Saturday, December 1, 2012

اعيش و احيا




I saw this quote posted above on Pinterest today by Mohamed Khaled. After a little bit of speculation, this is what I think *might* be a reasonable English interpretation:


"I wanted to {truly} live, not merely exist while dreaming of {real} life. 
I wanted to bring my dreams to life and join them forever with reality..." 


I realize that the above isn't really a literal translation. Here is how I would have translated it literally based on the definitions that I usually use for these words:


"I wanted to live, not live while dreaming of life. 
I wanted to realize my dreams and marry (or join) them to the reality."


 Obviously, this literal translation does not capture the subtle shift in meaning that is intended between the words   اعيش  and     احيا  (which I had always just thought of as two different ways to say "to live").

So, my question is this... does using the word     اعيش    always carry with it a connotation of a form of living that is somehow less fulfilling, "real" or authentic than the word     احيا   ?   



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