I
Ha waktu kaw kiyakitaan
Pangatayan ku nahaylan
Jimunjung pa Tuhan daran
Bangmayan kaw masuratan
II
Ha katigidlüman sin düwm
Sahaya bulan, bituun
Hibuk sin sampuwak alun
Pangatayan ha laum uyum
III
Sumping kaw, sumping manisan
Warna’ mu kaiibugan
Tarasul kaw iban daman
Uyum mu bāngaw ha āyan
IV
Ina’, ama’ ku diya isun
Pa māas mu kaw maksurun
Pag addat in paunahun
Aturan Islam agarun
V
In halga’ mu kauūgan
Labi dayng kumala’ intan
Tanda’ lasa kaymu mattan
Kamaruwan mu ayaran
VI
Misan kaw dayang bituun
Tuyuan ta kaw abutun
Misan kaw dagat maalun
Saddiya ta kaw languyun
***
English translation by Warina Sushil A. Jukuy:
My Dearly Beloved
I
The moment I lay sight on you
O how my heart is enthralled
Time and again my Lord I beseech
That thou shall be my fated mate.
II
In the darkness of the night
Illumined by the moon, stars alight
Music is the crashing waves
Reviving this smile in my heart.
III
Thou art a flower, a blooming exotic flower
Thy vibrant glow they greatly covet
Your beauty itself my poem and rhyme
Thy smile my rainbow in the sky!
IV
With my mother, father I confabulate
Through your parents myself I humbly present
To revere thee be put forth first
In obeisance to the Islamic tenets.
V
Your worth indeed is dearly priceless
Than any diamonds or precious gems
Proof of my love truly manifests
Thy purity I have kept chaste
VI
Even if you be a star my darling dearest
However distant I shall strive to reach
Be you an ocean of tempestuous seas
I dare swim you even if my life I risk to death.
(Mindanawon Abroad is MindaNews’ effort to link up with Mindanawons overseas who would like to share their experiences in their adopted countries. Gamson Jr Mawallil Quijano of Sulu is a registered Radiologic Technologist who works in Doha, Qatar).
