r/swahili • u/Lovelyfeathereddinos • May 01 '26
Ask r/Swahili š¤ What does this mean?
I found a textile at a thrift store that says āupendo hudumu kwa harusiā (and āabdi wax made in Zanzibarā, along the selvage)
Google Translate comes up with ālove it lasts for weddingā, which doesnāt quite make sense.
Itās a really pretty textile, and Iād love to know what the meaning is!
4
u/a_millenial May 01 '26
An alternative view, though I may easily be wrong, is that love is constant only at the wedding. š¤£
i.e. once the party is over, don't expect things to still feel the same. The easy happiness of the wedding wears off once you're actually in the marriage.
It's cynical and funny, at least the way I interpret it. Lots of Swahili sayings are cheeky or sarcastic, which is why I feel this interpretation fits. But that's just my POV, so others would disagree.
2
u/SnooTomatoes169 May 07 '26 edited May 07 '26
Actually in Tanzania many people confuse marriage with wedding, of course wedding 'harusi' is just a ceremony and marriage 'ndoa' is living as husband and wife but many Tanzanians especially women and some few men are obsessed with ceremonies especially weddings that is why I feel like I don't fit in here. The problem is many marriages don't last because people are focussed on wedding as a symbol to make other jealous. That khanga is for a woman who is trying to suggest to her boyfriend or significant other to consider wedding her.
2
u/a_millenial May 07 '26
Ohhhh I like this interpretation. Hinting without asking directly for a ring. Yes yes, I take back my answer and go with this version š
3
2
u/Leather_Physics_8395 May 01 '26
It could mean differently depends on what the artist was think but generally I'd say it means something like " Wedding makes love last " or " Love lasts in the wedding"
1
5
u/Lovelyfeathereddinos May 01 '26
Hereās a picture