Sep 1, 2020 14:06
3 yrs ago
27 viewers *
Arabic term

مدبرة

Arabic to English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature Contemporary novel
محمد عبده يغني: ((...يوم أقبلت صوت لها جرحي القديم...))، وفي عقلي حيرة، وألف إجابة محتملة لسؤال واحد، ولا أدري أي الاحتمالات هو الأصح. كانوا يأكلون في إناء واحد كإخوة كما تذكر جدتي، وكانت الدنيا مدبرة، فقر وجوع، وحين أقبلت الدنيا أكل أحدهم الآخر. أما كان من الأولى أن يأكل أحدهم الآخر عند إدبار الدنيا لا عند إقبالها.

Proposed translations

+1
7 mins
Arabic term (edited): كانت الدنيا مدبرة
Selected

times of privation

Peer comment(s):

agree Aaya Tarawneh : can work as well, depending on the overall tone of the text
33 mins
Thanks a lot
agree Youssef Chabat
2 hrs
شكرا جزيلا
disagree Rasha A. : مدبرة معناه : بائسة
2 hrs
I didn't say otherwise. From the link I posted اِفتِقار، بُؤس، تَجرِيد، حِرمان، شَظَف، عَدَم، عَوَز، فاقَة، فِقدان، فَقر، مَنع the question is how to render it in a literary style
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
+4
17 mins

was hard/difficult

مُدْبِرَة

When life was hard Or when days were hard/difficult

When life gets hard = إدبار الدنيا
When life gets better = إقبال الدنيا
Peer comment(s):

agree TargamaT team
13 mins
Thank you!
agree Aaya Tarawneh : agree for getting the meaning across
18 mins
Thank you!
agree Dara Gomaa
21 mins
Thank you!
agree Yassine El Bouknify
2 days 3 hrs
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+2
34 mins

frowning

This could be a metaphorical translation; the Arabic word literally means that life had turned its back on them, and in English you sometimes hear "Life/Luck smiled/frowned on [person]" used in a similar way.
Peer comment(s):

agree Nour Almaani : very well explained thank you!
57 mins
Thank you!
agree Mai Saleh
5 hrs
Thank you =)
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55 mins

Harsh

As Muhammad Abdo was singing: "The day she showed up, my old wound started to ache", my head was teeming with confusion; one thousand possible answers for the same question, yet I couldn't tell which was the right one to pick! As my grandmother recalled, they were like siblings sharing the same table of poverty and hunger when life was harsh. But, when life started to brighten up, they turned against one another.
"Shouldn't have they done that earlier rather than now" I wonder.
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2 hrs

Miserable

حياة مدبرة معناه = حياة بائسة
Miserable life
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14 hrs

Destitute

Poor conditions
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