by Teddy Afro; Translation by HFGK, 2006

Azaan, the mosque’s chanting is heralding daybreak;
I am heading for the station, the early train to take.
By chance, she came to Harar^[2] – a rare guest from Shegerr;^[3]
And back to a distant land, she took my heart with her.

And yet – do you forget?
The age-old haven Our Ethiopia has been; 
Where Muslims and Christians have long lived in love, as kin.
My house is ample for us both.
Boundless love will be our oath.
You firm in your faith, and I in mine;
We’ll share my humble home, unconfined.
Shemendefer…

The Creator crafted you with such beauty untold;
Not without fear of Allah, to slay beholders cold.
Can you not understand when one loves you so?
Your answer to my love, neither yes nor no.
Oh yours is a beauty - a love, extraordinary,
Oh mercy, Heavens, Oh, hear me…!
 
Shemendefer - Take me to My Love, to Shegerr,
Make haste on the rails, Oh train!
As no longer can I bear this pain.

My home is Harar, my birthplace Qulubi; ^[4]
It was there you came to worship, there I happened to be. 
And as sure as on that day you entered my heart;
If I live in faith each day, praying not to depart;
From the Saha Sitta and His Sacred Ten decrees;
My love for you, should not The Lord displease.

In Shegerr, Addis A’ba, your own home town, indeed;
Does Raguel Church not face Anwar Masjid?
Though parted by a mere mortal fence;
In concert to the skies their prayers rise, and hence;
Both the church’s Qidassie and the mosque’s Azaan,
The Creator hears them – in symphony – as one.

In Allah’s name I can still swear;
And you by Saint Qulubi’s prayer.
Come into my home, do come inside.
And leave your cord of faith firmly tied. 

Oh, can you not see that I love you so
Your answer remains, neither yes nor no.
Oh yours is a beauty- a love, extraordinary,
Oh mercy, Heavens, Oh, hear me…!

Shemendefer - Take me to My Love, to Shegerr,
Make haste on the rails, Oh train!
As no longer, can I bear this pain.

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[1] An appellation derived from the French term “chemin de fer” for ‘railway’; colloquially  used in Ethiopia in reference to the railway station and/or its immediate environs.
[2] Harar - a town in eastern Ethiopia  (Hararghe region) home to 999 mosques, and considered the fourth most holy city in Islam after Mecca, Medina & Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.
[3] Shegerr – an alias for Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia.
[4] Qulubi  - a town in Hararghe region - seat of the famed St. Gabriel Cathedral - an important Ethiopian Orthodox Christian pilgrimage destination.
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