Team Nisreen: Firas al-Hamzawi’s لطيزي

Since I promised some better content, here is some Top Quality breakup music from Syria’s biggest troll (or just worst musician?) Firas Hamzawi, described by Sawt Dimashq as ‘a new kind of shabbii7 and a new model of musical poor quality‘. The song – la-Tiizi ‘screw it’ (literally ‘to my arse’) – is directed at Hamzawi’s ex, who I’m sure was brought to tears by his touching lyrical style.

ما بدي ياكي معي
maa baddi yaaki ma3i
I don’t want you with me

baddi – Mr Hamzawi is from the Syrian coast (saa7el) where they use baddi instead of béddi~biddi.

يلا من راسي طلاعي
yaLLa mén raasi Tlaa3i
Come on, get out of my face

طلاع من راسي  – go away, get out of my face (apparently very Syrian)

ما عاد رح فكر فيكي
maa 3aad ra7 fakker fiiki
I’m not going to think about you anymore

ما عاد – no longer

ما عاد رح فكر فيكي
maa 3aad ra7 fakker fiiki
I’m not going to think about you anymore

لطيزي لطيزي لا ترجعي
laTiizi laTiizi laTiizi laa térja3i
Screw it, screw it, don’t come back

لطيزي – there are a few variants on this which for politeness’s sake I won’t mention, but this is literally ‘to my arse’ and in terms of actual meaning is approximately equivalent to ‘screw it’, ‘forget it’

عطيتك فرصة استينيتك
3aTeetek férSa stanneetek
I gave you an opportunity, I’ve waited for you

من لما تركتي بيتي
mén lamma tarakti beeti
Since you left my house

من لما – literally ‘from when’, used for ‘since’

عم ادعيلك يا ريتك
3am éd3iilek yaa reetek
I’m praying for you, I hope that you

بنارك انتي تولعي
bnaarek énti twalle3i
Burn up in your own fires

عم ادعيلك يا ريتك تولعي بنارك – this is all one sentence. yaa reetek (‘I wish you’d…’) triggers the subjunctive of twalle3i.

لطيزي لطيزي لا ترجعي
laTiizi laTiizi laTiizi laa térja3i
Screw it, screw it, don’t come back

عملتلك احلى اغاني
3méltéllek a7la aghaani
I made great songs for you

احلى اغاني – ‘the finest songs’. We’ve seen this a7la before – which is often idiomatically translated not with a superlative but with ‘really good’, or something.

عن جرحي وعن احزاني
3an jér7i w 3an a7zaani
About my pain and my sadnesses

وما حسيتي بحناني
w maa 7asseeti b7anaani
You didn’t feel my softness

ولا صوتي عم تسمعي
wala Sooti 3am tésma3i
Nor are you hearing what I’m saying

ولا here coordinates with ما – ‘you’ve neither… nor have you’.

لطيزي لطيزي لطيزي لا ترجعي
laTiizi laTiizi laTiizi laa térja3i
Screw it, screw it, don’t come back


ولك حلي عني حلي
wlek 7élli 3anni 7élli
Go away, go away

7éll 3an – go away from X, get out of X’s face

بسرعة من قلبي فلي
bsér3a mén 2albi falli
Get out of my heart, and quickly

فل – fall/yfall is ‘to leave’. It’s not used in Damascene but it does exist in Lebanese and the coastal areas

ما بدي ياكي تضلي
maa béddi yaaki @tDélli
I don’t want you to stay

لو جيتي عم تركعي
law jiiti 3am térka3i
Even if you kneel down to me

لو جيتي – this is the law of ‘even if’

ركع يركع – to prostrate yourself – what you do in prayer

لطيزي لطيزي لطيزي لا ترجعي
laTiizi laTiizi laTiizi laa térja3i
Screw it, screw it, don’t come back

وحياتك عقلك صغير
w@7yaaték 3a2lek @zghiir
Honestly, your mind is small

وحياتك – the w- of oaths

ما جبلك الا التعكير
maa jablak élla tta3kiir
It’s brought you nothing but trouble

ما جبلك الا – ‘it’s only brought you’

حواليي بنات كتير
7awaaleyyi banaat @ktiir
There are girls all around me

وانتي ما عاد تنفعي
wénti maa 3aad ténfa3i
And you’re no use anymore

ما عاد triggering subjunctive here

لطيزي لطيزي لطيزي لا ترجعي
laTiizi laTiizi laTiizi laa térja3i
Screw it, screw it, don’t come back

كتار اللي بدون يحكولي
ktaar élli béddon yé7kuuli
There are lots who want to talk to me

كتار – ktaar (plural of ktiir) is actually relatively unusual because ktiir is generally invariable. This is an inverted structure (common in 3aammiyye) where the adjective is placed before the noun in a nominal sentence: many [are] those who want to talk to me

وبدون نظرة من عيوني
w béddon naZra mén 3ayuuni
Who want to get a look from me

Literally ‘they want a glance/look from my eyes’

دموعك ما بهموني
@dmuu3ek maa bihémmuuni
Your tears don’t bother me

ما بهموني – are not important to, do not interest me

وعمري ما بقلك تعي
w3émri maa b2éllek ta3i
I’ll never tell you to come back

عمري ما – I’ll never (‘my life I won’t…’) – a very common structure

تعي – an alternative to تعالي the imperative of ‘to come’.

لطيزي لطيزي لطيزي لا ترجعي
laTiizi laTiizi laTiizi laa térja3i
Screw it, screw it, don’t come back