Lesson 8: انت ايه؟

New Vocabulary

anta eh? (انت ايه؟) - what are you? what's your problem?
Haraam 3aleek (حرام عليك) - shame on you!
mish Haraam (مش حرام) - isn't it a shame?
yaa weeli! (يا ويلي) - woe is me!
raaDi (راضي) - satisfied, content, accepting
Tab (طب) - fine then, alright then, ok then, then
'awaam (قوام) - right away, at once, quickly, completely
dam3a (دمعة) pl. dumuu3 (دموع) - tears
3azaab (عذاب) - torment, torture, pain
zemb (ذنب) - guilt, fault, crime
Hanaan (حنان) - tenderness

haan 3ala (هان على) - to be nothing to someone, to be unimportant
taab 3an (تاب عن) - to regret, to have remorse for
xada3 (خدع) - to deceive
raDa (رضى) - to be satisfied, content, pleased

In Lesson 7, we analyzed the persuasive sweet-talk of Egyptian biggest pop star Amr Diab. In this lesson, we move to Lebanon's biggest pop star Nancy Ajram. Although Lebanon is a country of just a few million people, they are responsible for a significant percentage of Arabic pop music releases. However, Lebanese singers sometimes sing in Egyptian or Gulf dialects instead of their own, in order to reach a wider audience. Nancy Ajram rose to fame with her album "Ah we Nuss," which was sung in the Egyptian dialect. This song, "anta eh? (انت ايه؟)" is off that album. "enta eh? (انت ايه؟)" of course means literally "what are you?" but the sense intended in this phrase is like "why are you so cruel?" Like "what are you, what's your problem?"

Listen to this sad song and read along, then we'll discuss:

انت ايه مش كفايه عليك تجرحني حرام عليك
انت ايه انت ليه دموعي حبيبي تهون عليك
طب وليه انا راضية انك تجرحني وروحي فيك
طب وليه يعني ايه راضية بعذابي بين ايديك

لو كان ده حب ياويلي منه
لو كان ده ذنبي مااتوب عنه
لو كان نصيبي اعيش في جراح هعيش في جراح

مش حرام
مش حرام انك تخدعني في حبي ليك
مش حرام الغرام وسنين حياتي وعشقي ليك
ضاع قوام ولا كان لعبة في حياتك بتداويك
ضاع قوام الحنان وحضن قلبي واملي فيك

Let's see what we got here. First verse:

انت ايه؟
مش كفاية عليك تجرحني؟
حرام عليك

Isn't it easier when I put in the question marks? In colloquial Arabic you will see that questions are often just implied by context. For example, almost every line of this song is a question. "mish kifaaya 3aleek tigraHni (مش كفاية عليك تجرحني)," meaning "isn't enough for you to hurt me?" "Haraam (حرام)" means "shame" or "a shame" as we will see. So she says "Haraam 3aleek (حرام عليك)," not a question, but "shame on you!"

Next line:

انت ايه؟
انت ليه دموعي حبيبي تهون عليك؟

The word order of this sentence is a little messed up so let me put it in order for you. "Habiibi, dumuu3i tihuun 3aleek leh? (حبيبي, دموعي تهون عليك)." Ok, so "dumuu3i (دموعي)" is "my tears," which is the subject of the sentence. The verb "haan 3ala (هان على)" means "to be unimportant or nothing to someone" or "to be unnoticed/unvalued by someone." So she says "dumuu3i tihuun 3aleek (دموعي تهون عليك)" meaning "my tears are nothing to you." She's asking why he doesn't care that he makes her cry.

Next line:

طب وليه انا راضية انك تجرحني وروحي فيك؟

"Tab (طب)" is just a little word that has the generally meaning of "then" like "very well, then" or "ok then" or "alright then." It is a contraction of the word "Tayyib (طيب)" meaning "fine." The word "raaDi (راضي)," or in Nancy's case "raaDiya (راضيا)" means "to be content" or "to be satisfied" or "to accept." "annak (أنك)" is just like Standard Arabic, "that you." Put it all together. "Then why am do I accept that you hurt me when my soul is inside you?"

Last line of the verse:

طب وليه يعني ايه راضية بعذابي بين ايديك؟

3azaab (عذاب)" means "torment" or "torture" or "pain." So do you get it?

Here's the chorus:

لو كان ده حب يا ويلي منه

"low kaan dah Hubb (لو كان ده حب)" means "if this is love." "weel (ويل)" is "agony." The phrase "yaa weeli (يا ويلي)" means "woe is me." So the line means something like "woe is me from it (love)" or "my agony is from it" but basically she's saying "if this is love, it sucks!"

Next line, another hypothetical:

لو كان ده ذنبي مااتوب عنه

"zamb (ذنب)" means "crime" or "fault." See how the "dhaal (ذ)" is pronounce as a "z" sound? "taab 3an (تاب عن)" means "to regret something" or "to have remorse." So she says, "if this is my crime, I have no remorse for it."

Last line of the chorus:

لو كان نصيبي اعيش في جراح, هعيش في جراح

"naSiib (نصيب)" means destiny and "garaaH (جراح)" means like "hurting" or "injury." Got it all?

Other verse:

مش حرام؟
مش حرام انك تخدعني في حبي ليك؟

"mish Haraam (مش حرام)" means "isn't it a shame?" The verb "xada3 (خدع)" means "to trick" or "to deceive." So he's doing something behind her back I guess right?

مش حرام الغرام وسنين حياتي وعشقي ليك؟

Are you starting to feel bad for her? Next line:

ضاع قوام؟
ولا كان لعبة في حياتك بتداويك؟

Remember the meaning of "Daa3 (ضاع)," "to be lost" or "to be wasted." "'awaam (قوام)" is an adverb meaning "quickly" or "right away" or "completely." "la3ba (لعبة)" is a toy or a game! So she's asking, "was it all a waste, or was it all a game?"

ضاع قوام الحنان وحضن قلبي واملي فيك

"Hanaan (حنان)" means tenderness and "amal (أمل)" means "faith." Has it all gone to waste?

Listen to the song again now that you know she is asking a series of questions and it makes a lot of sense. Don't forget to learn the important vocabulary above, because we build on this vocabulary each lesson, if not حرام عليكم!

تعالى لأغنية تانية قوام! لازم نروح

Click here for the next lesson, Lesson 9: امتى حتعرف؟

Lesson 11: خليك جنبي

New Vocabulary

xalliik (خليك) - may you be, let you be, be
gamb (جنب) - beside, next to
min gheer (من غير) - without
ma'darsh (مقدرش) - I can't
wa3d (وعد) - promise, pledge
shoo' (شوق) pl. ashwaa' (اشواق) - desire, longing
Haniyya (حنية) - tenderness, kindness, حنان
saaniya (ثانية) - a second (time)
yoom (يوم) pl. ayaam (ايام) - day
leel (ليل) pl. layaali (ليالي) - night
sinna (سنة) pl. siniin (سنين) - year

'adar (قدر) - to be able to
kammal (كمّل) - to complete, to go on
mala (ملى) - to fill

Before doing this lesson go back and review some of the key words that maybe you overlooked or forgot. Things will start moving fast. Admittedly, Lesson 10 was tough, but this one should be easy by comparison. The singer is current pop star Haytham Shaker and the song is "xalliik gambi (خليك جنبي)," "Be By My Side." Watch, listen, read.

خليك جنبى احضن هوى قلبى
محتاج انا حبك خليك على وعدك

لو تقدر تعيش من غيرى
لو تقدر تكمل وحدك
انا مقدرش اعيش لو ثانية
فى الدنيا يا عمرى فى بعدك

خليك جنبى احضن هوى قلبى
محتاج انا حبك خليك على وعدك

قرب كمان ليا
محتاج لحنية
الشوق ملى عينيا
يا كل ما ليا

ايام بلياليها بحلم تكون فيها
بهواك تخليها اجمل سنين عمرى
ايام بلياليها بحلم تكون فيها
بهواك تخليها اجمل سنين عمرى

It starts out simply enough:

خليك جنبي

The verb "xalla (خلى)" which we learned as "to make" someone a certain way also has the meaning of "let" or "may" in the command form. To explain, "xalliini a3iish (خليني أعيش)" means like "let me live." When you say "xalliik (خليك)" it is kind of like a command but more indirect, meaning like "may you..." Therefore the titular line, "xalliik gambi (خليك جنبي)" means "may you be by my side." Notice how "gamb (جنب)" is the equivalent of Standard Arabic بجانب

احضن هوى قلبي

"Embrace my heart's love."

Next line:

محتاج انا حبك

"maHtaag (محتاج)" is a participle, meaning it is treated like an adjective but has a verbal meaning here. So it means "needing" but has the meaning of "I need." He says "I need your love."

خليك على وعدك

Here is "xalliik (خليك)" again, meaning "may you" or "let you be." "wa3ad (وعد)" means "a promise," so he says something like "may you be (good) on your promise."

Got it now? Ok now for the first verse:

لو تقدر تعيش من غيرى

The verb "'adar (قدر)" means "to be able to. "min gheer (من غير)" means "without." So he says "If you can live with out me."

Next line:

لو تقدر تكمل وحدك

"kammal (كمّل)" means "to finish" but in this case "to go on." "wadHdak (وحدك)" means "by yourself," just as "waHdi (وحدي)" means "by myself." He says, "If you can go on by yourself."

انا مقدرش اعيش لو ثانية

"ma'darsh (مقدرش)" means "I can't." The negation of verbs in Egyptian requires a prefix "ma (ما)" along with the suffix "-sh (ش)." This is true for present and past tense verbs, however verbs carrying the future marker "ح" require only the word "mish (مش)" for negation. The line means "I can't" or rather "I couldn't live if for a second."

Why:

فى الدنيا يا عمرى فى بعدك

"In the world, my life, in your absence."

Another verse:

قرب كمان ليا

"Get a little closer to me."

محتاج لحنية

Know what this means? What if I told you "Haniyya (حنية)" means "tenderness."

الشوق ملى عينيا

"Desire filled my eyes."

يا كل ما ليا

This means "Oh everything I have," but take it to mean "you are everything I have."

Final verse:

ايام بلياليها بحلم تكون فيها

Looks like a weird sentence. "Days with their nights, dreaming of you being in them."

Last line:

بهواك تخليها اجمل سنين عمرى

Remember the verb "xalla (خلى)" meaning "to make something be a certain way." This last line means "With your love you make them the most beautiful years of my lifetime."

This song was kind of a piece of cake huh. The next song should be longer: Lesson 12: انا قلبي ليك ميال

Lesson Three: لسه

New Vocabulary

lissah (لسه) - still, yet
nifsi (نفسي) - I wanna
maHtaag (محتاج) - needing
'aadir (قادر) - can, able to
shaayil (شايل) - carrying, holding, bearing
shaayil min (شايل من) - holding something against someone
bas (بس) - but, just, only
'uSaad (قصاد) - before, in front of

Hass (حسّ) - to feel
samaH (سمح) - to pardon, to forgive
laa'a (لاقى) - to find, to meet
Haka (حكى) - to tell, to speak
irtaaH (ارتاح) - to be at ease, to be comfortable, to be content, to relax
ta3ab (تَعَب) - to tire someone

In the last lesson, we examined the song "laazim a3iish (لازم أعيش)" by Sherine and learned the useful verb "3aayiz (عايز)," meaning "want" and the modal "laazim (لازم)," meaning "gotta" or "must." In this lesson we will learn a useful adverb, "lissa (لسه)," meaning "still," along with another modal "nifsi (نفسي)," meaning "I wanna." The singer of this song is Tamer Hosni, a very popular Egyptian singer who became famous from his duet album with Sherine. The title of the song, "lissa baHibbak (لسه بحبك)," means "I still love you" or "I'm still loving you." The word "lissa (لسه)" means "still," replacing the verb from Standard Arabic "" in this function. "lissa (لسه)" is not conjugated for person, gender or number, so "ana lissa, anti lissa, huwwa lissa" etc.

Listen to the song and follow along with the lyrics below:

تامر حسني - لسه بحبك

لسه بحبك لسه بحسك
أنا محتجلك نفسى أضمك

بس أنا قلبى شايل منك مش قادر يسمحك
كل ما أجى أصلحك ألاقى قصادى جرحك

حبيبى

نفسى أحكيلك نفسى أشكيلك على اللى تعبنى منك ليك
قلت أنا حبعد مش قادر أبعد نفسى أرتاح فى حضن عينيك

The first verse:

لسه بحبك لسه بحسك

Based on what we learned in the last lesson, you should be able to understand this sentence: "lissa baHibbak, lissa baHissak (لسه بحبك لسه بحسك)" means "I still love you, I still feel you." Listen carefully and notice that he is grammatically addressing a male. This is not uncommon in Arabic music for a male to sing to another grammatical male, and should be taken as a gender neutral object rather than thinking the song as any homosexual overtones.

The next line:

أنا محتاجلك نفسى أضمك

"ana maHtaag lak (انا محتاج لك)" means "I need you." "maHtaag (محتاج)" means "needing" or "in need of." "nifsi (نفسي)" of course is the aforementioned modal meaning "I wanna" or "I wish to" do something that you currently aren't or can't. In this case, he says "nifsi aDammak (نفسي أضمك)," "I wanna hold you."

Next line:

بس أنا قلبى شايل منك

The word "bas (بس)" is extremely important in Egyptian Arabic. It means "but" replacing standard Arabic "" and also means in some case "only" or "just." But what? He says "ana 'albi shaayil minnak (انا قلبي شايل منك)." "shaayil (شايل)" takes the same form as "3aayiz (عايز)," and means "carrying" or "holding" or "bearing." However, "shaayil min (شايل من)" someone means to "have a grudge," much like "to hold against" someone in English. So he is saying, "but my heart holds a grudge against you."

This is why:

مش قادر يسمحك

The verb "'aadir (قادر)" is another useful verb. It also takes the same form as "3aayiz (عايز)" and "shaayil (شايل)" as you can see, and means "can." If we know the verb "samaH (سمح)" means "to pardon" or "to forgive," we can see this line means "I can't forgive you."

Why can't he forgive?:

كل ما أجى أصلحك ألاقى قصادى جرحك

"kullima (كلما)" is the same as in Standard Arabic, and means "whenever." If we know the verb "SalaH (صلح)" means "to make good" or "to reconcile," then we understand the sentence as "whenever I come to make good with you." What happens? The verb "laa'a (لاقى)" means "to find" or "to meet." "'uSaad (قصاد)" means "before" or "in front of" so "'uSaadi (قصادي)" means "before me." He finds before him the all-familiar "garH (جرح)," wound, and thus the sentence means "whenever I come to make good with you I find before me you wound," ie "the wound you left."

حبيبي

"Habiibi (حبيبي)" means "my darling" or "my beloved." Learn it.

Next:

نفسى أحكيلك نفسى أشكيلك على اللى تعبنى منك ليك

"nifsi iHkii lak (نفسي احكي لك)" means "I wanna tell you." The verb "Haka (حكى)" means to tell. "nifsi ishkii lak (نفسي اشكي لك)" means "I wanna complain to you." "shaka 3ala (شكى على)" means "to complain about" something. So "3ala illi ta3ibni minnak (على اللي تعبني منك)" means "about that which made me tired of you." All in all he says, "I wanna tell you, I wanna complain to you about that which tired me of you."

And then:

قلت أنا هبعد مش قادر أبعد

Understand? And finally:

نفسى أرتاح فى حضن عينيك

This should be easily understood based on the vocab accumulated thus far. It means "I want to be at ease in the embrace of your eyes." XalaaS! Now you understand everything in this song. Go back and read along as you listen and understand the dilemma that Tamer faces.

From this song you should have learned many important words such as "nifsi (نفسي)," "'aadir (قادر)," and "lissah (لسه)." Review this song and listen to it order to ingrain the structures and pronunciations into your head.

قادر تفهم اكتر؟

Lesson 7: وماله؟

New Vocabulary

wi-maa-luh (وماله) - so what?, it's fine
maali (مالي) - filling
maa-li (مالي) - I don't have
maa-li (مالي) - what's it to me?, what's wrong with me?
gheer (غير) - other than
hina (هنا) - here
leh? (ليه؟) - why?
iHsaas (إحساس) - a feeling
aHla (أحلى) - sweetest, prettiest, most wonderful

taah (تاه) - to get lost, to wander, to go astray
saab (ساب) - to leave, to quit, to let, to leave alone, to leave behind
'aabal (قابل) - to meet
Sadda' (صدّق) - to believe
yiswa (يِسوى) - to equal, to be worth as much as, to be worth

In Lesson 6, we talked about "di (دي)" and "dah (ده)" and in this song we'll see a little more in the song "wi-maa-lu (وماله)" by Amr Diab. Of course Amr Diab is among the most famous pop stars in the Arab world and has been for almost 20 years. He is the biggest name in Egyptian music after the classic singers like Oum Kalthoum, Abdel Halim Hafez and Mohamed Abdel Wahhab. The phrase "wi-maa-lu (وماله)" is idiomatic but very important. Those who has studied Standard Arabic know that "maa (ما)" means "what?" "maa l- (ما ل)" in Egyptian Arabic means "what's with" or "what's wrong with x." So "maa-lak (مالك)" means like "what's with you?" or "what's wrong with you?" Or "maa li-l-3arabiyya di (ما للعربية دي)" means "what's wrong with this car?" or "what's up with this car?" So you can see the meaning this phrase gives. The phrase "wi-maa-lu ()" by itself means "so what?" or "it's OK, it's fine," if you literally translate it as "and what's wrong with it," you can see how it has this meaning.

Listen to the song, read the lyrics and getting a feeling for what Amr Diab is saying:

وماله لو ليلة تهنا بعيد .. وسبنا كل الناس
أنا يا حبيبي حاسس بحب جديد .. ماليني ده الإحساس
وانا هنا جنبي أغلي الناس .. أنا جنبي أحلي الناس

حبيبي ليلة تعالي ننسى فيها اللي راح
تعالي جوه حضني و ارتاح
دي ليلة تسوي كل الحياة

مالي غيرك ولولا حبك هعيش لمين
حبيبي جاية أجمل سنين
وكل ما ده تحلى الحياة

حبيبي المس إيديا عشان أصدّق اللي أنا فيه
ياما كان نفسي أقابلك بقالي زمان خلاص وهحلم ليه؟
مانا هنا جنبي أغلي الناس .. هنا جنبي أحلي الناس

So did you understand the song. There's a few new words but most of it is the same old. Let's see the first line:

وماله لو ليلة تهنا بعيد وسبنا كل الناس

"tuhna (تهنا)" is from the Egyptian colloquial verb "taah (تاه)," "to get lost," "to go astray," or "to let one's mind wander." So he says "so what" or "what's the big deal if one night we get lost far away." "saab (ساب)" is also colloquial, meaning "to leave" and is used in many cases. Learn it.

أنا يا حبيبي حاسس بحب جديد
ماليني ده الإحساس

"I feel a new love darling." "maaali (مالي)" means "filling" from the verb "mala (ملى)" and should not be confused with "maa-li (مالي)" which means "what's with me?" or "what's it to me?!" They sound the same so you just have to differentiate from context. "iHsaas (احساس)" as you can probably guess is a feeling. So he is full of this feeling.

وانا هنا جنبي أغلي الناس .. أنا جنبي أحلي الناس

"hina (هِنا)" is the same as Standard Arabic "هنا" meaing "here," although the pronunciation is different. As you know "aHla (أحلى)" means "sweetest," but in colloquial is also "prettiest" or "most wonderful," this kind of sense. We know "gambi (جمبي)" already. What do you think "aghla (أغلى)" and "aHla al-naas (أحلى الناس)" means exactly?

Now for the chorus:

حبيبي ليلة تعالي ننسى فيها اللي راح

This is all words we know. Do you see how "fii-ha (فيها)" refers to "layla (ليلة)?" "illi raaH (اللي راح)" means "that which is gone" or in this case "that which was."

تعالي جوه حضني و ارتاح

You know this line too. Remember, if you've forgotten some vocabulary already to use the Egyptian Arabic Vocabulary on this site.

Next line:

دي ليلة تسوي كل الحياة

The verb "yiswa (يِسوى)" or "tiswa (تِسوى)" is usually only used in the present tense. It means "to equal" or "to be worth" or "to have the worth of." So "this is a night worth a whole life" or something along these lines.

Next stanza;

مالي غيرك ولولا حبك هعيش لمين

Haha now I know you will be confused or angry, but here "maa-li (مالي)" means "I don't have." This is the meaning you would have most likely thought of using Standard Arabic. "gheerak (غيرك)" means "other than you." You'll see more about "gheer (غير)" for sure. "lowla (لولا)" means "if not for" and "miin (مين)" means "who?" like Standard Arabic "مَن." So the line is "if not for your love, who would I live for?"

حبيبي جاية أجمل سنين

Understood?

Next line:

وكل ما ده تحلى الحياة

"kullima-dah (كل ما ده)" means like "all the while." The verb "Hala (حَلى)" means "to make sweet" or "to sweeten," not to be confused with "Hili (حِلى)," which means "to be sweet, pleasing."

Final verse:

حبيبي المس إيديا عشان أصدّق اللي أنا فيه

Remember "iideeya (ايديا)?" It means "my hands." "3ashaan (عشان)" in this case means "so that" or "in order that." The verb "Sadda' (صدّق)" is the same as in Standard Arabic, "to believe." Can you get the meaning now?

ياما كان نفسي أقابلك

"Oh how I wish to meet you." All words we've learned. What's next?:

بقالي زمان خلاص وهحلم ليه؟

"ba'aa-li zamaan (بقالي)" means something like "time happened to me" or "I got time" but you can infer it means that he's been waiting a long time. "leh? (ليه؟)" means "why?" So "that's it, why should I dream?" He wants to stop dreaming and have what he's always wanted.

Final line:

مانا هنا جنبي أغلي الناس .. هنا جنبي أحلي الناس

See that "ma-ana (مانا)" for emphasis?

Go back and listen to the song again. It's an easy one, and a slow one, and I think you'll be happy with the level of comprehension you now have. Of course everything is clear when you've just done it, but it's important to retain info as well. Go back and listen to some of the earlier lesson with and without lyrics to see what you understand and review some of the words you may have forgotten.

Next, Lesson 8: انت ايه؟

Lesson 9: إمتى حتعرف؟

New Vocabulary

imta (امتى) - when?
yalli (يللي) - you are the one who...
saami3 (سامع) - hearing, hear, listening
ghaltaan (غلطان) - mistaken, wrong
kalaam (كلام) - words, talk, speech
xaali (خالي) - empty
Haal (حال) - condition, situation, self
xayaal (خيال) - imagination
hamm (همّ) pl. humuum (هموم) - worry, anxiety, sorrow
damm (دمّ) - blood

fiDil (فِضِل) - to remain, to stay, to continue, to be left, to keep on
xalla (خلّى) - to make (something/someone) do/be, to let
sa'al (سأل) - to ask
sa'al fi (سأل في) - to have concern for, to give a damn about
sharaH (شرح) - to explain, to elucidate
shaaf (شاف) - to see
xaaf (خاف) - to fear, to be afraid, to be scared
3aTaf 3ala (عطف على) - to sympathize with
xabba (خبّى) - to hide, to conceal

In Lesson 8, we found Nancy Ajram, a Lebanese pop star, singing in perfect Egyptian Arabic. In this lesson we find another non-Egyptian star, albeit a much older one, singing in the Egyptian dialect once again. Asmahan was one of the most prominent singers in Cairo during the 1930 and 1940s and was a contemporary of Oum Kalthoum. She was actually a Druze "princess;" her father had been a governor in the late Ottoman Empire. While her family was from the Druze regions of Lebanon and Syria, Asmahan moved to Cairo with her mother when she was young and eventually became a one of the most famous singers. Her real name was Amal al-Atrash and she was the sister of famous musician Farid al-Atrash. Her story is especially famous because she died very young in a mysterious car crash in 1944, similar to Princess Diana. Conspiracy theories swirl about this event because it is alleged she may have been assassinated because of ties with the Allied forces as a member of a prestigious Druze family.

Anyway, this song is from her last movie entitled "gharaam wa intiqaam (غرام وانتقام)" meaning "Passion and Revenge." She died before the taping finished. The song is called, "imta hat3arif (امتى حتعرف)," "When will you know?" Listen and read along before we dive in. Don't pay attention to the French subtitles. They aren't wrong per se, but they are not very literal and won't help you learn.

إمتى حتعرف إمتى إنّي بحبّك إنت
إمتى حتعرف إني بحبك إنت إنت إنت
إمتى حتعرف

(سامع؟.. الكلام إلك يا جارة)
(إنتّ بتكلمني؟)
(نعم؟.. لأ!.. غلطان يا بيي.. عمقروِش.. بحكي على حالي)

بناجي طيفك واتمنى أشوفك
لا يوم عطفت عليّ ولا انت سائل فيَّ
ولإمتى حتحيّر بالي وتزوّد همّي
يللي غرامك في خيالي وبروحي ودمي

(دكلاراسيون غرام هيدي إلك..)
(مالي فاهم عليك..)
(إنت مالك فهمان شي..انا فهمان)
(فهمان؟)
(انا فهمان)

فضلت اخبّي حبك، حبك بقلبي حبّك
فضلت أخبّي
وصبّره وواسيه والنار بترعى فيه
وخفت أقللك على حالي واشرح لك حبي
ليكون فؤادك مش خالي وتعذّب قلبي
يللي غرامك في خيالي وبروحي ودمي

خلتني أحبك واتمنى قربك
اسعدني يوم بلقاك ترحمني فيه برضاك
وتدوق غرامي اللي شرحته
أنا لك بعينيّ
ليكون فؤادك مش خالي وتعذّب قلبي
يللي غرامك في خيالي وبروحي ودمي

There's a lot of words here but it's not too difficult. Take a look:

إمتى حتعرف إمتى إنّي بحبّك إنت
إمتى حتعرف إني بحبك إنت إنت إنت
إمتى حتعرف

This chorus is easy enough. "imta (امتى)" is the interrogative word for "when" in Egyptian Arabic. It might seem different but is only a slight vowel shift from Standard Arabic "متى." "imta hata3rif inni bahibbak (امتى حتعرف إني بحبك)" means "when will you know that I love you." Notice the word "inn (إنّ)" means "that" just like in Standard Arabic, with the "ni (ني)" suffixed to indicate the pronoun "I."

Before the verses we get a nice little exchange from the two gentleman watching. The man in the tarboush or fez is not speaking in Egyptian dialect, more like Lebanese, but just look what he says it's not very different.

(سامع؟.. الكلام إلك يا جارة)

"saami3 (سامع)" means "hearing," so here it means "you hear?" The next line is a very nice idiom. "al-kalaam ilik ya gaara (الكلام إلك يا جارة)" literally means "those words are for you, neighbor." You may notice "gaara (جارة)" is feminine. This is just because it is part of this set idiom. What the idiom is used for exactly is when speech is addressed to one person or an audience but is actually intended to be overheard by someone else, such is in this case where Asmahan is singing for an audience but according to the man in the fez, is actually intending the words for that other man. It's like he says, "You hear that? She's talking to you man." That's a lot of explanation but it's worth it!

what does he respond?:

إنتّ بتكلمني؟

"Are you talking to me?"

And the likewise response:

نعم؟.. لأ!.. غلطان يا بيي.. عمقروِش.. بحكي على حالي

Obviously he is confused that the young man could be so dense. "ghalTaan (غلطان)" means mistaken. "beey (بيي)" is an old Ottoman Turkish title left over in the dialect that just kind of means "sir." It is becoming less and less commonly used however still exists. So he says, "no I made a mistake, sir." Don't worry about "3amqarwish (عمقروش)" it means "I'm muttering." But learn "baHki 3ala Haali (بحكي على حالي)" which means "I'm talking to myself."

Alright now let's see the verse:

بناجي طيفك واتمنى أشوفك

The verb "naaga (ناجى)" means "to speak to someone affectionately and softly," like you would to a lover or an intimately close friend. The word "Teef (طيف)" means a "specter" or "apparition" or "image," in this case probably in her head since her lover we should assume is not dead. You got the other half right?

Next line:

لا يوم عطفت عليّ ولا انت سائل فيَّ

"la yawm (لا يوم)" literally means "not a day" but we can take it to mean "never." The verb "3aTaf 3ala (عطف على)" means "to show sympathy for." "saa'il (سائل)" of course is the verbal noun of the verb "sa'al (سأل)" meaning "to ask." Coupled with the preposition "fi (في)," it takes on the meaning "to be concerned about" or in the negative sense we might say "to give a damn about." So she says, "you've never shown any sympathy for me, nor do you give a damn about me about me." Notice how the "la... wala (لا...ولا)" combo means "neither...nor."

Next line:

ولإمتى حَتحيّر بالي وتزوّد همّي

"li-imta (لإمتى)" means "until when?" or "how long?" The verb "Hayyar (حيّر)" means "to confuse." "baal (بال)" are "thoughts" or "the mind" etc. "zawwad (زوّد)" means "to increase," and finally "hamm (هم)" means "concern" or "worry" or "sorrow" or "anxiety." With the vocab do you get the sentence?

The big line:

يللي غرامك في خيالي وبروحي ودمي

We can see "yalli (يللي)" is comprised of "ya (يا)" and "illi (اللي)." literally it means "you are the one who..." or "oh, you who..." Who is he the one that what? "gharaamak fi xayaali wa bi-ruuHi wa dammi (غرامك في خيالي وبروحي ودمي)" means "your passion is in my imagination, my soul and my blood." Notice how "damm (دمّ)" meaning "blood" rhymes nicely with "hamm (همّ)."

Now more dialogue:

دكلاراسيون غرام هيدي إلك..
مالي فاهم عليك..
إنت مالك فهمان شي..انا فهمان
فهمان؟
انا فهمان

If you don't get it all don't worry. Just know "fahmaan (فهمان)" means the same thing as "faahim (فاهم)," "understanding" like "I'm understanding" or "I understand." This "-aan (ان)" suffix is often an alternative to the "3aamil (عامل)" form we see in words like "3aayiz (عايز)" commonly.

Next verse:

فضلت اخبّي حبك، حبك بقلبي حبّك

The verb "fiDil (فضل)" means "to remain" or "to stay" or "to be left" and is extremely important in Egyptian Arabic. With another verb it carries the meaning of "to continue" or "to go on" or "to keep doing." The verb "xabba (خبى)" means "to hide." Notice how she is saying "fiDilt axabbi Hubbak (فضلت أخبّي حبك)" which means "I kept hiding your love." By "Hubbak (حبك)," "your love," it actually means "my love for you" or "the loving of you" if you want to look at it that way. This won't always be the case, but context should dissolve the ambiguity in most cases. Now it makes more sense right?

Next line:

واصبّره واواسيه والنار بترعى فيه

"Sabbar (صبّر)" means "to give patience to" or "to help to be patient" and "waasa (واسى)" means "to console." So she says "I helped it be patient and consoled it," it referring to aforementioned heart. Don't worry about that second half. It means "but fire grew in it" or something along these lines.

Next line:

وخفت أقللك على حالي واشرح لك حبي

The verb "xaaf (خاف)" means "to fear" or "to be afraid" just like in Standard Arabic. The verb "sharaH (شرح)" means "to explain" or "to elucidate" in Egyptian dialect. Do you get the sentence? "I was afraid to tell you about my condition and explain my love to you."

ليكون فؤادك مش خالي وتعذّب قلبي

This is hard. It just means something like "lest your heart not be empty and my heart suffer." Notice the two different words "fu'aad (فؤاد)" and "'alb (قلب)" for heart. By saying she is afraid his heart is not empty, that means she's afraid he might be in love with someone else.

Now I think it's become apparent who she's singing to as she moves across the room. Looks like our mustached guy was right. Final verse shall we?:

خلّتني أحبك واتمنى قربك

The verb "xalla (خلى)" means "to make someone or something" or "to let someone or something something." So she says "you made me love you." Here understand "'urb (قرب)" which means "closeness." "atmanna 'urbak (اتمنى قربك)" means "I wish to be close to you."

اسعدني يوم بلقاك

"is3adni (اسعدني)" is a good word, meaning "give me the pleasure." The verb "sa3ad (سعد)" means "to make happy" or "to bestow with the fortune of something" etc. "bi-luqaak (بلقاك)" means "in your presence." So "give me the pleasure of a day in your presence."

ترحمني فيه برضاك

Don't worry about it. She's saying 'have pity on me' more or less.

Next line:

وتدوق غرامي اللي شرحته

The verb "daa' (داق)" means "to taste." So she says, "taste my passion which I have explained."

Final new line:

أنا لك بعينيّ

Understood? "I'm yours with my eyes." I guess this means like "I'm all yours" or something along these lines.

That song has a lot of vocabulary, but now you should be pretty comfortable with most of the new words. Go back and listen again. I guarantee you'll never forget "imta" again!

And if you want to learn how to say you'll never do other things again, click here for Lesson 10: توبة.

Lesson 4: هتمناله الخير

New Vocabulary

al-xeer (الخير) - goodness, good, wellness
al-farHa (الفرحة) - joy, happiness
ya3ni (يعني) - it means, I mean, you know, like (filler)
eh ya3ni? (ايه يعني؟) - so what?
3ashaan (عشان) - because, because of, in order to, for the sake of
3alashaan (علشان) - variant of
yaama (ياما) - so often!, so much!
maa been (ما بين) - between, in between
hawa (هوا) - love

itmanna (اتمنّى) - to wish, to hope for
faat (فات) - to pass
iftikir (افتكر) - to remember, to think
it'aabil (اتقابل) - to meet, to run into each other, to make acquaintance

In the last lesson using the song "lissah baHibbak (لسه بحبك)" by Tamer Hosni, we learned, among many things, to say that one is holding a grudge "shaayil min (شايل من)" someone. In this lesson featuring the song "hatmanna lu al-xeer (هتمنّاله الخير)" by Angham, you will certainly find a different sentiment." You guys are really accumulating some knowledge now, so I will be providing less and less explanation, allowing you to do your own reflection on and comprehension of the lyrics.

The title, "hatmanna lu al-xeer (هتمناله الخير)" can be translated as "I will wish him well," using the verb "itmanna (اتمنى)." "al-xeer (الخير)" is "goodness" or "good" or "wellness."

Listen to the song and follow along with the lyrics:



المتصفح الذي لديك لايدعم مشغل الأغاني. دبر حالك و روح نزل البرنامج أو .<A HREF="http://song.6arab.com/angham_Atmannalo-El-Kheer.rm">اضغط هنا</A> لسماع الأغنية.

هاتمناله الخير .. إيه يعنى يفوتنى و ينسانى
مهو ياما إتحمل علشانى .. مهو ياما كان قلبه عليا

هاتمناله الخير .. مهو قبل ما يجرحنى داوانى
كان عمرى و كان هو زمانى .. كان قلبى و روحى و عنيا

هفتكرله حجات كتير كانت ما بينا
هافتكر .. أيام هوانا .. والخطاوى اللى فى طريقنا
لما كنا .. بنقسم الفرحه فى عيونا
هافتكرله حجات كتير .. حتمناله الخير

هاتمناله الخير من قلبى .. علشان يستاهل
دنا هتمنى تلف الدنيا تانى .. تانى و نتقابل

Get anything? Alright, let's get right to it:

هاتمناله الخير .. إيه يعنى يفوتنى و ينسانى

The phrase "eh ya3ni (ايه يعني)" is incredibly useful. "ya3ni (يعني)" is a common Arabic filler word that means literally "it means." The phrase "eh ya3ni (ايه يعني)" means "so what?" in English. "yafuutni (يفوتني)" uses the verb "faat (فات)," "to pass," but in this case to pass by or leave. So the whole sentence is "I will wish him well, so what if he's leaving me and forgetting me?"

ماهو ياما إتحمل علشانى

"maahu (ماهو)" is a tough but important aspect of Egyptian Arabic. "ma (ما)" is often used to add emphasis in various ways. For "maahu (ماهو)," it's something along the lines of "the fact is," or "but he's!" or something along those lines. It does not change the meaning of the sentence much, but adds a certain feeling in the way that our tone often adds feeling in Egnlish. "yaama (ياما)" also is used for adding emphasis. It is usually used with verbs and means like "oh how much!," "oh how often!," or "oh how great!" the verb "ittHammal (اتحمّل)" means "to bear" or "to endure." "3alashaan ()" is an essential Egyptian Arabic word that means "because," "in order to" or "for" in some contexts. "3alashaani (علشاني)" of course means "because of me" or "for me." How do we translate the sentence? Something like "but you know he's endured so much for my sake!"

Next line:

ماهو ياما كان قلبه عليا

Try to get the meaning from this best you can.

And the next one:

هاتمناله الخير .. ماهو قبل ما يجرحنى داوانى

You might be starting to understand. "'abl ma (قبل ما)" means before and is used before a verb. the verb "daawa (داوى)" means "to cure." So "before hurting me, he healed me." Get it? He made her life better before he made it worse, so why would she wish ill upon him?

Next line doesn't have much:

كان عمرى و كان هو زمانى .. كان قلبى و روحى و عينيا

"kaan (كان)" we know means "he was." These are pretty much just terms of endearments used to expressed how important someone is to you. Most of them should be known

And what's next?:

هفتكرله حجات كتير كانت ما بينا

The verb "iftikir (افتكر)" means "to remember" or "to think." "lu (له)" of course means for him, just like in Standard Arabic. "ma been (ما بين)" means "between or "in between" like the word "been (بين)." Put it together: "I'll remember for him there were many things between us."

Next line:

هافتكر .. أيام هوانا .. والخطاوى اللى فى طريقنا

"hawa (هوانا)" is another word for love. "xaTaawi (خطاوي)" is the plural of the word "xatwa (خطوة)," meaning "footstep." So she will remember "the days of our love and the steps in our path." See how "illi (اللي)" is being used here?

Some new vocab in the next line:

لما كنا بنقسم الفرحه فى عيونا

Remember "lamma (لما)" which means "when" in a non-interrogative sense. "inqasam (انقسم)" means "to share" and "al-farHa (الفرحة)" is a word for "joy" or "happiness." Sooo, "when we were sharing joy in our eyes."

Nothing new here:

هافتكرله حجات كتير .. هتمناله الخير

Understand?

Let's keep going:

هاتمناله الخير من قلبى

Remember what "'albi (قلبي)" means?" If not, click to the dictionary in the right hand column.

And why does she?:

علشان يستاهل

Here's the word "3alashaan (علشان)" again. So it means, "because he deserves it."

Following that:

دنا هتمنى تلف الدنيا تانى

"dana (دنا)" is tricky. For now just know it means the same thing as "ana (انا)." This time "hatmanna (هتمنى)" must be translated as "I would hope" rather than "I will" because it is hypothetical as we will see. There is no real word to distinguish "will from "would" in all cases so just use judgment. "laff (لفّ)" means "to turn" or "to turn around." However "al-dunya bitliff (الدنيا بتلفّ)" is a proverbial sentence "things are always changing" and "it's a small world." So what she means here is that she hopes things will change or come around again (تاني).

So what will happen when that happens?:

ونتقابل

The verb "it'aabil (اتقابل)" means "to meet together" or "to run into one another" or "to make each other's acquaintance." Point is, she would give it all a second try.

By now we are finding less and less familiar words. Go back and listen again to see if you can really hear all the words she's saying and feel what she means when she says "maahu"

ما فهمت كل حاجة؟ ايه يعني!؟ معلهش

You will continue to improve. Remember the important new words "ya3ni (يعني)" and "3ashaan (عشان)" and "iftikir (افتكر)."

The next lesson continues on the theme of wishes. Lesson 5: Moustafa Amar - Munaaya

Lesson Two: لازم

New Vocabulary

laazim (لازم) - must, gotta, it is necessary that
3ayza (عايزا) - I, you, she wants (female)
baHibb (بحب) - I love, I'd like to
'awiy (أوي) - very, a lot
Haaga (حاجة) - thing
'albi (قلبي) - my heart
garH (جرح) - wound
akiid (أكيد) - for sure, certainly
al-dunya (الدنيا) - the world, everyone
aywah (أيوه) - yes, yeah
ha (ه or ح) - future tense marker, will
b- (ب) - present tense marker

masha (مشى) - to leave, to go, to walk
3aash (عاش) - to live
istana (استنى) - to wait for, to await


In the last lesson we examined the song "ma xalaaS (ما خلاص)" by Samira Said, and we learned many new basics of Egyptian Arabic. So now that we know a few things about Egyptian Arabic, the different prefixes for verbs, the differences in pronunciation and some different vocabulary, let's see how easy it is to understand another song. The following song is by Sherine Ahmed, who is possibly the most prominent Egyptian female pop artist currently. This song is entitled "laazim a3iish (لازم أعيش)" which means "I gotta live." We know that in Standard Arabic to say that something is necessary we may use the phrase "من اللازم" and this is the same in principle. However, it is much simpler; to communicate the meaning of something being necessary one must just say "laazim (لازم) ..."

Listen to and watch the video and read the lyrics below it:

شيرين أحمد - لازم أعيش

عايزة ألملم قلبي وأحضن نفسي وأمشي بعيد
عايزة أطيب جرحي أيوة هطيب جرحي أكيد

عايزة حبك يبعد عني عايزة جرحك يخرج مني
عايزة حبك يبعد عني عايزة جرحك يخرج مني

لازم أعلم قلبي أنا يقسا ولازم ينسا ولازم أعيييش

كنت بعيشلك كل سنيني قلت زماني هعيشه معاك
كنت بحبك أوي ياحبيبي لما بتبعد بستناك

كنت بحس معاك حجات تانية كنت ف عيني كل الدنيا
كنت بحس معاك حجات تانية كنت ف عيني كل الدنيا

لازم أعلم قلبي انا يقسا ولازم ينسا ولازم أعيييش

The first verse:

عايزة ألملم قلبي وأحضن نفسي وأمشي بعيد

Once again, we can see this song begins with the familiar word "3ayza (عايزة)," meaning to want. What does she want to do? The verb "lamlam (لملم)" means to "pack up" or "gather up". Don't worry about learning this, just know that she says "alamlim 'albi (الملم قلبي)." "'albi (قلبي)" is the familiar Standard Arabic word "qalbi (قلبي)," which means my heart, only the "qaff (ق)" is pronounced as a "hamza (ء)." So she says she wants to "pack up her heart" and what else? The verb "HaDan (حضن)" mean to embrace. Again don't worry about this for now, just see that she says "aHDan nafsi (نفسي)," which means "embrace myself" or embrace "my soul." "nafs (نفس)" has both of these connotations. Finally she says "wa amshi ba3iid (وامشي بعيد)." We know from standard Arabic that the verb "masha (مشى)" means to walk. This is true in colloquial Arabic as well, but actually it also means "to go" or "to leave." So here she is saying she wants to "go far away." All in all, she says "I wanna gather up my heart, embrace my soul, and go far away" giving us a pretty clear image of what she wants to do.

What's next?:

عايزة أطيب جرحي أيوة هطيب جرحي أكيد

"aTayyab garHi (أطيب جرحي)" means "I heal my wound," which makes sense since "Tayyib (طيب)" means "good" or "fine." Next she says "aywah (أيوه)," which in Egyptian Arabic means "yes" or "yeah," taking the place of Standard Arabic "(نعم)." "haTayyib garHi akiid (هطيب جرحي أكيد)" is the future tense of course: "I will heal my wound for sure." "akiid (أكيد)" means "for sure" or certainly and is a useful piece of vocabulary. So the whole line means, "I want to heal my wound, yes, I will heal my wound for sure."

Already it's getting easier. Here's the next line:

عايزة حبك يبعد عني عايزة جرحك يخرج مني

This line is pretty easy to understand. See if you can figure it out. Remember that the verb "ba3ad 3an (بعد عن)" means "to get far from."

Here comes the chorus:

لازم أعلم قلبي أنا يقسا ولازم ينسا ولازم أعيش

We've already established that "laazim (لازم)" means "must" or "gotta," so we know that "laazim a3allam 'albi (لازم أعلم قلبي)" means "gotta teach my heart." Here she says "teach my heart to be tough." The verb "'asa (قسى)" means "to be cruel" or "to be hard" or "to be tough." So "a3allam 'albi yi'sa (أعلم قلبي يقسى)" means "teach my heart to be tough." Next we see "laazim yansa (لازم ينسى)," meaing "it must forget," we assume referring to her heart as an extension of herself. And finally, "laazim a3iish (لازم أعيش)," "I gotta live." So the chorus is "Gotta teach my heart to be tough, and it's gotta forget, and I gotta live!"

One more verse to go:

كنت بعيشلك كل سنيني

Here we have the past progressive used again. "kunt ba3iish lak (كنت بعيش لك)," "I was living for you." "kull siniini (كل سنيني)," means "all my years." "siniin (سنين)" is the equivalent of Standard Arabic "سنوات". So the sentence means "I was living all my years for you."

Next:

قلت زماني هعيشه معاك

"'ult (قلت)" is of course the Egyptian pronunciation of "," "I said." "zamaani ha3iishuh ma3aak (زماني هعيشه معاك)" shouldn't be hard to understand, if but a little idiomatic. Sherine "topicalizes" "zamaani (زماني)," "my time," when it is actually the object of the sentence. So "zamaani ha3iishuh (زماني هعيشه)" means "my time, I will live it." Thus, the whole sentence is "I said that my time, I will live it with you."

Almost there:

كنت بحبك أوي ياحبيبي لما بتبعد بستناك

"kunt baHibbak (كنت بحبك)" of course means "I was loving you." If you haven't yet memorized "baHibb (بحب)," it is helpful to do so, because it means not just "I love" but "I'd like" as in "I'd like to have something to drink." The word "awiy (أوي)" is certainly Egyptian colloquial although it has roots in Standard Arabic. "awiy (أوي)" is the Egyptian pronunciation of Standard Arabic "qawiyy (قوي)," meaning "strong," but in colloquial it simply means "a lot" or "very," like the Standard Arabic "جداً." So she says "I loved you a lot, my darling." The second half of the sentence should still be seen as in the past because of "kunt (كنت)." She says "lama bitab3ad (لما بتبعد)" it means "when you were going far away." "lama (لما)" means when, but not as a question, and takes the place of Standard Arabic "عندما." After that she says "bastanaak (بستناك)." The verb "istana (استنى)" exists in Standard Arabic as well, meaning "to wait for," however, in Standard Arabic the verb "انتظر" and is absent in colloquial. The whole line, "when you were going away, I was waiting for you."

What else was she doing?:

كنت بحس معاك حجات تانية

The verb "Hass (حسّ)" in Egyptian Arabic means "to feel." There is no verb "شعر" like in Standard Arabic. "Haaga (حاجة)" in Egyptian Arabic does not mean "a need," but rather "a thing." The Standard Arabic word "شيء" has been replaced by "Haaga (حاجة)" completely. "Haagaat taaniyya (حاجات تانية)" then of course means "second things" or in this case "other things." So if the sentence means "I was feeling with you other things," we can say it is about equivalent to the English expression "I felt with you things I never felt before."

The last line:

كنت ف عيني كل الدنيا

Here there is a slight problem of context, but nothing that cannot be resolved. "kunt (كنت)" could mean "I was" or "you were," so we must look at the rest of the sentence to come to a conclusion. We see "fi 3ayni (في عيني)," which of course just means "in my eye" and "kull al-dunya (كل الدنيا)," which means "the whole world." The word "عالم" for "world" is not nearly as common as "dunya (دنيا)" in Egyptian Arabic. From this information, we can infer that "kunt fi 3ayni kull al-dunya (كنت في عيني كل الدنيا)" means "you were the whole world in my eyes."

Listen to the song again and read along to see how much you understand. You may be surprised at how much easier it is to understand now that you are equipped with some basic information. By now, you should be familiar with the essential pronunciation differences of Egyptian Arabic, as well as the way verbs are conjugated. Make sure to keep a list of all the important vocabulary differences. And remember:

لو عايزين تتعلموا لازم تسمعوا المسيقى كتير! هتفهموا كل حاجة في يوم اكيد! يالله تعالوا لأغنية تانية

Next lesson: Tamer Hosni - lissah baHibbak

Lesson One: خلاص

New Vocabulary

xalaaS (خلاص) - that's it
3aayiz (عايز) - want
faakir (فاكر) - remembering
taani (تاني) - again, another
bit'uul (بتقول) - you say
bititkallim (بتتكلّم) - to talk
eh (ايه) - what?
mish (مش) - not
illi (اللي) - which, that, that which

gah (جه) - to come
gaab (جاب) - to bring
ba3ad (بعد) - to get far away, to go away
nasa (نسى) - to forget
ba'a (بقى) - to be, to become, to get
3amal (عمل) - to do

For those who are familiar with Standard Arabic or a dialect of Arabic other than Egyptian, this song is ideal for illustrating many of the basic aspects of Egyptian Arabic that can be challenging if you have no experience with the dialect. However, if you learn a few basic points about Egyptian colloquial you will find that is it not so different from the version of Arabic that you know.

Pop music is one of the portals to the world of spoken Arabic. Music of the Arabic-speaking world is typically sung in dialects as opposed to Standard Arabic, and many singers regardless of origin sing in Egyptian dialect of Cairo due to the size of the Egyptian market and the relative familiarity that people have with this dialect. The song "ma xalaaS (ما خلاص)" by Samira Said is a case in point. Samira Said was born in Morocco but has since moved to Egypt to become one of the more successful pop artists in the Arab world today. The song's title, "ma xalaaS (ما خلاص)," contains the very common word "xalaaS (خلاص)," which means "that's it," or "it's over." It has both the connotations as "that's all" and "it's done" just like the phrase "that's it" in English. This word is not explicitly Egyptian but can be found much more in colloquial speech because saying "that's it" is a very idiomatic aspect of speech not found in written Arabic. The "ما" adds emphasis to the phrase to the effect of "it's soooo over" or something along those lines.

Listen to the song and enjoy this video. The complete lyrics are listed below the video:

سميرة سعيد - ما خلاص

ما خلاص عايز ايه منى ايه
ابعد بقى عنى ايه
حاول تفهمنى الماضى خلاص انساه

ما خلاص ايه جابك تانى ايه
ارتاح وانسانى ايه
واللى هييجى منك والله مانيش عايزاه

بتقول انا كنت زمان بهواك
بصراحه انا مش فاكراك
وبتتكلم عن ايه

ماخلاص راحت يا حبيبى عليك
عايز تحلم خليك
وعايزنى اعملك ايه

يا سلام بتحايل في ايه
وبتحلم بي ليه
لا اهدى شويه
ده خيالك راح لبعيد

وبلاش يخطر على بالك لا
ان انا راجعالك لا
ما تشوف بقى حالك
ده كلامك مش هيفيد

انت اللى بالبعد بادى
ودلوقتى عادى انى اقسى عليك
كل اللى هاين علي تشوفك عيني ولا تحن ليك

Even if you have lots of Arabic knowledge, you may not have understood much if you are unfamiliar with the Egyptian dialect. Don't worry, there are only some minor differences that interfere with your understanding of the song. Here I will explain line by line the first verse of the song and the chorus. The first line is as follows:

ما خلاص عايز ايه منى

The word "3aayiz (عايز)" follows the familiar pattern of (فاعل) from Standard Arabic, thus making it a kind of active participle carrying the meaning of a present tense verb in this case. So "3aayiz (عايز)" means "wanting," which depending on the context could be "I want," "you want," or "he wants." It takes the place of the standard Arabic verb "أراد," which does not exist as such in Egyptian Arabic. The word "eh (ايه)" is Egyptian for "what," taking the place of both "ما" and "ماذا" from Standard Arabic. As you can see the question word "eh" follows the verb "3aayiz" instead of preceding it. This is a particular characteristic of Egyptian Arabic; the question word almost always is found after the verb and usually at the end of the sentence. From context we infer that the phrase "3aayiz eh? (عايز ايه؟)" means "what do you want?" The last word of the sentence "minni (منى)" is the same as Standard Arabic "from me," but the reader may be confused to see a "ى" in place of the "ي." This is usually the case at the end of the word in Egyptian Arabic so you just have to get used to it. In all, the first sentence means "it's over, what do you want from me?" This may seem to be a lot of explaining for just one line of a song, but it's already illustrated several essential basics of Egyptian Arabic.

If we move to the next line:

ابعد بقى عنى

We find the word "ib3ad (ابعد)" meaning "get away!" or literally "go farther away." The next word "ba'a (بقى)" may sound strange, but actually it is the same word as the Standard Arabic verb "بقي" which means "to remain" or "to stay." The pronunciation is different because in Egyptian Arabic the "qaaf (ق)" is usually pronounced as a glottal stop, the equivalent of "hamza (ء)" in Standard Arabic. While the verb retains some aspect of its meaning "to remain," it is much more versatile and idiomatic in colloquial, taking on the connotations sometimes of the verb "to get" like "get away!" or also the verb "to be." Here it comes as a command, coupled with the verb "ib3ad 3anni (ابعد عني)" with the general meaning of "get away from me." "ba'a" is not easy to translate in Egyptian Arabic but know that it has the general connotations of "to be" but not always in the same sense.

The next line:

حاول تفهمنى الماضى خلاص انساه

Should not be terribly difficult for the Standard Arabic knower. "Haawal (حاول)" is the command "try" and "tifhamni (تفهمني)" means "you understand me," altogether meaning "try to understand me." Notice that the verbs are not bridged by the connector word "an (أنْ)" as in Standard Arabic. This word does not exist in colloquial and is not necessary. "al-maaDi xalaaS insaah (الماضي خلاص انساه) of course means "the past is over, forget it." Pay attention to the pronunciation of "insaah" and note the the direct object particle for "it" has no vowel after it. In colloquial all case markings have been dropped from words so they are not pronounced.

The following line:

ما خلاص ايه جابك تانى

May appear strange but is actually not very different from the basic standard Arabic that any beginner would know. The verb "gaabak (جابك)" is comprised of the verb "gaab (جاب)" and the direct object marker for you (masculine) "ak (ك)." For you (feminine) the marker would be "ik." Notice that in Egyptian dialect the "jiim (ج)" is pronounced as an English "g" sound. This is always the case, except for in a select few verbs imported from other languages containing a "j" sound. So the verb "gaab (جاب)" actually comes from the Standard Arabic "جاء ب" meaning to "come with" but really "to bring." When she says "eh gaabak? (ايه جابك؟)," we can now say that this means "what brought you?" "taani (تاني)" is the same as Standard Arabic "ثاني" meaning "second." The "thaa (ث)" is not pronounced in Egyptian Arabic. It usually becomes a "ta" in common words or older words, but newer words re-imported from standard or the outside usually us the "sa" pronunciation in place of "tha." "taani (تاني)" has many meanings in colloquial including "second," but in this case it means again. Hence, the line means "what brought you (to me or here) again?"

The next line is fairly straighforward:

ارتاح وانسانى

"irtaaH (ارتاح)" is a very common verb in Egyptian colloquial meaning "to be comfortable" or "to be at ease" or "to relax" or "to be content," maybe even "to take it easy" in the sense of "to calm down." Here she commands her ex-lover "irtaaH wa insaani (ارتاح وانساني)" to the effect of "relax and forget me," or something along these lines.

By contrast, the following line may not appear to even be Arabic, but when dissected you will see that it is in principle the same:

واللى هييجى منك والله مانيش عايزاه

"illi (اللى)" is actually the same word as the standard "الذي," except it is not conjugated for gender or number. It means "which" or "that which." "hayiigi (هييجي)" is comprised of "ha (ه sometimes ح)" which is the future marker similar to "sa (س)" in Standard Arabic and the verb "yiigi (ييجي)" which of course means "he/it comes." Notice that the "hamza (ء)" has once again been dropped and a long vowel "ي" has been inserted before the "giim" for ease of pronunciation. Put it all together and "illi hayiigi minnak (اللي هييجي منك)" means "that which will come/is coming from you." This could be what he is going to say or what he is going to bring or do. The second part of the line contains the very familiar phrase "wallahi (ولله)" meaning "I swear" or "I swear to God." "maaniish (مانيش)" sounds crazy, but actually is the equivalent of Standard Arabic "lastu (لست)" meaning "I'm not" or "I don't." It is comprised of "ma (ما)" meaning not, "ana (انا)" meaning "I," and the "sh (ش)" at the end. This "maa -x- sh" combination is used often for negation in Egyptian Arabic, and especially with verbs. This way of expressing "I'm not" can be used for all other pronouns as well. Finally, "3ayzaah" can be seen to be comprised of the now familiar "3aayiz (عايز)," only this time conjugated for feminine, and the direct object "ah (ه)" referring to the aforementioned "اللى هييجي منك." In total the sentence is revealed thusly to mean "and that which will come from you, I swear to God, I don't want it."

That's a lot of work for one little verse of a song. Now let's move on to the chorus:

بتقول انا كنت زمان بهواك

"bit'uul (بتقول)" is the equivalent of Standard Arabic "تقول" meaning "you say." Once again we see the the "q" becoming a glottal stop sound like "hamza." The "b- (ب)" is added to the beginning of verbs in the present tense verbs in Egyptian Colloquial Arabic. But what does he say you ask? "ana kunt zamaan bahwaak (انا كنت زمان بهواك)" means "I used to love you at one time" or "I used to love you in the past." "zamaan (زمان)" means time but here means "a time" that is now past. "bahwaak (بهواك)" is of course the combination of present tense marker "b- (ب)" and the verb "ahwaak (اهواك)" meaning "I love you." "ana kunt (انا كنت)" means "I was," just like in Standard Arabic, giving the meaning here of "I used to." What we notice here, however, is we do not know exactly what this means. After "bit'uul" there is no "inn (إنّ)" like in standard Arabic. We don't know if she is saying that he said the quote "I used to love you" or she says that he says that she used to love him. Here we infer the latter because it is he who wants her back, but still the grammatical ambiguity remains.

The next line:

بصراحه انا مش فاكراك

Here we find one of the most important words in colloquial Egyptian, "mish." She says "ana mish fakraak (انا مش فاكراك)," meaning "I don't remember you." We already saw "maaniish (مش)" meaning "I'm not" and here is another variation. "mish (مش)" means "not" and is the equivalent of standard Arabic "ليس," but actually, is not conjugated for person or number. Thus "ana mish," "anta mish" and so forth. "fakraak (فاكراك)" is comprised of "faakir (فاكر)" the participle form once again meaning "to remember," and the direct object marker for "you." This literally means "remembering you" but in the discourse of love it has the connations of "thinking of you" or "still being in love," juxtaposed with "naasi (ناسي)" which means "forgetting" or "no longer loving." Altogether the line "bi-SaraaHa ana mish fakraak (بصراحة انا مش فاكراك)" means "quite frankly, I'm not remembering you," and while not easily translated the meaning is clear, she's done with him!

The next line may be easily understood now:

وبتتكلم عن ايه

We see "b- (ب)" + "titkallam (تتكلّم)" meaning "you are talking." This verb is the same as in Standard Arabic, but make note of the stress difference in the word "titkallam" vs. "tatakallam." Also we can see she says "bititkallam 3an eh? (بتتكلم عن ايه؟)," meaning "what are you talking about?"

The next line contains a useful colloquial idiom:

ماخلاص راحت يا حبيبى عليك

"raaHat (راحت)" is from the verb "raaH (راح)," which means "to go" or "to leave." This verb is sometimes found in standard Arabic but is more common in colloquial Arabic, completely replacing the verb Standard Arabic verb "ذهب," which for all intents and purposes does not exist in Egyptian Arabic. Samira says "raaHat ya Habiibi 3aleek (راحت يا حبيبى عليك)," meaning "you've lost it and you will never get it back" or "you missed your chance." Of course "raaHat 3aleek (راحت عليك)" literally means something like "it left on you" but just know the idiomatic meaning of this phrase. So the whole line means something like "it's over, you missed your chance."

The next line:

عايز تحلم خليك

Here "3aayiz taHlam (عايز تحلم)" meanings "you want to dream," however, we can see from context that it is a question, something like "you wanna dream?" "xalliik (خليك)" is a very important colloquial word, meaning "let you," or "may you." "xalla (خلى)" can be attached to any noun to mean "let (someone/something) be/do (something)." For example "xalliini a3iish (خليني اعيش)" means "let me live." In this case "xalliik" means "may you" like "go ahead." So, the whole line altogether means "you wanna dream? may you" or "you wanna dream? go ahead."

The last line of the chorus:

وعايزني أعمل لك ايه؟

Contains the familiar standard Arabic verb "عمل." However, this verb does not mean "to work" in colloquial, but rather, "to do" replacing standard Arabic "فعل." Thus when Samira says "3aayizni a3mal lak eh? (عايزني أعمل لك ايه؟)" it means "what do you want me to do for you?"

So, we can see that in Egyptian colloquial some letters have a different pronunciation and some words have different but related meanings. Other words have been completely replaced by new words specific to the dialect. Also, we can see that question words tend to be found at the end of the sentence as opposed to the beginning. Negation has been changed and simplified, and verbs have different tense markers. However, despite these myriad differences, the core vocabulary and structure of the language remains the same. Listen again and try to understand the second half of the song as well, see how much you've learned. Probably close to nothing, right! That's because there's still lots to learn about Egyptian Arabic. For a complete translation click here. But after a couple more songs, you'll see how fast you can begin to learn.

For more, go onto the next lesson, Lesson Two: "laazim a3iish (لازم أعيش)" by Sherine

Lesson 10: توبة

New Vocabulary

tooba (توبة) - never again, I'll never ... again
aah (آه) - expression of pain, anxiety or distress
uw3a (أوعى) - god forbid, don't you dare, don't ever
barDuh (برضه) - also, too, nevertheless, even so, really, surely
mahma (مهما) - no matter what/how much
kull ma (كل ما) - whenever
raaH (راح) - going to
aHsan (أحسن) - it's better that..., better off
nooba (نوبة) - time, instance
marra (مرة) - once, one time, instance
bukrah (بكره) - tomorrow
salamtak (سلامتك) - get well soon!
'udaam (قدام) - in front of
Hatta (حتى) - even, not even
wagh (وجه) pl. wuguuh (وجوه) - face

SaHHa (صحّى) - to wake someone up
wa33ad (وعّد) - to promise
Sadda' (صدّق) - to believe
kaddab (كدّب) - to call a liar, to deny, to contradict, to refuse to believe
xaaSim (خاصم) - to fight with, to quarrel with
SaaliH (صالح) - to make good with, to reconcile with
DiHik (ضِحِك) - to smile, to laugh
baka (بكى) - to cry

In Lesson 9, we heard from Asmahan, one of the great female singers of modern Egyptian history. Now we'll hear a song from perhaps the most famous male singer in the history of Arabic music, Abdel Halim Hafez. Abdel Halim's career spanned over 2 decades, during which he became a cultural icon. He first rose to fame just as Egypt was gaining independence in 1952, and thus became a beloved symbol of the new nation. Like Asmahan, he died somewhat prematurely in 1977 at just 47 years of age. For this reason and of course his countless classic songs and wonderful smile and charm, he is often compared to Elvis Presley. His nickname was "al-3andaliib al-asmar (العندليب الأسمر)" which means "the dark nightingale."

This is one of Abdel Halim's earlier works, from the 1955 movie "ayaam wa layaali (أيام وليالي)." The title, "tooba (توبة)," means "Never Again." Watch and listen, and try to catch some of the dialog in the beginning.

توبة توبة
توبة إن كنت أحبك تاني توبة
بس قابلني مرة وتبقى دي آخر نوبة
وبعدها توبة

توبة إن كنت أخاصمك وأرجع أصالحك تاني
ياما البعد سقاني وياما القرب ضناني

وإن فات طيفك يوم في منامي وجهه صحاني
برضه أصالحك بس أهي نوبة وبعدها توبة

توبة إن كنت حصدق تاني كلامك
مهما حتسأل مش راح أصدق حتى سلامك

بس وعدني أوعى تبكي وأنا قدامك
أحسن أكذّب روحي وأقول أهي نوبة وبعدها توبة

آه من حيرة قلبي وآه من دمعة عيني
كل ما أقول أنساك توحشهم نارك وتصحيني

أجري وأسأل عنك قبل ما انت تجيني
أضحك نوبة وأبكي نوبة وبعدها توبة

Hope you got something out this snapshot of Egyptian film in the 1950s. Before we talk about the song let's talk about the dialog in the beginning. The girl obviously rebuffs Abdel Halim, who is persistently confessing his love. You hear her friends say that the hospital's visiting hours are over. Apparently Abdel Halim has somehow ended up in the hospital. Notice that as she leaves Abdel Halim shouts "hashuufik bukra (حشوفك بكره)." This is a very important phrase meaning "I'll see you tomorrow!" Her reply is "salamtak (سلامتك)," which means "get well soon." Learn these useful phrases.

Now try to get the catchy chorus stuck in your head. Let's see what he's saying:

توبة توبة
توبة إن كنت أحبك تاني توبة

Like we said, "tooba (توبة)" means "no more" or "never again." Never again what now? "in kunt aHibbak tani (إن كنت أحبك تاني)." After "tooba (توبة)" you use a word like "in (إن)" or "iza (إذا)" that means "if" and a phrase as you an see here. Take this to mean "never will I love you again."

Then what:

بس قابلني مرة وتبقى دي آخر نوبة
وبعدها توبة

Remember "bas (بس)" means "but" or "just." So he says "tooba (توبة)," "never again," and then "bas (بس)," "but" so we know something's coming here. "'aabilni (قابلني)" is a command, saying "meet me." "marra (مرة)" is no different than in Standard Arabic, meaning "once" or "one time." The word "nooba (نوبة)" is another word meaning "time" or "instance" that rhymes a bit nicer with "tooba (توبة)." So "tib'a di aakhir nooba (تبقى دي آخر نوبة)" means "this'll be the last time." See how the verb "ba'a (بقى)" is being used here? Finally, Abdel Halim pledges "wa ba3adaha tooba (وبعدها توبة)," meaning "and after it, never again."

First verse:

توبة إن كنت أخاصمك وأرجع أصالحك تاني

Looks like more regrets for Abdel Halim. The verb "xaaSim (خاصم)" means "to fight with" or "to quarrel with" and the verb "SaaliH (صالح)" is its opposite, "to make good with" or "to reconcile with." So he's saying, "never again will I fight with you then come back and make good with you again."

Next line:

ياما البعد سقاني وياما القرب ضناني

This line means "oh how the farness watered me and oh how the closeness exhausted me." You gotta just do your best to understand what is meant by this, it's not worth dwelling on here.

Next line:

وإن فات طيفك يوم في منامي وجهه صحّاني

"in (إن)" means "if," like the word "low (لو)." Do you remember the word "Teef (طيف)" meaning "specter" or "image" from the last lesson? "manaam (منام)" means "sleep" or the "sleep state." The word "wagh (وجه)" is important here. It means "face." Finally the verb "SaHHa (صحى)" means "to wake someone up." Put all of this together, and he says "if your image passed by one day in my sleep, its (your) face would wake me up." Break down the sentence to see what's going on there.

برضه أصالحك بس أهي نوبة وبعدها توبة

The word "barDuh (برضه)" comes into Egyptian Arabic from Turkish and has several related meanings. Firstly, it means "too" or "also" or "after that." In addition, it means "nevertheless" or "even so" or "all the same." Finally it can be used as an intensifier like "really" or "surely." Figuring out what "barDuh (برضه)" is supposed to mean is not easy hardly ever, but get a sense for it because it's a common word in Egyptian Arabic. Did you get the sentence using what we've learned so far?

After the chorus we get Abdel Halim swearing off some other stuff:

توبة إن كنت حصدّق تاني كلامك

As we've learned "Sadda' (صدق)" means "to believe." So he says, "never again will I believe your words."

مهما حتسأل مش راح أصدق حتى سلامك

"mahma (مهما)" is a great word meaning "no matter what/how much." "mish raaH aSadda' (مش راح أصدق)" means "I'm not going to believe." "raaH (راح)" is an alternate way of marking the future, and we can see why, given that is also the verb "to go." "Hatta salaamak (حتى سلام)" means "even your peace," but remember, "salaam (سلام)" is also used for saying hello, so here it means like "not even your greeting."

بس وعّدني
أوعى تبكي وأنا قدامك

"bas wa33idni (بس وعّدني)" means "but" or "just promise me." "uw3a (أوعى)" means "god forbid you..." or "don't ever" or "don't you dare!" You use it with a present tense verb to forbid someone from doing something. The verb "baka (بكى)" of course means "to cry" and "'udaam (قدام)" means "in front of." So he says "don't ever cry when I am in front of you," or in better English, "don't ever cry in front of me." See how the "wa (و)" phrase creates the sense of "when" or "while?"

أحسن أكذّب روحي وأقول أهي نوبة وبعدها توبة

Starting a sentence with "aHsan (أحسن)" carries the meaning of "it's better that" or "better off." The verb "kaddab (كدّب)" comes from the root "kadab (كدب)," "to lie," and means "to call a liar," "to contradict or deny" or "to refuse to believe." So he says "It's better for me to refuse to believe my soul and say it's once and after that never again." He doesn't really wanna say "tooba (توبة)," he just knows it's in his best interest.

Final verse:

آه من حيرة قلبي وآه من دمعة عيني

"aah min (آه من)" something means literally "ouch from" but it means like "that thing hurts" or something along those lines. "aah (آه)" expresses exasperation, stress and suffering in Arabic. Then he saying "Oh the confusion of my heart, oh the tears of my eyes."

كل ما أقول أنساك توحشهم نارك وتصحّيني

As we learned "kullima (كل ما)" means "whenever." The verb "waHash (وحش)" is a little tricky to explain. It is used to say "I miss you," except the "I" is the object and the "you" is the subject like in French "Tu me manques." So here "tawhashum (توحشهم)" means "they miss you," referring to his eyes and heart. "naar (نار)" means "fire" or "hell" and it is grammatically feminine, and we already learned what "SaHHa (صحّى)" means earlier in the song. Unpack all that and he says, "whenever I say I'll forget you, they (I) miss you and your fire wakes me up." See how he's suffering?

Next line:

أجري وأسأل عنك قبل ما انت تجيني

"sa'al 3an (سأل عن)" means "to ask about." "'abl (قبل)" means "before," and the "'abl ma (قبل ما)" is used in conjunction with a verbal expression. "I run and ask about you before you come to me."

Final line:

أضحك نوبة وأبكي نوبة وبعدها توبة

The verb "DiHik (ضحك)" means "to laugh" or "to smile." Put it together with what we know and he says, "I laugh once, cry once and after that never again!"

I probably explained a lot more for you in this song than you really needed with all you've learned thus far. I can't help it, it's just so hard to see you doing things on your own now! It's like you don't even need me. From now on I'll try to be more hands off in the explanations while guiding you through more and more songs. Go back and review and then go onto the next lesson, Lesson 11: خليك جنبي

Lesson 15: انت معايا

New Vocabulary

bigadd (بجد) - seriously
waya (ويا) - with
waaxid (واخد) - taking
naa'iS (ناقص) - lacking, missing from

ghammaD (غمّض) - to close one's eyes
fada (فدى) - to ransom, to redeem
fadaak (فداك) - for your sake, I'd give (that) up for you

After introducing so many difficult lessons up through Lesson 14, it will be beneficial to look back on what you've learned with this song. The song entitled "anta ma3aaya (انت معايا)," "You're With Me" by Hossam Habib is a very simple but typical Egyptian pop song. I've chosen this song because except for a few words listed above, all of the grammar and vocabulary in the song has been covered in previous lessons. Thus, I will not give complete explanations of this song, but rather just a few commentary to help you understand. First take a listen and read along to see what you can get.

انت معايا بجد حبيبي اصدق عيني
لو بحلم اوعى تصحيني
سيبني حبيبي اعيش وياك

ده انت واخدني لدنيا بعيدة وعالم تاني
ومفيش حاجة معاك نقصاني
سيبني حبيبي اعيش وياك

حبيبى ليه بحبك تعرف ليه
حقولك كل ما فيك وكلك ليا انا

انت معايا بجد حبيبي اصدق عيني
لو بحلم اوعى تصحيني
سيبني حبيبي اعيش وياك

من اللي انا فيه مش عايز اغمض ثانية عينيا
الفرحة دى كتيرة عليا
خد ايامى وعمرى فداك
بقى معقول الحب ده كله فى قلبك ليا
جوه عينيك حب وحنية
وامال حضنك يبقى ازاي

حبيبى ليه بحبك تعرف ليه
حقول لك كل ما فيك وكلك ليا انا

Pretty easy huh? Hossam Habib does not have the clearest enunciation, but by reading along you should be able to understand. Let's look at the first verse:

انت معايا بجد حبيبي اصدق عيني
لو بحلم اوعى تصحيني
سيبني حبيبي اعيش وياك

Should be pretty clear. Do you remember what "uw3a (أوعى)" means? See how the verb "saab (ساب)," meaning "to leave," is being used as a command "sibni (سيبني)" meaning "let me."

Next verse:

انت واخدني لدنيا بعيدة وعالم تاني
ومفيش حاجة معاك نقصاني
سيبني حبيبي اعيش وياك

Remember "mafiish (مفيش)," meaning "there's not." "mafiish Haaga ma3aak na'Saani (مفيش حاجة معاك نقصاني)" means "there is nothing lacking from me with you."

Next:

حبيبى ليه بحبك تعرف ليه
حقولك كل ما فيك وكلك ليا انا

What is he going to tell her?

Next verse:

من اللي انا فيه مش عايز اغمض ثانية عينيا
الفرحة دى كتيرة عليا
خد ايامى وعمرى فداك

What doesn't he want to close his eyes from? See the line "xad ayaami wa 3umri fadaak (خد ايامي وعمري فداك)" "fadaak (فداك)" is an important but complicated idiom meaning "it is for your sake" or "I'd give (something) for you." So he is saying "my life is yours".

بقى معقول الحب ده كله فى قلبك ليا
جوه عينيك حب وحنية
وامال حضنك يبقى ازاي

What is in her eyes according to Hossam?

Maybe you can't translate every line word for word but if you have kept up with the lessons and vocabulary I think you've understood the song pretty well. If not, review the vocabulary from past lessons and remember you can use the Egyptian Arabic Vocabulary on the site as a good reference. Not all songs in the future will be this easy, however, I will be providing fewer explanation where they are not necessary in order to allow you to figure out for yourselves.

Lesson 5: منايا

New Vocabulary

munya (منية) pl: munaa (منا) - wish
ya reet (يا ريت) - if only
faayit (فايت) - passing
Hasis (حاسس) - feeling
guwwa (جوه) - inside, within
guwwa minni (جوه مني) - within me
naar (نار) - fire, hell
aHlaam (أحلام) - dreams
li-waHdi (لوحدي) - by myself
kifaaya (كفاية) - enough, enough!

Hilim (حِلِم) - to dream
ti3ib (تِعِب) - to get tired
ta3ab (تَعَب) - to tire someone
gara (جرى) - to run, to happened
garaali (جرالي) - it happened to me
illi garaali (اللي جرالي) - that which happened to me

In Lesson 4, we saw that "itmanna al-xeer (اتمنى الخير)" means "to wish well." This lesson also deals with wishes, using the song "munaaya (منايا)" by Moustafa Amar. "munaa (منا)" is the plural of "munya (منية)," meaning wish or desire. Although the song is called "munaaya (منايا)," my wishes, we should translate this as "My Wish."

Understanding this song may be significantly easier with the knowledge you've been gaining. Listen to the song and enjoy the backwards video while reading along with the lyrics:

منايا حبيبي تحس هوايا
ويا ريتك تعرف ايه جوايا
منايا حبيبي تحس هوايا
ويا ريتك تعرف ايه جوايا

ايام وسنين بتفوت
عمري يجري مني
وتعيش احلام وتموت
وانت جوه مني

حبيبي انا بحلم تبقى معايا
من نار البعد تعبت كفاية
حبيبي انا بحلم تبقى معايا
من نار البعد تعبت كفاية

ليالي فايتني لوحدي ليالي
ولا قلبك حاسس باللي جرالي
ليالي فايتني لوحدي ليالي
ولا قلبك حاسس باللي جرالي

Check it out:

منايا حبيبي تحس هوايا

"my desire my darling is for you to feel my love." Got it right

و يا ريتك تعرف ايه جوايا

The phrase "ya reet (يا ريت)" means "if only" and you can attach a pronoun to the effect of "if only I" or "if only you" etc. So "ya reetak ta3rif (يا ريتك تعرف)" means "If only you knew." Knew what? "eh guwaaya (ايه جوايا)" which means "what's inside me." "guwwa (جوه)" takes the place of Standard Arabic "داخل."

The chorus already?

ايام وسنين بتفوت
عمري يجري مني

"days and years pass." Notice "bitfuut (بتفوت)" the present tense conjugation for "faat (فات)." Therefore "3umri yigri minni (عمري يجري مني)" means "my lifetime is running away from me." the verb "gara (جرى)" means "to run" but already means to happen, as we will soon see.

What's the rest?:

وتعيش احلام وتموت

"aHlaam (أحلام)" are dreams. If you didn't know, "maat (مات)" means "to die."

وانت جوه مني

"guwwa min (جوه من)" is just a variation of "guwwa (جوه)" basically, meaning "within."

Next verse:

حبيبي انا بحلم تبقى معايا

The verb "Hilim (حلم)" means to dream. If you remember "ba'a (بقى)," it means like "to be" or "to become" and these various meanings that you can get from context. so the line means "my darling, I'm dreaming of you being with me."

من نار البعد تعبت كفاية

"naar (نار)" is "fire" or "hell," and usually carries this double meaning in song. Fire hurts. "al-bu3d (البعد)" is an important concept in Arabic. It means "distance," and distance also hurts when you are in love. So "from the fire of distance" "ti3ibt (تِعِبت)" means "I got tired" and "kifaaya (كفاية)" means "enough!" Notice that "ti3ib (تِعِب)," "to get tired," is different from "ta3ab (تَعَب)," "to tire someone." There are a few verbs like this in Egyptian dialect keep your eye out for them.

One final verse:

ليالي فايتني لوحدي ليالي

"layaali (ليالي)" is the plural of "leel (ليل)," meaning night. "faayit (فايت)" as you can see if the progressive participle of "faat (فات)," meaning passing. "li-waHdi (لوحدي)" means "by myself."

And the last new line:

ولا قلبك حاسس باللي جرالي

"wala (ولا)" has a lot of meanings. Here is means "never" or "don't." you can see that it contains the word "la (لا)." But "wala (ولا)" can also mean "or" or "nor." As I said above, the verb "gara (جرى)," "to run," also has the idiomatic meaning of "to happen." Thus, "garaali (جرالي)" means "it happened to me" and "illi garaali (اللي جرالي)" meanings "that which happened to me" or "what happened to me," not as a question. So "he heart doesn't feel what's happened to me."

If you listen again, you should be able to understand most everything. Take advantage of the repetition in this song to memorize the lines. I will continue to reduce the amount of explanation over the next couple lessons so that you can take advantage of your new skills of comprehension.

ماشي؟

Time to move on to Lesson 6

Lesson 12: انا قلبي ليك ميّال

New Vocabulary

mayyaal ila (ميّال الى) - fond of, inclined towards
maafiish (مافيش) - there is not
wibas (وبس) - only, and that's all
'ad (قد) - as much as
shuwayya (شوية) - a little
Tuul (طول) - throughout
3ala Tuul (على طول) - right away, all the ways, forever, straight ahead
3azuul (عذول) pl. 3uzzaal (عذال) - jealous person who interferes between lovers, critic
ibtisaama (ابتسامة) - a smile
Halaawa (حلاوة) - sweetness, prettiness
farHa (فرحة) - joy, hapiness
bahga (بهجة) - delight

Hallaf (حلّف) - to make someone swear to something, to adjure

After hearing some modern Egyptian pop in Lesson 11, I think it's time to return to the classics. This lesson will utilize the song "ana 'albi ileek mayyaal (انا قلبي اليك ميّال)," "My Heart is Fond of You," sung by Fayza Ahmed and written by the talented composer Mohamed Mogi. Fayza Ahmed was born in Lebanon/Syria during the 1930s, but like Asmahan before her, moved to Egypt to really make her career singing in the Egyptian dialect, and her career overlaps with that of Abdel Halim Hafez. She recorded hundreds of songs and films throughout her career, which ended prematurely in 1983 when she died of cancer at 48 years of age.

Watch the video and read along. Notice the amount of repetition in the old style of performance.

أنا قلبي اليك ميّال
وما فيش غيرك عالبال
انت وبس اللي حبيبي
مهما يقولوا العزال

وبحبك قد عينيا
حتى أكثر منها شوية
واسألها انت وحلفها
على طول حتقولك هيه

والدنيا انت بهجتها
والبهجة انت فرحتها
والفرحة أنت يا حبيبي
حلاوتها وابتسامتها

ومليت الدنيا عليا
ود.. حب حنية
خلتني احب الدنيا

طول ايامي ولياليا

First verse:

أنا قلبي اليك ميّال

The word "mayyaal (ميّال)" means "inclined" or "leaning" or "having a tendancy towards" something. The sentence could be rewritten as "'albi mayyaal ileek (قلبي ميّال إليك)" at which point it is clear she's saying "my heart is inclined towards you," meaning something like "my heart is fond of you." Often in songs, Arabic singers express their emotions by personifying their heart (قلب), eye(عين), and of course liver (كبد)!

ومافيش غيرك عالبال

The phrase "3aalbaal (عالبال)" means "on the mind," both literally and figuratively. See how "3ala (على)" is shortened to "3a (عا)" here. "maafiish (مافيش)" is an important word meaning "there is not." Of course "fii (فيه)" means "there is." Put it altogether and it's "and there's no one other than you on my mind."

Next line:

انت وبس اللي حبيبي

Here is that all-important word "bas (بس)" again. This time the phrase "wa bas (وبس)" can be seen to have the specific meaning of "and that's it" or "only." Got the sentence? Good next one:

مهما يقولوا العذال

Remember "mahma (مهما)," "no matter what." The word "3azzaal (عذّال)" is the plural of the word "3azuul (عذول)," an absolutely great Arabic word. This word is best defined as "a jealous person," but specifically, "a jealous person who attempts to interfere between lovers." It also carries the connotations of a "censorious person," meaning a critic. Translate it however you want, "no matter what the jealous say," or "no matter what the critics say" or if you don't care about brevity "no matter what the jealous people attempting to interfere between us say."

Next verse:

وبحبك قد عينيا

"'ad (قد)" means "as much as." Very useful word. Got the sentence now? It's an expression that says how important that person is. Eyes are really important in Arabic!

حتى أكثر منها شوية

"shuwayya (شوية)" is another essential Arabic word meaning "a little." "Even a little more than them."

Next line:

واسألها انت وحلفها

Here are two commands. "Hallaf (حلّف)" means "to make promise" or "to ask to swear to." So she says "and ask them yourself and make them swear." See she's still referring to her eyes.

على طول حتقولك هيه

Indeed, "3ala Tuul (على طول)" you know to mean "straight ahead" when you in a cab, but it also means "right away" and "always" or "all the way." "they'll tell you write away." The eyes reveal all true feelings

This is going rather smoothly no? Next verse:

والدنيا انت بهجتها

"bahga (بهجة)" is "delight." So she says "and the world, you are its delight" meaning "you are the delight of the world."

والبهجة انت فرحتها

Remember "farHa (فرحة)" means "happiness" or "joy." And thus she says "and delight, you are its joy" or "you are the joy of delight."

والفرحة أنت يا حبيبي

Got it then? The point here is he is everything that makes her happy.

حلاوتها وابتسامتها

"Halaawa (حلاوة)" is "sweetness" or "prettiness" and "ibtisaama (ابتسامة)" is "a smile."

Final verse:

ومليت الدنيا عليا
ود.. حب حنية

"maleet al-dunya 3alaya (مليت الدنيا عليا)" means "you filled the world for me" or "you filled my world" or even better still, "you filled my life." With what? "wadd, Hubb, Haniyya ود حب حنية

خلتني احب الدنيا

Remember "xallatni (خلتني)?"

Last line:

طول ايامي ولياليا

"Tuul (طول)" means length but also "throughout" in this construction. It is like Standard Arabic "طوال"

That's it, now you should be able to go back and understand the song well. Get ready for the next lesson, because it will really help you learn some ways to get out of trouble with your boyfriend or girlfriend, Lesson 13: ولا حاجة