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؟