Arabic term
ولكن لا حياة لمن تنادي
لقد اسمعت لو ناديت حيا
It is also a famous proverb in Arabic
| 4 | No Sign Of Life |
George Aziz
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| 5 +2 | Lifeless are they you call upon |
Noha Kamal, PhD.
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| 4 +1 | Falling on deaf ears |
Mohamed Ghazal
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| 4 | Like talking to a corse |
Bert Robison
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| 3 | nobody cares |
Neamaat Shehatah
|
Proposed translations
15 years of experience
Native in: English 
, Arabic
Works in: English to Arabic, Arabic to English
No Sign Of Life
Quality stands out...
Native in: Arabic
Works in: English to Arabic, Arabic to English, French to Arabic, and 1 more.
Lifeless are they you call upon
| The non-literal translation sounds more fit. Thank you vry much |
| agree |
yzmohasseb
: Nice: both the literal and the less literal :)
12 mins
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| disagree |
Nabeel Alwyssi
: I think it must be " It falls in deaf ears"
1 hr
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No, it mustn't be. Check http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/falls on deaf ears
|
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| agree |
Randa Farhat
: falls on deaf ears
13 hrs
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| agree |
KHALID ALHASSAN
476 days
|
United Arab Emirates
It's not just a job...
Native in: Arabic (Variant: Egyptian)
Works in: English to Arabic, Arabic to English
Falling on deaf ears
| agree |
Khalid W
: "Falling on deaf ears" is good, or else "It's like talking to a brick wall". The other options here don't sound very natural in English.
3 hrs
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Thanks
|
Your One & Only Arabic Ace in the Hole
Native in: Arabic 
Works in: English to Arabic, Arabic to English, English to Persian (Farsi), and 1 more.
Like talking to a corse
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Note added at 8 hrs (2007-08-09 14:17:12 GMT) Post-grading
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I apologize that the entry was missing the letter 'p'
The phrase actually is used by poets. Here is the famous book of poetry that the phrase in English comes from. The example line I used is from the same book.
A WOMAN IN LOVE WITH THE DEAD
by Lyn Lifshin
March Street Press (2002) 109 pgs.
ISBN 1-882983-83-1 $20
Poetry
Because it is like talking to a corpse trying to convince them that they have to little free energy for the transformation.
Even when you were living it was like talking to a corpse/ You didn't hear/ Now you can sleep without nightmares.
Egypt
ETLA Accredited Translator and Member
Native in: Arabic
Works in: English to Arabic, Arabic to English
Discussion
شطر البيت ليس لِمَن ذُكِر (ولا أحسبه يقدِر على شعر كهذا) بل ربما هو لِدُريد بن الصِّمَّة
لقد أسمعت لو ناديت حيـا ولكن لا حياة لمن تنادي
ولو نارا نفخت بها أضاءت ولكن أنت تنفخ في رمادِ