Mohsen Namjoo's Ey Sareban (O Cameleer)

Yes, it is time for another translation of a Mohsen Namjoo song. “Ey Sareban” (O Cameleer) is a classic ode to forbidden or otherwise ill-fated love. There are only two sounds in this song–Mohsen’s singing and his setar playing–but the combination is pure gold.

The poem makes a reference to Leily and Majnoon, which is the Middle Eastern equivalent of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliette.

The song is below, followed by the lyrics and my translation underneath. My comments on the poem and translation are further below.

Mohsen Namjoo - Ey Sareban (O cameleer) English Translation by Vahid Dejwakh	محسن نامجو - ای ساربان
O cameleer, O caravan! Where are you taking my Leila Do you not see that by taking my Leila, You also take my life and my heart	ای ساربان، ای کاروان لیلای من کجا می بری با بردن لیلای من جان و دل مرا می بری
O cameleer, where are you going Why are you taking my Leila O cameleer, where are you going Why are you taking my Leila	ای ساربان کجا می روی لیلای من چرا می بری ای ساربان کجا می روی لیلای من چرا می بری
To the exchange of our sacred vows Our only witness was the Lord above As long as the world keeps spinning May our love thus remain in place	در بستن، پیمان ما تنها گواه ما شد خدا تا این جهان برپا بود این عشق ما بماند به جا
O cameleer, where are you going Why are you taking my Leila O cameleer, where are you going Why are you taking my Leila	ای ساربان کجا می روی لیلای من چرا می بری ای ساربان کجا می روی لیلای من چرا می بری
All the piety I had in this ephemeral world Reduced to this torch of love, which became my life A tear shed in the remembrance of a loved one is joyful To suffer for the sake of love is to live joyfully	تمامی دينم به دنيای فانی شراره عشقی که شد زندگانی به ياد ياری خوشا قطره اشکی به سوز عشقی خوشا زندگانی
O God, may the love in people's hearts Remain there, as it is in our hearts For the story of Leily and Majnun was fictional But may our story be eternal	هميشه خدايا، محبت دل ها به دل ها بماند بسان دل ما که ليلی و مجنون فسانه شود حکايت ما جاودانه شود
Why do you now flee from my love Don't you see the sorrow in my eyes How this sorrow pains me, you cannot know I will not survive after you leave, I swear! Witness the death of my heart, then leave Like a devestating tornado, tear all the flowers Completely off my weeping branches, then leave For I am that lonely remaining tree Still standing after the storm has passed All the branches of its existence Broken by the wrath of nature	تو اکنون ز عشقم گريزانی غمم را ز چشمم نمی خوانی از اين غم چه حالم نمی دانی پس از تو نمونم برای خدا تو مرگ دلم را ببين و برو چو طوفان سختی ز شاخه غم گل هستی ام را بچين و برو که هستم من آن تک درختی که در پای طوفان نشسته همه شاخه های وجودش ز خشم طبيعت شکسته
O cameleer, O caravan! Where are you taking my Leila Do you not see that by taking my Leila, You also take my life and my heart	ای ساربان، ای کاروان لیلای من کجا می بری با بردن لیلای من جان و دل مرا می بری
O cameleer, where are you going Why are you taking my Leila O cameleer, where are you going Why are you taking my Leila	ای ساربان کجا می روی لیلای من چرا می بری ای ساربان کجا می روی لیلای من چرا می بری

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Comments

This song is, of course, profoundly sad. At first, we are wondering why someone might be carrying the author’s love away to a foreign land, away across the desert.

What type of forbidden love is this? Is she a princess and he a poor man? Did her father have her sent away in order to foil their plans to be together? Is Leila tied up, forced on this difficult journey against her will?

The singer has abandoned his religion and has hung on only to this love, which is now being torn away from him. Nevertheless, he believes his remembrance of Leila and his crying for her is the only way to retain joy in his life. He even shares goodwill towards humanity, that all may experience love the way he has. He also prays that their love endures forever.

One can simply read this story as a classic love story, yes.

But the last stanza opens this poem up for even more meaning than that, in at least two different ways.

On the one hand, there’s the decidedly less romantic interpretation where Leila is an allegory for any addiction one might have. The singer is simply in agony because he does not have access to his drug, to his hit of dopamine or what-have-you. This drug need not be an actual biochemical drug, of course–it can simply be an addiction to a cell phone, to an ideology, social media, etc. The drug couldn’t care less of him and his suffering. The wrath of nature, of biology, takes its toll on his nervous system going through withdrawal pains.

Even this melancholic interpretation has a positive and optimistic message, however. In the end, the addict expected to not be able to survive being without his drug–but he does. He breaks through the intense suffering caused by separation, and comes out the other side, purified from his demons.

Before you chastise me for ruining this beautiful song, let me present yet another interpretation–one that I actually find the most compelling here.

Leila represents life itself. The cameleer is time. Time is slowly taking away the singer’s life. Here is a meditation on how experiencing love is the most important part of life, for love (in the broadest sense, including agape) gives meaning to memories and to suffering itself. In the end, the singer experiences a moment of almost giving up on love, of thinking there is nothing beyond life. “When life ends, it will be the death of me, I swear!” he proclaims.

Yet even after death, he is still standing there. Nature, time, has destroyed his body, plucking away every bud of youth that remained–but he is still standing. If Leila is life, what is he? Consciousness itself?