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