ALBANIA
By Enver Sulejman

Her name is Albania, the breathtaking.
She is a snowdrop on the foothills of hope.
She exhales life: breath her
While with the winds of change you cope.

Her name is Albania, the beautiful.
She is the sunrise of red, yellow and gold.
If you are tired, lean on her,
Recuperating within eagledomm's fold.

Her name is Albania, the timeless.
She is the legend, the land of sunlight.
Study her anatomy, be part of her flame,
Hold aloft the torch of eternal light.

Her name is Albania, the magnificient.
She is your sanctuary, your promised land,
And we, her children are her future-
The past and present of our Motherland.

( Originally published in ILLYRIA, New York 1997)

Oh, poor Albania, bruised from lashes
Who dared push your face in ashes?
Hailed once a woman of noble birth,
Mother you were called by men of this Earth.
Rich you were, to tell the truth.
With lovely girls and handsome youth,
With lots of cattle, gardens, farms
With Latin rifle and other arms
With men of courage and women of cheer
In all the world you had no peer.



When guns boomed like the crack of thunder
Albania's men rushed out of yonder,
And always fought well, till the end came,
And never soiled their name with shame.
When men of Albania pledged to fight,
All of Rumelia shivered with fright,
In fierce battles they fought and died,
With honor their memory inscribed.



But now, Albania, you're a sight of woe
Just like an oak tree brought down low!
All step on you as if you were dead,
And not one kind word to you is said.
Once you dressed well, like a woman high-born,
Today, your fine robes are badly torn,
You've lost your name, your faith, too,
And none is to blame for it but you.



Albanians, you are slaying one another,
Some shout for country, some against sin,
One says I'm Turk, another Latin,
Others Greeks or Slavs profess to be,
Fools! You are brothers can't you see?


Priests and mullas have made you mute
To keep you split and destitute.
Foreigners sit by your fireplace,
Your wives and sisters they disgrace,
And if money comes knocking on your door
The faith of your father you ignore,
You become slaves of alien boors,
Whose race and tongue differ from yours.



Weep, oh your rifles and you who care
Albanians, like birds, are caught in a snare,
Weep with us, you warriors all around,
For Mother Albania, lying on ground;
She has no bread or meat to eat,
Nor fire in the hearth, not light or heat,
Pale of cheek and unrespected,
She lies broken and neglected!
Gather you women, so pretty and spry,
Who know so well to weep and cry.
For she's shorn of honor and forlorn,
She's like a widow whose man is gone,
She's like a mother without a son!



Who has the heart to let cruel death,
Take this brave women, panting for breath?
Can we allow aliens to smother
And trample on our cherished Mother?
No, no! Such shame no one can beat,
Such vile conduct all men forswear!
Let warriors die carrying the banner
Before Albania is lost in this manner

Awake, Albania, it's time to rise
And bind yourselves with brotherly ties;
Look not to church or mosque for pietism,
The faith of Albanians is Albanianism!

From Tivar all the way to Preveze
The sun sends down its light and rays;
It's our land, the land of our ancestors,
To the death we'll defend it from predators
Better to die for it like the man of old,
Than in shame before the Lord!

Några stycken..

He who has no heart, has no heels. --South
It is easy to cut the tail of a dead wolf. --Shkodër
He who builds with sweat, defends with blood. --South
The mud [in Albania] is sweeter than honey [elsewhere] --Vlorë
The sun shines even when it is cloudy. --Gjirokastër
Clean hand, empty stomach --South
The truth prevails like oil over water. --North

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Albanian_proverbs