Love Is Better than Wine
1 This is Solomon's
most beautiful song.
She Speaks:
2 Kiss me tenderly!
Your love is better than wine,
3 and you smell so sweet.
All the young women adore you;
the very mention of your name
is like spreading perfume.
* 4 Hurry, my king! Let's hurry.
Take me to your home.
The Young Women Speak:
We are happy for you!
And we praise your love
even more than wine.
She Speaks:
Young women of Jerusalem,
it is only right
that you should adore him.
5 My skin is dark and beautiful,
like a tent in the desert
or like Solomon's curtains.
6 Don't stare at me
just because the sun
has darkened my skin.
My brothers were angry with me;
they made me work in the vineyard,
and so I neglected
my complexion.
7 My darling, I love you!
Where do you feed your sheep
and let them rest at noon?
Don't let the other shepherds
think badly of me.
I'm not one of those women
who shamelessly follow
after shepherds.
He Speaks:
8 My dearest, if you don't know,
just follow the path
of the sheep.
Then feed your young goats
near the shepherds' tents.
9 You move as gracefully
as the pony that leads
the chariot of the king.
10 Earrings add to your beauty,
and you wear a necklace
of precious stones.
11 Let's make you some jewelry
of gold, woven with silver.
She Speaks:
12 My king, while you
were on your couch,
my aroma was a magic charm.
13 My darling, you are perfume
between my breasts;
14 you are flower blossoms
from the gardens of En-Gedi.
He Speaks:
15 My darling, you are lovely,
so very lovely—
your eyes are those of a dove.
She Speaks:
16 My love, you are handsome,
truly handsome—
the fresh green grass
will be our wedding bed
17 in the shade of cedar
and cypress trees.
1 Suukuwolu la suukuwo, Sulemani le taa mu.
Suukuu foloo
Musoo ko:
2 N sumbu, n sumbu i daa la!
I la kanoo le diyaata wayinoo* ti.
3 I la tulu seeralaa diyaata ñaameŋ!
I too janjanta ko karabaanijiyo meŋ bonta,
wo le ye a tinna sunkutoolu ye i kanu.
4 N saba i nooma, ŋà m bambaŋ,
n na mansa, n samba i yaa.
M be seewoo la le, n jusoo ye laa i la kanoo to.
M be i la kanoo le jayi la ka tambi wayinoo la.
Fo musoolu si i kanu doroŋ.
5 Alitolu Yerusalaamu dimmusuriŋolu!
M balafatoo finta le, bari n ñiiñaata,
m be findiŋ ne ko Kedari tiriliisoo*,
m be ñiiñaariŋ ko Sulemani la ridoo.
6 Ali kana ali ñaa loo n kaŋ
n jaatoo la fiŋo kaŋ,
tiloo le ye m findi.
M baamaa dinkewolu kamfaata n kamma,
ì ye n ke wayini yiri kankaŋolu kantalaa ti,
m fansuŋ kankaŋo, m maŋ wo kanta noo.
7 N jusukuŋo, a fo n ye,
i ka i la saajiyolu kanta daameŋ,
ì ka i foñondiŋ daameŋ tilikuntewo.
M maŋ lafi ka n ñaadaa muuri ko cakoo,
ka i ñini i mooñoo kantarilaalu la saajii koorewolu kono.
Kewo ko:
8 Musoolu bee musu ñiimaa,
niŋ i maŋ wo dulaa loŋ,
wo to saajiyolu sinnoo nooma,
i ye i la baariŋolu daañini
kantarilaalu la tiriliisoolu maafaŋ.
9 N kanuntewo,
i ka munta le ko suu ñiimaa,
meŋ ka Firawoona la mansa sareetoo saba.
10 Ñarandi feŋolu ye i tamadaa ñiiñandi,
i kaŋo be ñarariŋ kantotaa ñiimaalu la.
11 M̀ be sani yooroolu dadaa la i ye le,
a konoŋ kesoolu ye ke kodiforoo ti.
Musoo ko:
12 Biriŋ n na mansa be laariŋ a la laaraŋo kaŋ,
n na karabaanijiyo seeroo janjanta.
13 N jusukuŋo ka munta n sunjoolu teema le
ko miiri* munku fudoo, meŋ ka seera.
14 N jusukuŋo be n ye le ko
fudani firoo seeroo,
Eni-Kedi wayini yiri kankaŋo to.
Kewo ko:
15 Tooñaa, n kanuntewo, i ñiiñaata le,
tooñaa, i ñiiñaata le,
i ñaa be le ko puraa ñaa.
Musoo ko:
16 N jusukuŋo, tooñaa-tooñaa,
i ñiiñaata, i beteyaata.
Ñaama keroo le mu ǹ na laaraŋo ti.
17 Sedari* yiroo le mu ǹ na kankaraŋo ti,
junipa yiroo keta a biloo ti.
