# All lives are made in these small hours



## Andrew___

May I ask how we say:

*All lives are made in these small hours.*

The context is the song by Rob Thomas called _Little Wonders.  _Is about how life is short, and it is these brief moments whilst we're on earth which shape us.

Can I say:

الساعات القصيرة التي نعيش فيها (في هذه الدنيا) تشكّل أرواحنا

Grateful for your comments.


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## snow.lady

*hi!!
For me I say:"كل الارواح تصنع في هذه الساعات القصيرة"
لا
*

*I hope that it can help you*


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## Andrew___

You rock, Snow Lady! 

Many thanks, and welcome to the forum.


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## musta3rib

Well, I think that translating a text like this one (i.e. more or less poetic) we can be less verbatim and word-perfect to catch the meaning. This is my humble attempt: 
واللحظات الطفيفة الفائتة, هي ما يجبل شكلَ حياتِنا


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## Andrew___

Hello my friend and thanks for your post.

Did you mean يجعل hnstead of يجبل?


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## Josh_

I believe he did mean يجبل, which can mean to form or shape (something). You can see the connection to mountain as a mountain is shaped (by forces of nature).

Here is my try:

يُجبل شكل / تُصنع / تكوَّن / تُجعل / تُصاغ حياتنا خلال هذه اللحظات الزائلة.ـ

I couldn't decide on which verb I wanted for "are made," so I just included many, which I think would work in the sentence.


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## be.010

Here is my attempt:
هذه الساعات القصيرة هي التي تصنع حياتنا
By the way, to me, أرواح doesn't seem to make any sense in this sentence... Or that I didn't get it!


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## musta3rib

That is exactly what I've meant, Josh. It's quite hard to choose the right verb and I'm not sure which is the best. ṣn3 seems to me more like "do" (like ماذا صنعت يا حنفي), kwn is closer to "create", ṣwġ is too technical in my subjective point of view, j3l too is far away from the idea of "shaping"... Do you see the same semantic subtleties or do you understand these verbs another way?


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## nn.om

I'd say: وتُخْلَقُ كل الأرواح في هذه السُوَيعَات


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## musta3rib

I just can't get the idea of أرواح in this context, can some one help me? I've not found any example of روح as "life". The closest was "a breath of life".
nn.om- Why did you use خلق? To me it seems closer to creation than to making or shaping.


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## AndyRoo

Andrew___ said:


> *All lives are made in these small hours.*
> 
> Is about how life is short, and it is these brief moments whilst we're on earth which shape us.


 
I think the correct lyrics are: *Our lives are made in these small hours *and that he's saying that the course of our life is determined by just a few brief events.


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## nn.om

musta3rib said:


> I just can't get the idea of أرواح in this context, can some one help me? I've not found any example of روح as "life". The closest was "a breath of life".
> nn.om- Why did you use خلق? To me it seems closer to creation than to making or shaping.


 
I was going to say كل الناس but thought that "lives" there could mean everything living, so I thought أرواح would work here. Maybe we just can say حيوات but I don't know why I felt it was better to avoid it in that translation. 

And I used خلق because we usually use this verb when it comes to the creation of humans and lives.


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## be.010

Hello nn.com


nn.om said:


> I was going to say كل الناس but thought that "lives" there could mean everything living, so I thought أرواح would work here. Maybe we just can say حيوات but I don't know why I felt it was better to avoid it in that translation.
> 
> And I used خلق because we usually use this verb when it comes to the creation of humans and lives.


 
It doesn't sound that the lyrics are about creation of people and lives in the first place, they are about:


AndyRoo said:


> ...he's saying that the course of our life is determined by just a few brief events.


i.e. لحظات صغيرة مصيرية هي التي تحدد مسار حياتنا... That's why أرواح and خلق are out of this context...
I hope this removes any ambiguity... Any corrections are appreciated...
Cheers...


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## nn.om

Ahha, I got it. Thanks.


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## musta3rib

أشكرك على شرح كلماتك وتوضيح الطريقة التي سلكها فكرك


nn.om said:


> and i used خلق because we usually use this verb when it comes to the creation of humans and lives.


فهذا ما نختلف فيه اختلافا أساسيا  إذ أنني لا أظن أن قائل الجملة الأصلي قصد خلق حياتنا بل إنه قصد في رأيي تشكيلها وقصد أيضا قدرة هذه الساعات القصيرة أو اللحظات الخافتة على تغيير مجرى حياتنا.
تحياتي إلى الخليج العربي وأهله


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## Josh_

musta3rib said:


> That is exactly what I've meant, Josh. It's quite hard to choose the right verb and I'm not sure which is the best. ṣn3 seems to me more like "do" (like ماذا صنعت يا حنفي), kwn is closer to "create", ṣwġ is too technical in my subjective point of view, j3l too is far away from the idea of "shaping"... Do you see the same semantic subtleties or do you understand these verbs another way?


Yes, I see what you mean about ص-و-غ, it is often used in technical situations, such as making jewelry and it is often used in linguistic matters, however I am not sure I agree with you about جعل.  In addition to (the more common) meaning of make as in cause someone to do something the Hans Wehr lists that it can mean "make" or "create" and even in the Arabic-Arabic dictionary I checked it listed صنع and خلق as meanings.  So I think it may work.  

At any rate, if Andyroo's explanation is correct then perhaps something like this would work:

تصيّر هذه اللحظات الزائلة/القصيرة حياتنا

Or:

تقدّر هذه اللحظات الزائلة/القصيرة حياتنا

I'm still not sure however, if that is the intended meaning.  I looked it up and one person interpreted it as about living in the moment and growing from it.  Really, it's one of those phrase that could have many interpretations.


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