Arabic → English transcript

She was not an artist standing on the sidelines,

she was a daughter of her homeland when it decided to scream.

From Damascus her voice emerged,

laden with the memory of old houses and a dialect she never compromised on.

One day, her Syrianness was not an ornament, it was a presence and an identity,

Asala Nasri—“ Sakatna Ktir”( We Stayed Silent Too Long)

Do not stay silent about injustice

You have no idea

When the Syrian revolution erupted in 2011,

she did not hide behind the phrase“ art is far from politics.”

She stated clearly that she was with the people, with dignity, against repression,

and she declared her opposition to the deposed regime at a

time when silence was safer. She paid the price, she was attacked,

accused of treason, and lost a lot,

and was forcibly separated from a land that preserves its details by heart.

Yet she did not change her dialect and did not soften her tone. Syria is a paradise

and joy is Syrian

And to this day, she still sings for the country and its causes,

her stance has not turned into a memory or into a passing phase.

The latest was the theme song of the series“ Al Qayser,”“ No Place No Time,”

and despite the controversy stirred around the work, its actors,

and its filming locations, Asala brought Syrians

together once again around the pain The loss and the pain of not closing

the files of the detainees or the forcibly disappeared is intense Your blows,

you oppressor, will never bow my head

In her voice,

the“ tatar” was not just a song but a reminder that there are names that are gone,

And stories that were never told,

and mothers who are still waiting at the door of time