Nursery Rhymes›African Lullabies›Iya ni Wura
With Tobia · Nigeria

Iya ni Wura

Key: C~70 BPMGuitar & Piano chords

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A beloved Yoruba song from Nigeria that is part lullaby, part playground rhyme across West Africa. It honors motherhood itself — the months of pregnancy and years of care a mother gives — and is often sung as a gentle ode while rocking a child to sleep. Here you will find a singable English adaptation, the meaning, and chords.

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Verse 1

C           F      C
Ìyá ni wúrà iyebíye,
F       C      G7
Tí a kò lè fowo ra.
(Mother is a precious gem — one that money cannot buy.)
C       F      C
Mother, you’re a gem so rare,
F      C      G7
No amount of gold could compare.

Verse 2

C       F        C
O lóyún mi f’óṣù mẹ́sàn-án,
F      C     G7
O pọ̀n mí f’ọ́dún mẹ́ta.
(She carried me for nine months — she nursed me for three years.)
C       F       C
Nine long months she carried me,
F      C      G7
Three more years, so tenderly.
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Chords — guitar & piano

C
×
Guitar
CEG
Piano
F
Guitar
CFA
Piano
G7
Guitar
DFGB
Piano
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What this song means

Iya ni Wura (“Mother is a precious gem”) is a beloved Yoruba song, part lullaby and part playground rhyme, sung across Nigeria and West Africa. It honors motherhood itself — the nine months of pregnancy and years of tender care a mother gives — and is often hummed gently while rocking a child toward sleep.

Traditional Yoruba song, passed down through oral tradition. The English lines here are a singable adaptation for this arrangement, offered as a respectful tribute — not a literal translation.

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Sources & rights

  • Words and melody: see the credits in the text of this page. Older songs are traditional or in the public domain; songs by known authors keep their authors' credit.
  • Recording and arrangement: real instruments played by hand, no AI music, by Relax In No Time.
  • Chords: written by us for guitar and piano.
  • Translation: our own meaning-for-meaning translation, written for understanding. The sung words stay in the original language.

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