Zulu(+Xhosa+English)/Xhosa: Mbube

OK, so what is going on here? The title lists three different language possibilities, and one is a three-language mix! Well, we've got a bit of a mess here. So, let me go down the path I actually went. I started by randomly finding something about Mbube being the original of "The lion sleeps tonight", so I looked up the lyrics and found augendweise and Genius, but also this Miriam Makeba video, which didn't match the lyrics like at all. So let's look at the lyrics, matched with the translation at augendweise, and analyze them:

Njalo Ekuseni Uya Waletha Amathamsanqa Yebo! Amathamsanqa Mbube Uyimbube Uyimbube Uyimbube Uyimbube Uyimbube Mama We He! He! He! He! Uyimbube Mama We We We We We We Uyimbube Uyimbube Kusukela Kudala Kuloku Kuthiwa Uyimbube Uyimbube Mama

Every Morning You Bring Us Good Luck Yes! Good Luck Lion You're A Lion You're A Lion You're A Lion You're A Lion You're A Lion, Mama! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! You're A Lion, Mama Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh You're A Lion You're A Lion Long, Long Ago People Used To Say You're A Lion You're A Lion, Mama

OK, so looks pretty simple, it's Zulu, and:

1. L. 1 «Njalo Ekuseni Uya Waletha Amathamsanqa»;
   
   • Njalo: always;
   • Ekuseni: e-…-eni + ukusa "dawn, daybreak", so "at dawn, at daybreak";
   • Uyawaletha: this is a single word, u- "you" + -ya- meaningless infix + -wa- class 6 object concord + -letha "bring", present tense;
   • Amathamsanqa: this is not found on isiZulu.net, but seems to mean "good luck"; I wonder if it's Xhosa?
   So «Always at dawn/daybreak you bring good fortune», pretty much what the translation says;
2. L. 2 Yebo means yes;
3. L. 3 is Amathamsanqa again;
4. L. 4 is Mbube "lion";
5. The rest is mostly Uyimbube "he is a lion" (class 1/1a/3) or "you are a lion"; I wonder if, when "mama" is involved, one should switch to "he is a lion" because "mama" isn't a lion AFAIK, unless it's a generic interjection and then it should be surrounded by commas;
6. Other line «Kusukela Kudala Kuloku Kuthiwa»;
   
   • Kusukela: ku- class 15/17 subject + -sukela "originate at" and more meanings, so "it originates/starts at", basically treated as a proposition meaning "from" or "since";
   • Kudala: long ago; another verb becoming grammaticalized, it is originally ku- + -dala "be old";
   • Kulokhu: yes, -kh- there, ku- "in/at/to/from" + -lokhu "this (place)";
   • Kuthiwa: ku- + -thiwa "be said";
   So «Since long ago in this (place) it is said».

Pretty simple stuff. Then you look at the video, and it doesn't match at all. So you look for another video, and probably land on Solomon Linda's original, which seems to basically match the lyrics above, except ekuseni is actually alameni or the likes, what is that? And also, the last line is completely gone! Where did that come from? Anyway, "alameni" doesn't seem to exist in Zulu, so we need to get creative. We find "elemini", "that of the morning", but it doesn't seem to fit because e- isn't class 1 or class 9 (that of imbube) but class 6, so we go for "elamani", probably a "prefixless vocative" (my guess) of iselamani "sibling", or perhaps "brother". OK, that is plausible, let's let it be. On Lyricstranslate, we find a bunch of Mbube and Uyimbube, and have the first line added to it.
But Miriam Makeba? Well, you go on Lyricstranslate, and find the Genius lyrics, with comment «lyrics importet from "Genius". not sure if this transcript is actually so "Genius".», so you try to give an approximate transcription to show just how much the lyrics don't match, and instead of unpublishing that thing and letting you post a transcription request, they put the awful super-boneappletea transcription as the lyrics. Ugh. You move to Quora, and find out it's Xhosa, not Zulu, so no wonder you had trouble with it. After a bunch of interaction with a Quoran, as well as comparing with jiosaavn, found by said Quoran, here is the text that comes into existence, with "yelele", "he's the one who rests" in Zulu, taken as Musical Gibberish (denoted by (G)) as per the Quoran's advice:

[0:00-0:02] Walal' emina [0:02-0:08] Sadliw' amathamsanqa mama [0:08-0:09] Hay! (G) [0:11-0:19] Yeeee ye ye ye ye ye yeeee (G) [0:20-0:21] Hao, (?) [0:21-0:23] Kuthen’ engath' andiva kahle nje, mfwethu? [0:24-0:26] Yinton’ engathi ndiyanxula nje? [0:26-0:28] Bathi walal' emina [0:28-0:34] Sadliw' amathamsanqa mama [0:34-0:35] Hay! (G) [0:36-0:45] Yeeee ye ye ye ye ye yeeee (G) [0:45-0:46] Uiya (G) [0:48-0:54] Hiiiiiiiiyo yelele (G) [0:54-0:56] Uyimbube, mama, bo [0:56-0:58] Helele helele (G) [0:58-1:00] Ndanxila bo [1:00-1:02] Ndazula mna [1:02-1:04] Ndanxila [1:04-1:05] Helele(G) mama [1:05-1:07] Ndanxila bo [1:07-1:09] Ndazula ma [1:09-1:11] Ndanxila [1:11-1:13] Yelele(G) mama [1:13-1:17] Yehelele helele helele helele (G) [1:17-1:19] Bathi uyimbube, mama, bo [1:19-1:20] Ndazula mama [1:20-1:24] Yehelele helele helele helele (G) [1:24-1:26] Bathi uyimbube mama [1:26-1:28] Yelele(G) ma [1:28-1:32] Hiiiiiiiiyo yelele (G) [1:32-1:34] Uyimbube mama, bo [1:34-1:35] Yelele(G) ma [1:35-1:39] Hiiiiiiyo woow woow (G) [1:39-1:42] Uyimbube mama, bo [1:42-1:43] Ndazula ma [1:43-1:47] He He He He (G) [1:47-1:49] Uyimbube mama [1:49-1:50] Yelele ma (G) [1:50-1:54] He He He He (G) [1:54-1:56] Uyimbube mama [1:56-1:58] Yelele(G) ma [1:58-2:01] Ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya (G) [2:02-2:04] Uyimbube mama, bo [2:04-2:06] Ndazi wa mama [2:06-2:09] Ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya (G) [2:09-2:11] Uyimbube mama, bo [2:11-2:13] Yelele(G) mama [2:13-2:16] Ndithi nakh’ kuthetha mna [2:16-2:19] Kwasupapa(?) nxila mathola(?) bo [2:19-2:20] Yelele(G) mama [2:20-2:24] Ndithi nakh’ kuthetha mna [2:24-2:27] Kwasupapa(?) nxila mathola(?) bo [2:27-2:28] Yelele(G) mama [2:28-2:32] Hey Hey Hey Hey (G) [2:32-2:33] Uyimbube mama [2:33-2:35] Yelele(G) ma [2:35-2:39] Awu yielele elele elele elele (G) [2:39-2:42] Bathi uyimbube mama [2:42-2:43] Yelele(G) ma [2:43-2:46] Yi yi yi yi yi yi yi yi yi yi yi yi (G) [2:46-2:49] Uyimbube mama, bo [2:49-2:50] Elele(G) mama [2:50-2:54] Yi yi yi yi yi yi yi yi yi yi yi yi (G) [2:54-2:57] Uyimbube mama, bo [2:57-2:58] Elele(G) mama [2:58-3:01] Walal' emina [3:01-3:06] Sadliw' amathamsanqa mama [3:06-3:07] Yiza! [3:08-3:17] Yaaaa ya ya ya ya ya yaaaa (G)

He slept {with me (?)} We experienced(?) good luck mama Hay! (G) Yeeee ye ye ye ye ye yeeee (G) ?? Why does it seem like I just can’t hear well, brother? What is it, like I’m just drunk? They say he slept {with me (?)} We experienced(?) good luck mama Hay! (G) Yeeee ye ye ye ye ye yeeee (G) Uiya (G) Hiiiiiiiiyo yelele He’s a lion, mama, oh Helele helele I am drunk oh I wandered, I did I was drunk Helele mama (G) I am drunk oh I wandered ma I was drunk Yelele mama (G) Yehelele helele helele helele (G) They say he’s a lion, mama, oh I wandered mama Yehelele helele helele helele (G) They say he’s a lion, mama Yelele ma (G) Hiiiiiiiiyo yelele (G) He’s a lion, mama, oh Yelele ma (G) Hiiiiiiyo woow woow (G) He’s a lion, mama, oh I wandered ma He He He He (G) He’s a lion mama Yelele ma (G) He He He He (G) He’s a lion mama Yelele ma (G) Ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya (G) He’s a lion, mama, oh I knew hey mama Ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya (G) He’s a lion, mama, oh Yelele mama (G) ?? ?? Yelele mama (G) ?? ?? Yelele mama (G) Hey Hey Hey Hey (G) He’s a lion, mama Yelele ma (G) Awu yielele elele elele elele (G) They say he’s a lion, mama Yelele ma (G) Yi yi yi yi yi yi yi yi yi yi yi yi (G) He’s a lion, mama, oh Elele mama (G) Yi yi yi yi yi yi yi yi yi yi yi yi (G) He’s a lion, mama, oh Elele mama (G) He slept {with me (?)} We experienced(?) good luck mama Come on! Yaaaa ya ya ya ya ya yaaaa (G)

OK, so we have some uncertain bits still. Let's do a partial analysis, going as far as we currently can, and pointing out text uncertainties too. The translations above are the consequence of this analysis.

1. L. 1 «Walal' emina»;
   
   • Walal(a): wa- subject (I presume a fusion of u- cl. 1/3 or 2nd singular + -a- past tense morpheme?), -lala "sleep";
   • Emina is uncertain; I somehow (presumably Google) got a translation "with me", but with should be na- and I is mna, so Idk; even with Zulu we can't analyze this word;
2. L 2 «Sadliw' amathamsanqa mama»;
   
   • Sadliw(a): presumably si- "we" + -a- past tense + -dliwa, what does this mean? "To be eaten". Ummm… Zulu meanings «be eaten», «be drunken», «be bitten», «suffer from», «get corroded»; Glosbe is of no help; my guessed "experienced" is from a more positive rereading of "suffer from";
   • Amathamsanqa is again "good fortune" as far as I know;
   • Mama is mama;
3. L. 3 «Hay!» is (G), as is l. 4 «Yeeee ye ye ye ye ye yeeee», l. 5 «Hao» isn't crackable because that word is in no source of mine, but it sounds like a calling interjection ("hey" or similar), and in fact makes me think of Chinese, which is all that appears on Glosbe "hen hao" lol, l. 6 «Kuthen’ engath' andiva kahle nje, mfwethu?» we can finally analyze :);
   
   • Kuthen(i): why;
   • Engath(i): as if;
   • Andiva: a- negative + -ndi- "I" + -va or -iva or -yiva, can't figure out the base form, "hear", as far as Glosbe and Google are concerned;
   • Kahle: well;
   • Nje: just, simply, only;
4. L. 7 «Yinton’ engathi ndiyanxula nje?»;
   
   • Yinton(i): yi- copulative + -ntoni "what";
   • engathi see above;
   • ndiyanxula: ndi- "I" + -ya- infix + -nxula "be drunk";
   • nje see above;
5. L. 8 «Bathi walal' emina», bathi is ba- "they" + -thi "say", the rest up to l. 13 is repetitions or (G);
6. L. 14 «Uyimbube, mama, bo» is the uyimbube from above, mama, and bo which seems to mean something like "oh", L. 15 «Helele helele» is (G);
7. L. 16 «Ndiyanxila bo» is actually a half-guess, the lyrics would give ndanxila which is past, I hear kyanxila or yanxila, so I made it present with that -ya- infix, and -nxila means "be drunk" (wait, wasn't it nxula? I guess both exist and are synonyms…);
8. L. 17 «Ndazula mna»;
   
   • Ndazula: ndi- "I" + -a- past tense + -zula "wander";
   • mna: I;
9. L. 18 «Ndanxila» is the past tense version, then L. 19 «Helele(G) mama», then a repetition (or almost) in ll. 19-23, then l. 24 «Yehelele helele helele helele» is (G), l. 25 «Bathi uyimbube, mama, bo» is a repetition + bathi which we already analyzed, l. 26 «Ndazula mama» is basically analyzed already, then ll. 27-44 are a bunch of repetitions or (G);
10. L. 45 «Ndazi wa mama», or «Thasi wa mama» as the lyrics online would put it;
    
    • Ndazi: ndi- "I" + -a- past tense + -azi "know";
    • wa: hey, a calling interjection;
    • mama: mama;
11. Ll. 49-50 «Ndithi nakh’ kuthetha mna / Kwasupapa(?) nxila mathola(?) bo», or «Thithila kuthatham' (u)makwas' / Upapa nxila mathola wo» as I originally heard them, or «Thith' iloth' uthetha nnapasa papa nxwila mathola bo» as I hear them at 1:58-2:03 of Angelique Kidjo's version, or «Ndithi nakhu kuthetha mna nosapho / Ngok nxila kwakho» as jiosaavn would have them, are a mystery even to the Quoran, who said he'll need the help of a native; it seems ukuba nako/nakho means "to be able to", and -nako alone also has that meaning; perhaps ndith' inak' kuthetha n' mna, «I say he is able to speak to me»? "nosapho" means "and family" (or "with family", I suppose), but I cannot hear it;
12. L. 51 is then (G), then ll. 52-54 are repetitions, ll. 55-66 are repetitions or (G), and ll. 67-70 are the first 4, save for Hay being replaced by yiza, "come thou!".

So we have quite a few text uncertainties and three mysteries: the first two lines, the hao, and the mystery lines with uncertain text. But until someone who speaks Xhosa comes along, that will have to do.
So we have one more mystery to solve: where does «Kusukela kudala kulokhu kuthiwa» come from? That is where I hop over to the Wikipedia article on the song, and start going through all versions:

• 1939 Solomon Linda and the Evening Birds, yes we've seen it, nope;
• 1951 In the first film adaptation of Cry, the Beloved Country, nope, only mbube and uyimbube here;
• 1960 Miriam Makeba, on Miriam Makeba, or maybe the 1963 version, whichever the case, we already know this is a big fat nope;
• 1988 Ladysmith Black Mambazo, as "Mbube", nope, just uyimbube and mbube here; wait a minute, what are those words in the middle of the video? New version yet? No way I'm covering it :);
• 1991 The Elite Swingsters, doesn't have the line, also, 100% instrumental;
• 1994 Ladysmith Black Mambazo, as "Mbube (The Lion Sleeps Tonight)", English starts creeping in, but nope;
• 1996 Soweto String Quartet, as "Imbube", nope;
• 2005 Soweto Gospel Choir, as "Imbube", was it the previous one? Or did I not look for it?
• 2006 Ladysmith Black Mambazo, as "Mbube", them again? I guess I got fed up of that name :); oh wait, I have a link; whatever, I just recovered it form 1988 before putting the correct one up there :);
• 2007 CH2 and Soweto String Quartet, as "Imbube" on Pap & Paella, not sure if I looked for this;
• 2010 Angélique Kidjo, as "Mbube" on Õÿö, oh look, Makeba again!
• 2019 Lebo M, on The Lion King soundtrack, we're going very far.

Then I guess I tried a couple "Wimoweh"s, and even checked out The Tokens, but nope.
So I got fed up, and decided to look for «"Njalo ekuseni uya waletha amathamsanqa -Miriam -Makeba» on Google, which finally landed me on justsomelyrics, where I found the correct author, thus being able to find a video and upload a precise transcription on Lyricstranslate.
But it doesn't end there. Oh no. See, if you Google "wimoweh", you will probably land on Google lyrics mixing Zulu and English. That's because of a Disney version, whose lyrics, of which the Google lyrics are a subset, can be found on mickeyandheroes fandom, and the video is here… well it doesn't exactly match, so let me transcribe it precisely:

Mm… haa…
A-mm (x2)
A-mm (Lala ke) (ke~kahle? Lala kahle = sleep well)
A-mm

In the jungle, the mighty jungle,
The lion sleeps tonight.
In the jungle, the mighty jungle,
The lion sleeps tonight.

Ref.
A uyimbube, uyi-mbube (wiiii)
A uyimbube, uyi-mbube (uyimbube mama)
A uyimbube, uyi-mbube (wiiii)
A uyimbube, uyi-mbube (uyimbube mama)

'ngonyama ifile. (The lion… is dead?? That's ifile to me…)
'ngonyama ilele. (The lion sleeps.)
Thula. (Hush.)

Near the village, the peaceful village,
The lion sleeps tonight.
Near the village, the peaceful village,
The lion sleeps tonight.

Ref. (ah mama)

Ingonyama ilele bo ooh. (The lion sleeps oh ooh.)
Hush!
A-mm

Hush my darling, don't fear my darling:
The lion sleeps tonight.
Hush my darling, don't fear my darling:
The lion sleeps tonight.

Iiii uyimbube mama, ha ma, bathi
Iiii uyimbube mama,
Hai baba yo
Oh, elele mama yo.
Hai baba yo
Helele mama yo.

Ixesha lifikile. (Time has come. This is Xhosa, and I hear more of (l)ifile here.)
Ixesha lifikile. (Time has come. This is Xhosa, and I hear more of (l)ifile here.)
Lala. (Sleep.)
Lala kahle. (Sleep well.)
Lala kahle. (Sleep well.)
Hiyoo, halele

Near the village, the peaceful village,
The lion sleeps tonight.
Near the village, the peaceful village,
The lion sleeps tonight.

A Ref.
Ah lala
Oh, my little darling,
Don't fear, my little darling.
Hebo
My little darling.
Don't fear, my little darling.
Baba, bathi 'ngonyama ilele. (Dad, they say the lion sleeps.)
Don't fear, my little darling.
Ah ah
Oh, my little darling,

And that is it for now. We will see if something comes up that completes that Xhosa version by Makeba. Let me just listen to Kidjo to see if her lyrics are a subset of Makeba's… Also, I hear «Walala mini sodliwa amathamsanqa» at the beginning… She has ndakunxila, what is that?