Can anyone translate these lyrics into English? This is a transliterated Arabic version but I would like to know what the song is about. It's from the Ya Rayi album.

here is what I found:


Zine Zina ya lehbiba nebghik ntiya ya laamira
Zine Zina ya lehbiba nebghik ntiya ya laamira

Galbi hawel we sber ma fik ma yedjabar
Dmou'ii kaouya jeraya b'zinha ma kad nesber
Galbi hawel we sber ma fik ma yedjabar
Dmou'ii kaouya jeraya b'zinha ma kad nesber

Zine Zina ya lehbiba nebghik ntiya ah ya laamira
Zine Zina ya lehbiba nebghik ntiya ah ya laamira

Ma kounte dane zinha ana yemlekni
Enkhaf aalik ya omri dezine rah ejlebni
Ma kounte dane zinha ana yemlekni
Klamha zayed kawini enkhaf aalik ya omri
Dmou'ii kaweya jeraya ma bghat tethjar
khalouni nebki biha ou ntaffi had lejmar

Zine Zina ya lehbiba nebghik ntiya ah ya laamira
Zine Zina ya lehbiba nebghik ntiya ah ya laamira

Zine Zina ah ya Kenza nebghik ntiya ah ya laamira
Zine Zina ah ya Kenza nebghik ntiya ah ya laamira

Enkhaf aalik ya omri dezine rah ejlebni
Ma dergi ma t'khabi dezine aatahlek rabi
Enkhaf aalik ya omri dezine rah mlekeni
Ma dergi ma t'khabi dezine aatahlek rabi

Zine Zina ya lehbiba nebghik ntiya ah ya laamira
Zine Zina ah ya Kenza nebghik ntiya ah ya laamira

Zine Zina ya lehbiba nebghik ntiya ah ah
Zine Zina ya laamira nebeghik ntiya ah ah laamira

Hi,

I know it's been almost 6 months since you posted this, but I just stumbled upon your post and here's the translation. Please note that my English is not perfect. Besides, sometimes it's really difficult to translate certain phrases from a language to another, so I'll try my best to give the closest translation I can come up with (and not a literal one). I will also try to give brief explanations when appropriate. Zine (or Zina -- they're the same word) means "beautiful woman/lady/girl". So the title of the song, "Zine Zina", translates to "beautiful lady, oh beautiful lady!". Here we go:

Zine Zina ya lehbiba nebghik ntiya ya laamira
beautiful lady, oh beautiful lady! my love! I want/love you, my life! ("my life" is a phrase like "my darling" or "(my) sweety" -- it's common in Arabic, but differs slightly in pronounciation from dialect to the other.)
Zine Zina ya lehbiba nebghik ntiya ya laamira
beautiful lady, oh beautiful lady! my love! I want you, my life!

Galbi hawel we sber ma fik ma yedjabar
my heart tried to be patient but it couldn't!
Dmou'ii kaouya jeraya b'zinha ma kad nesber
my tears are running, oh her beauty is "exhausting" my patience! (that's just my horrible English right there :-))
Galbi hawel we sber ma fik ma yedjabar
my heart tried to be patient but it coudln't!
Dmou'ii kaouya jeraya b'zinha ma kad nesber
my tears are running, oh her beauty is exhausting my patience!

Zine Zina ya lehbiba nebghik ntiya ah ya laamira
beautiful lady, oh beautiful lady! my love! I want you, my life!
Zine Zina ya lehbiba nebghik ntiya ah ya laamira
beautiful lady, oh beautiful lady! my love! I want you, my life!

Ma kounte dane zinha ana yemlekni
I didn't think her beauty would "own" me (the way it did) -- This is another horrible translation... I'm not sure what to use instead of "own", but what he's saying is that she was so beautiful beyond anything he expected, that he was completely drawn to her in a manner just out of his control
Enkhaf aalik ya omri dezine rah ejlebni
I'm so worried about you, my life... this (your) beauty has driven me crazy!
Ma kounte dane zinha ana yemlekni
I didn't think her beauty would own me (in such a dramatic way)
Klamha zayed kawini enkhaf aalik ya omri
her sweet words have worsened my fever... I'm so worried about you, my life
Dmou'ii kaweya jeraya ma bghat tethjar
my tears are running, they don't want to crystallize -- this is just a phrase in Arabic, meaning he is crying all the time or his tears are running all the time -- they don't get dry
khalouni nebki biha ou ntaffi had lejmar
please let me cry, at least I can turn off the fire inside me (with those tears)

Zine Zina ya lehbiba nebghik ntiya ah ya laamira
beautiful lady, oh beautiful lady! my love! I want you, my life!
Zine Zina ya lehbiba nebghik ntiya ah ya laamira
beautiful lady, oh beautiful lady! my love! I want you, my life!

Zine Zina ah ya Kenza nebghik ntiya ah ya laamira
beautiful lady, oh beautiful lady! oh my treasure! I want you, my life!
Zine Zina ah ya Kenza nebghik ntiya ah ya laamira
beautiful lady, oh beautiful lady! oh my treasure! I want you, my life!

Enkhaf aalik ya omri dezine rah ejlebni
I'm so worried about you, my life... this (your) beauty has driven me crazy!
Ma dergi ma t'khabi dezine aatahlek rabi
don't hide, don't hide... god has give you this beauty (dergi and t'khabi are basically synonyms)
Enkhaf aalik ya omri dezine rah mlekeni
I'm so worried about you, my life... this (your) beauty has taken me over!
Ma dergi ma t'khabi dezine aatahlek rabi
don't hide, don't hide... god has give you this beauty

Zine Zina ya lehbiba nebghik ntiya ah ya laamira
beautiful lady, oh beautiful lady! my love! I want you, my life!
Zine Zina ah ya Kenza nebghik ntiya ah ya laamira
beautiful lady, oh beautiful lady! oh my treasure! I want you, my life!

Zine Zina ya lehbiba nebghik ntiya ah ah
beautiful lady, oh beautiful lady! my love! my love! I want you!
Zine Zina ya laamira nebeghik ntiya ah ah laamira
beautiful lady, oh beautiful lady! my life! I want you, my life!

The only part of the song that I don't understand is the French part, but that's not part of the lyrics you posted anyway. Also note that sometimes he talks to her as "you" and sometimes as "she/her" (I didn't mistranslate).

I apologize for my crappy translation. If you need any clarifications, don't hestiate to ask.

Ok now ,first of all , I wanna thank you ka3kee for your amazing translation , especially if you're not algerian ! Then really Bravo ! Great job .. And your english is so much good, I don't know what you were talking about !! o_O

I think the problem is algerian expressions are kinda hard to define or translate . Otherwise , You are excellent in translating dear , keep going !

ELEEF,

Thanks for your kind comments. I'm an Arab from the Gulf, but I'm a HUGE fan of Raï music, particularly Khaled (my absolute all-time favorite singer), Cheb Mami, and various other artists/groups (Sawt El Atlas, Zahouania, ..etc). I also like some other forms of Algerian music, like Chaoui for example.

And yes, the Algerian/Maghrebi Darija is difficult for us to understand, but I have (or had, since they all moved) lots of Moroccan friends who helped me understand the Maghrebi dialect, but some of Khaled's Wahrani stuff is hard to decipher even for them!

For some reason, I always found it hard to find Algerian people online who can translate some of these songs for me, even though I usually try to type my messages in three languages: Arabic, English, and even French (which I speak only a little). For example, I posted on the Wled Wahran forums about the lyrics for Mami's Mamazareh FIVE MONTHS ago, but no one responded yet.

Anyway, it's good to see an active Algerian member here. Perhaps you can help us understand some of Khaled's cryptic messages! :-)

Interesting ! Really nice to find an arab who can understand our dialect , this is so rare =)

& sure I can dear ! I can help you whenever you need ,just put your requests or p.m me