that to me "illi bti3milo" means "what/that which you do" and not "whatever you do." In Palestinian Arabic we would say "shuu ma 3milet" or "mahma 3milet." Saying "illi bti3milo" in this context would not make any sense in Palestinian Arabic, and I would venture to say the same applies in Egyptian Arabic.

U biddi 'yaak ti3raf inno illi bti3milo = And I want you to know that what you do

The above sentence is missing a predicate.


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## Josh_

elroy said:
			
		

> I know what "illi" means; we use it in Palestinian Arabic as well. It's just that to me "illi bti3milo" means "what/that which you do" and not "whatever you do." In Palestinian Arabic we would say "shuu ma 3milet" or "mahma 3milet." Saying "illi bti3milo" in this context would not make any sense in Palestinian Arabic, and I would venture to say the same applies in Egyptian Arabic.
> 
> U biddi 'yaak ti3raf inno illi bti3milo = And I want you to know that what you do
> 
> The above sentence is missing a predicate.


Your English sentence doesn't make any sense. It should be "...that which you do." Well, hopefully one of the Egyptian foreros will come and verify. And the conclusion of the sentence is "I will be here." It does not appear in isolation.

By the way, I'm sure you must have realized it, but I meant to say "no matter how much ..."  Maybe mahma would work.

What do you think of "kull Haaga ti3milha, Hakuun hina."? This, I believe, is actually better. I wish I would have thought of it in the first place. I can remember translating the Bryan Adams song, "Everything I do" for someone and using this phrase.

How would you translate "i3mil illi yi3gibak" in English?


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## elroy

Josh Adkins said:
			
		

> Your English sentence doesn't make any sense. It should be "...that which you do."


 
My English "sentence" is not a sentence. It's part of one; that's the point. "I want you to know that what you do..." and "I want you to know that that which you do..." mean the same thing. The second one doesn't make any more sense than the first. Both are missing a predicate. 



> Well, hopefully one of the Egyptian foreros will come and verify. And the conclusion of the sentence is "I will be here." It does not appear in isolation.


 
Correct, but "I want you to know that what (or that which) you do, I will be here" does not make sense. It needs to be "whatever you do." 



> By the way, I'm sure you must have realized it, but I meant to say "no matter how much ..." Maybe mahma would work.


 
It would in Palestinian Arabic. 



> What do you think of "kull Haaga ti3milha, Hakuun hina."?


 
That doesn't sound good to me, at least not as a translation of our sentence here.



> How would you translate "i3mil illi yi3gibak" in English?


 
"Do whatever you wish." In this sentence "illi" does translate as "whatever."


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## Josh_

elroy said:
			
		

> My English "sentence" is not a sentence. It's part of one; that's the point. "I want you to know that what you do..." and "I want you to know that that which you do..." mean the same thing. The second one doesn't make any more sense than the first. Both are missing a predicate.


I don't understand what you are saying.

"I want you to know whatever you do."

The above sentence is incomplete also.  The sentence contains this line and the line underneath it.



> Correct, but "I want you to know that what (or that which) you do, I will be here" does not make sense. It needs to be "whatever you do."


 "Whatever" is the pronoun needed in English.


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## elroy

Josh Adkins said:
			
		

> I don't understand what you are saying.
> 
> "I want you to know whatever you do."
> 
> The above sentence is incomplete also. The sentence contains this line and the line underneath it.
> 
> "Whatever" is the pronoun needed in English.


 
All right, let me try to explain one more time. 

"I want you to know that whatever you do, I'll be here" makes perfect sense.

_("Whatever" here could be replaced with "no matter what."  The "I'll be here" completes the thought.)_

"I want you to know that what/that which you do, I'll be here" does not make sense.

_(In order for this sentence to even come close to making sense, we'd need to complete the "what you do" part. For example: "I want you to know that what you do is great" or something. It is incomplete even with the "I'll be here" part.)_

Yes, "whatever" is the pronoun needed. "Illi" does not express that!

Clearer?


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## ayed

Well, let me try ,based on your translation,to put my view and comments:

*تمنيتك عندي*
*تمنيك بقربي*
*وهذه اللحظات التي أتمناها كثيراً*
*أهديتك الخاتم الذي في إصبعك*
*فأفلت مني كالوقت في الساعة الرملية*
*أريد ضمك بقوة ولمسك*
*لأنني أهواك *
*واعلم بمهما فعلت *
*فدائماً أنا هنا*
*أحبك على الدوام* ​


What are your views on this "_*rehashment-based translation*_"?


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## Josh_

I talked to my Egyptian professor and he said that 'mahma' would be best used in that context. 'illi' would not work. My hang up with 'mahma' is that, to me, it seems like it is used in a negative sense -- in the manner of no matter what you do, I'm not going to change my behavoir. mahma 3ayyatt, mish Harga3lik; mahma 2ult la2a, ana khaarig barDu; etc. It just doesn't seem like it would be used in a positive sense.



Edit:  500th post.  Better watch out, elroy. I'm going to catch up with you.


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## elroy

Glad you're convinced!  

I think the confusion may have resulted from the fact that "whatever" in English can be a substitute for both "that which" and "no matter what," which have two distinctly different meanings.

When the meaning is "no matter what" - whether positive or negative - use "mahma."  When the meaning is "that which," use "illi."  

"I3mel illi biddak iyyah," by the way, actually means "Do *that which* you will," and that's why "illi" works despite the alternative (and indeed better) translation "Do _whatever_ you want."  (That is, you could not replace this "whatever" with "no matter what.")

Mabrook il-yubiil!


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## Josh_

elroy said:
			
		

> "I3mel illi biddak iyyah," by the way, actually means "Do *that which* you will," and that's why "illi" works despite the alternative (and indeed better) translation "Do _whatever_ you want."  (That is, you could not replace this "whatever" with "no matter what.")
> 
> Mabrook il-yubiil!


m-ana 3aarif.  

shukran 3a-d-dars, ya ustaaz.


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## smsamarline1

Regards to Ustaz Elroy 
Could you enlighten me on the word '_Almisak'_ please?..


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## إسكندراني

smsamarline1 said:


> Regards to Ustaz Elroy
> Could you enlighten me on the word '_Almisak'_ please?..


ألمس
I touch
ـك
you


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