Gawaz Safar
Marcel Khalife Lyrics


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لم يعرفوني في الظلال التي
تمتصّ لوني في جواز السفر
و كان جرحي عندهم معرضا
لسائح يعشق جمع الصور
لم يعرفوني، آه. لا تتركي
كفي بلا شمس
لأن الشجر
يعرفني .
تعرفني كل أغاني المطر
لا تتركيني شاحبا كالقمر!
كلّ العصافير التي لاحقت
كفي على باب المطار البعيد
كل حقول القمح ،
كل السجون،
كل القبور البيض
كل الحدود ،
كل المناديل التي لوّحت ،
كل العيون
كانت معي، لكنهم
قد أسقطوها من جواز السفر
عار من الاسم من الانتماء؟
في تربة ربيتها باليدين ؟
أيوب صاح اليوم ملء السماء:
لا تجعلوني عبرة مرتين!
يا سادتي! يا سادتي الأنبياء
لا تسألّوا الأشجار عن اسمها
لا تسألوا الوديان عن أمها
من جبهتي ينشق سيف الضياء
و من يدي ينبع ماء النهر




كل قلوب الناس .جنسيتي
فلتسقطوا عني جوار السفر!

Overall Meaning

The song "Passport" by Marcel Khalife is a poignant and powerful commentary on the feelings of displacement and isolation experienced by refugees and migrants. The lyrics describe how the singer's identity is reduced to a mere passport, a document that fails to capture the depth and richness of their true self. The singer laments how they are unrecognized in the shadows that absorb their color, and their wounds are only seen by those tourists who want to collect exotic pictures. The singer pleads with their loved one, not to leave them devoid of sunshine like a tree, the only thing that truly knows them.


The song's imagery presents a vivid portrayal of the harsh realities faced by refugees and people who are forced to leave their homes, families and identities behind. The singer recalls their journey, and how they carried within them the songs of the rain and all the birds who followed them. The singer remembers all the wheat fields, prisons, white graves, borders, and waving handkerchiefs that they passed, and how the authorities stripped away their identity and belonging by removing them from their passport. The singer demands to be recognized for who they are and not just by the arbitrary markers on their passport, urging the prophets and wise people not to ask the trees or the valleys about their names and origins.


Overall, the song Passport is a moving testament to the hardships faced by refugees and immigrants who are often reduced to their identity documents and face discrimination and alienation in the countries they seek refuge in.


Line by Line Meaning

لم يعرفوني في الظلال التي تمتصّ لوني في جواز السفر
They did not recognize me in the shadows that absorbed my color on my passport.


و كان جرحي عندهم معرضا لسائح يعشق جمع الصور
And my wound was exposed to a tourist who loves to collect pictures.


لم يعرفوني، آه. لا تتركي كفي بلا شمس لأن الشجر يعرفني.
They did not recognize me, oh. Don't leave my hand without sun, because trees recognize me.


تعرفني كل أغاني المطر لا تتركيني شاحبا كالقمر!
All the rain's songs know me, don't leave me pale like the moon!


كلّ العصافير التي لاحقت كفي على باب المطار البعيد
All the birds that followed land on the door of the distant airport.


كل حقول القمح، كل السجون، كل القبور البيض
All the wheat fields, all the prisons, all the white graves.


كل الحدود، كل المناديل التي لوّحت، كل العيون كانت معي، لكنهم قد أسقطوها من جواز السفر
All the borders, all the waved handkerchiefs, all the eyes were with me, but they removed them from my passport.


عار من الاسم من الانتماء؟ في تربة ربيتها باليدين؟
A shame of name and belonging? In the soil that I nurtured with my hands?


أيوب صاح اليوم ملء السماء: لا تجعلوني عبرة مرتين!
Job shouted today, filling the sky: Don't make an example out of me twice!


يا سادتي! يا سادتي الأنبياء لا تسألّوا الأشجار عن اسمها لا تسألوا الوديان عن أمها
Oh, my lords! My prophet lords! Don't ask the trees for their names, don't ask the valleys for their mothers.


من جبهتي ينشق سيف الضياء و من يدي ينبع ماء النهر
From my forehead, the sword of light splits, and from my hand, the river water springs.


كل قلوب الناس جنسيتي فلتسقطوا عني جوار السفر!
All people's hearts are my nationality, so let the travel documents fall beside me!




Contributed by Michael P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
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MA


on At The Border

city

When he says ستي (Sitty) he’s saying my grandmother not my city. (My Identity is in Jaffa, my grandmother is hiding it).

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