Translation of the song Emina artist Maja Milinković

Sinoć kad se vraćah iz topla hamama,

Last night, returning from the warm hamam

prođoh pokraj bašče staroga imama.

I passed by the garden of the old Imam

Kad tamo u bašči, u hladu jasmina

And there, in the garden, in the shade of a jasmine,

s ibrikom u ruci stajaše Emina.

There with a pitcher in her hand stood Emina.

Ja kakva je pusta! Tako mi imana,

What beauty! By iman I could swear,

stid je ne bi bilo da je kod sultana.

She would not be ashamed if she were at the sultan’s!

Pa još kada šeće i plećima kreće,

And the way she walks and her shoulders move...

ni hodžin mi zapis više pomoć' neće!

Not even an Imam’s amulet could help me!

Ja joj nazvah selam. Al' moga mi dina,

I offered her salaam, but by my dīn,

ne šće ni da čuje lijepa Emina,

Beautiful Emina would not even hear it.

već u srebrn ibrik zahvatila vode,

Instead, scooping water in her silver pitcher,

pa niz bašču đule zaljevati ode.

Around the garden she went to water the roses.

S grana vjetar puhnu, pa niz pleći puste

A wind blew from the branches down her lovely shoulders

rasplete joj njene pletenice guste.

Unraveling those thick braids of hers.

Zamirisa kosa, k'o zumbuli plavi,

Her hair gave off a scent of blue hyacinths,

a meni se krenu bururet u glavi!

Making me giddy and confused!

Malo ne posrnuh, mojega mi dina,

I nearly stumbled, I swear by my faith,

al' meni ne dođe lijepa Emina.

But beautiful Emina did not come to me.

Samo me je jednom pogledala mrko,

She only gave me a frowning look,

niti haje, alčak, što za njome crko'!

Not caring, the naughty one, that I am crazy for her!

Umro stari pjesnik

The old poet has died,

umrla Emina

Emina has died

ostala je pusta

The empty garden of jasmine

bašča od jasmina.

was left behind

Salomljen je ibrik

The pitcher is broken

uvelo je cvijeće

The flowers have withered

pjesma o Emini

The song about Emina,

nikad umrijet neće.

will never die.