Here are the lyrics from the Rise Up Singing songbook. Part of my project is to correct lyrics from this songbook. I do not know where the editors, Peter Blood and Annie Patterson, got this version. BISAN (intro) Kanat lana min zazan Bayyraton jamila wa dai 'aton dhalila Yanamu fi afy iha nisan dai 'atuna Kanas muha Bisan Khuthuni il Bisan, ila dia 'atish shita iyyah Hunaka yashi 'ul hanan, 'alal hafafiren ramadiyyah Khuthuni ilath thuhairat, ila ghafwaten 'inda babi Hunaka maddat 'ailah, u'aniqu samtati turabi (bridge) Athkuru ya Bisan, ya mal 'abat tufula Afya ukil khajula, wa kullu shai en kan Babon wa shubbakan, baituna fi Bisan Khuthuni, khuthuni ma 'al hasasin ilath thilalil lati tabki Rufufon minal 'aidin, 'ala haninen laha tahki Khuthuni ila Bisan — author unknown Bisan is the name of an old Palestinian town, now within the borders of Israel & renamed Beit Shalan. This song, made famous by the Lebanese singer Fairouz, expresses the longing of the Palestinian (and any) people for a home and a homeland. Published by M. Chahine & Sons, Beirut, Lebanon. On Fairouz' albums, Bright Morning Star, Live in the USA, & in Broadside #159 (Songs for Peace & Justice in the Middle East). Translation of Arabic: A long time ago we owned a beautiful orchard. A shady village in which April surrendered to sleep. The name of our village was Bisan Take me to Bisan, to my winter village. There where tenderness thrives up to the grey edges Take me to those long afternoons, To those peaceful naps against my door Where I can hug the silence of the earth. I remember Bisan, a playground of innocence, humble dwellings, pastoral shadows, Everything we called home: our home, Bisan Take me, take me with the songbirds to those same shadows that now weep. Rows and rows of the Returning (from the Diaspora) To a tenderness now reduced to words. Take me to Bisan. These are more-or-less the same lyrics and translation in Broadside Magazine, Issue #159, Songs for Peace & Justice in the Middle East http://web.archive.org/web/20130602124853/http://www.broadsidemagazine.com/Broadside%20pdf/159.pdf
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