Translation of the song lyrics Maisha - Idan Raichel, The Idan Raichel Project

Maisha (original)

Alone and listening to the light of the moon
An orphaned child cried to the shadows
Alone and listening to the light of the moon
Maisha prayed for someone to save her
She’d wandered for so very far
That she no longer knew her way home
The whole world knows her story
But no one knows her name
Moon, if you are there
Return so that she might be comforted
Moon, if you are there
Return so that she can sleep
Moon, if you are there
Return so that she might be comforted
Moon, if you are there
I am begging for Maisha
Return for Maisha
dedicated to the child soldiers in Northern Uganda.

Maisha (translation)

Alone, I listen as moonlight pours like silver rain
A waif's sob drifts, dissolved in the shadows' embrace
Alone, I listen as moonlight pours like silver rain
Maisha’s prayer floats up, a frail leaf on a storm’s face
She wandered—lost, the world unraveling at her feet
Until the thread to home was tangled past all knowing
Her tale the wind has scattered to every distant street
Yet none can shape her name from sorrow’s silent flowing
O moon—if somewhere you reside beyond the mist
Return to cradle her in peace’s gentle keeping
O moon—if somewhere you reside beyond the mist
Return and ease her into the hush of sleeping
O moon—if somewhere you reside beyond the mist
Return to cradle her in peace’s gentle keeping
O moon—if somewhere you reside beyond the mist
I entreat you, for Maisha, heed my pleading breath
Return for Maisha
dedicated to the child soldiers in Northern Uganda.