Sluku Sluku Bathok
"I would like to tell you about a Javanese folk song that my grandma knows. It is a song created by Sunan Kalijaga, one of the nine Muslim scholars who spread Islam to Java. This rhyme is actually Arabic phrases which are too difficult to pronounce by the Javanese, however this song is in Javanese, not in Arabic." -Raditya Anandanto
Sluku Sluku Bathok
Sluku Sluku Bathok
Folk Song
Folk Song
(Javanese)
(English)
Sluku-sluku bathok*
Bathoke ela-elo
Si Romo menyang Solo
Oleh-olehe payung muntho
Mak jenthit lololoba*
Wong mati ora obah
Nek obah medheni bocah
Nek urip nggoleko duwit
Sluku-Sluku Bathok*
The coconut shell is wobbling
Father goes to Solo
He'll bring back a big umbrella.
Mak jenthit lololobah*
A dead body cannot move
If it could move, children would get scared
One must make a livelihood.
Notes
*'Sluku-Sluku Bathok' and 'Mak jenthit lololobah' mean nothing at all.
This song derived from these Arabic phrases:
Usluka batnaka
Batnaka laa ilaaha ilallah
Siru ma'an man salla
Allahu faizun 'ala man taaba
Ittakhidhillaha rabba
Man maata ra'a dhunuba
Dhunuba da'inin yaghillu yada
Ratibil qalbi bil qawlul thabit
Which means this:
Purify your souls
Fill your souls with remembrance of God
Follow those who pray
God loves those who repent
Allah is our God
God will expose our sins when we die
Our sins will lock both our hands
Take care of your souls with good deeds.
Thanks!
Thanks!
Thanks!
Thanks and Acknowledgements
Thanks to Raditya Anandanto for sharing this song with the translation and notes!
ꦩꦠꦸꦂꦤꦸꦮꦸꦤ꧀
(Matur nuwun)
