Khalini Bil Jaw is a lovely and melancholic song about a relationship that’s hit a tense spot. Starting with the title, Khalini Bil Jaw is a song full of subtleties and phrases that are useful to know but often difficult to understand if Arabic is not your primary language. Luckily, all of the verses are repeated at least twice.

We will start by focusing on the sentiment of the lyrics in the translation. Then, in the vocabulary list at the end of the post, we will dive into the literal meaning of some of the phrases and how to use them.

The original version of Khalini Bil Jaw is by Maya Nasri, but the version we’re looking at here is a more recent cover by Nina Abdel Malak.

Translation by Fi Kalam with support from Saeed Alaktaa

روق عليّ شوي
Go a little easy on me
مشيني على ضو
Walk me through it
عطيتك أكثر ما فيّ
I gave you my best
لا ما تقول لي لو
Don’t say to me, “what if”
(x2)

شو يا اللي صاير فيك
Whatever’s going on with you
وشو يا اللي بيرضيك
And whatever satisfies you
على بعضك خليك
Stay true to yourself
وخليني بالجو
And bring me into your world
(x2)

روق عليّ شوي
Go a little easy on me
مشيني على ضو
Walk me through it

روق عليّ شوي
Go a little easy on me
مشيني على ضو
Walk me through it
عطيتك أكثر ما فيّ
I gave you my best
لا ما تقول لي لو
Don’t say to me, “what if”
(x2)

شو يا اللي صاير فيك
Whatever’s going on with you
وشو يا اللي بيرضيك
And whatever satisfies you
على بعضك خليك
Stay true to yourself
وخليني بالجو
And bring me into your world
(x2)

روق عليّ شوي
Go a little easy on me
مشيني على ضو
Walk me through it

إنت يا اللي فكرك سارح
عايش بالخيال
Hey you, who’s lost in your thoughts
لو نتفة بتنسى امبارح
If you forgot a little of yesterday
كان بيمشي الحال
Fine, life went on
(x2)

سمعني حكياتك
Tell me your stories
حاكيني بنظراتك
You’re speaking to me with your glances
من نظرة وحياتك
With one look, I swear,
أنا بفهم ولو
I’ll understand it

شو يا اللي صاير فيك
Whatever’s going on with you
وشو يا اللي بيرضيك
And whatever satisfies you
على بعضك خليك
Stay true to yourself
وخليني بالجو
And bring me into your world
(x2)

روق عليّ شوي
Go a little easy on me
مشيني على ضو
Walk me through it

بتقول لي إنك جاي
You tell me you’re coming
بعيونك كلام
In your eyes, there are words
أنا بسمع غير حكاية
I hear something else
وبتضيع الأحلام
And I get lost in the fantasy
(x2)

أنا بعرف أخبارك
I know your news
ما تخبي أسرارك
You can’t hide your secrets
هيدي مش أفكارك
These ideas aren’t yours
أنا بعرف شو الجو
I know what’s going on

شو يا اللي صاير فيك
Whatever’s going on with you
وشو يا اللي بيرضيك
And whatever satisfies you
على بعضك خليك
Stay true to yourself
وخليني بالجو
And bring me into your world
(x2)

روق عليّ شوي
Go a little easy on me
مشيني على ضو
Walk me through it

Vocabulary / مفردات

خليني بالجو
Bring me up to speed; tell me what’s going on
Literal translation: bring me into the atmosphere

روق عليّ
Go easy on me (masc. command)
روقي عليّ
Go easy on me (fem. command)

على بعضك/ي/نا/ه/ها/كم/هم
One’s self
In the Lebanese and Syrian dialect, this phrase is often added to sentences to make them reflexive, for example:
على بعضك خليك
Stay true to yourself
هاد الشغل مش على بعضه
He doesn’t have it in himself to do this work

ماشي الحال
Things are fine; it’s going okay
Literal translation: the solution is walking
This is a common response to the question, كيفك؟

بضيع / بضيعت
I lose / I lost
بتضيع / تضيعت
I get lost / I got lost

تخبي / خبيت
You (masc.) or she hides / you (masc.) or she hid