Saturday Night Live: is this "real" Arabic/a genuine quotation from the Qur'an?

[do_justly_love_mercy]

This is perhaps the best of Dana Carvey’s almost invariably brilliant impressions of Bush 41. I am just wondering, are the subtitles an accurate translation of what the president is saying, or is it part of the joke that it’s nonsense/irrelevant?

Also, there is something that seems to be a quotation from the Qur’an, but it’s not clear if it’s genuine. I tried Googling.

“Your children shall wander aimlessly. Their reason shall desert them, and they shall not know where their fathers’ bones are buried.”

I think @Salibi is our only native Arabic-speaker?

 

[Salibi]

are the subtitles an accurate translation of what the president is saying, or is it part of the joke that it’s nonsense/irrelevant

They are, but they are very slow. The speaker was well into the first minute while they were still displaying subtitles for stuff he was saying at 50 seconds. I gave up trying to follow from the subtitles and just listened to the English, so I’m not sure how well they translate after that. But I presume it’s the same as how they started.

Your children shall wander aimlessly. Their reason shall desert them, and they shall not know where their fathers’ bones are buried.”

I don’t know if this is a real Qu’ran verse, as I’m not at all familiar with the book. I know only a few of the more popular verses often used as proverbs by Muslims.

I shall copy it and see if I can find anything for you.

 

[do_justly_love_mercy]

Interesting. Thanks. That’s quite some attention to detail if the text bears any relation to the script.

How is Carvey’s Arabic pronunciation? I assume it’s supposed to be comically dreadful… Carvey’s English pronunciation is often intentionally awful as well!

 

[Salibi]

How is Carvey’s Arabic pronunciation? I

He didn’t speak it. There were some words that I couldn’t understand before he said “Your children shall wander aimlessly…” that I presumed were English but which I couldn’t understand due to the accent, then realized that it was supposed to be Arabic. What I heard was “half cat, nonsense, nonsense”.

The subtitles were fine, though, but annoyingly slow.

Interesting video, all in all.

Carvey’s English pronunciation is often intentionally awful as well!

Wait…that’s not the accent of some part of the States?

 

[do_justly_love_mercy]

Wait…that’s not the accent of some part of the States?

As the president would have said, not gonna insult the accent of some of my fellow Americans. Na ga da. Wouldn’t be prudent.

What I heard was “half cat, nonsense, nonsense”.

Oh, great, that is exactly what it sounded like to me! So, the president’s Arabic was just nonsense. As nonsense goes, it was quite good. It sounded like actual words, albeit not actual Arabic words.

 

[do_justly_love_mercy]

P.S. Kennebunkport, Maine, is a real place. In his impressions of Bush, Carvey seemingly tried to mention it as often as possible, I think partly because it reflected the president’s upper-class background and partly because it just sounds so funny.

 

[Salibi]

This thread is entertaining as I have no idea whatsoever what Bush was like both as a president and a person and am thoroughly enjoying the introduction . The video made me smile a little and the names of the commentators at the end elicited a little laugh as they are nonsense Arabic too but funny nonsense Arabic. It’s like calling an Englishman Georgiki Pepervikison.

 

[DaveBj]

I googled part of the quote and got only five hits, all of which came back to the SNL transcript, complete with the mistaken use of “there” for “their”. I suspect that taking this seriously would fall into the same pit as believing that Steve Martin’s “King Tut” sketch was an accurate portrayal.

D

 

[do_justly_love_mercy]

I only lived through the final months of Bush Sr.'s presidency, so I know about the events only from history, not as an eyewitness. If you’re seeking a very brief summary, I’d say he was a decent guy who had some notable successes in foreign affairs.

As for Dana Carvey’s impression of him, it’s definitely the best of all of Saturday Night Live’s presidential impressions. Several of SNL’s impressions depend rather heavily on somewhat crude stereotypes: Reagan was a huckster and not very bright, Clinton was a redneck womanizer who hated his wife, Bush Jr. was stupid and a recovered drug addict and alcoholic.

The Bush Sr. impression was always essentially good natured and more subtle. Carvey based his impression around a few of the president’s quirks: the aversion to using pronouns, the exaggerated hand gestures, the wide grin and slightly lolling tongue, referring to his wife by the pet name “Bar”. He’s portrayed as comically cautious and moderate. The real George Bush Sr. by all accounts enjoyed Carvey’s impression of him. He invited Carvey to the Whitehouse to perform impressions for his staff, and they remained friends for the next 25 years.

 

[Hunho]

I don’t know whether the quote is from the Qu’ran, but it is very close to a line from the book of Numbers in the Old Testament:
“And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years, and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. ” (Numbers 14:33 RSV)
or “And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness.” {Numbers 14:33 KJV}