Saturday, May 3, 2008

Introduction: السلام عليكم

New Vocabulary

as-salaamu 3aleekum (السلام عليكم) - Peace be upon you (greeting)
wa-3aleekum as-salaam (وعليكم السلام) - And upon you peace (response)
yalla bina (يلله بنا) - Let's go!
ta3aala (تعالى) - Come on!
Habiibi (حبيبي) - my darling, my beloved
al-salaam (السلام) - peace, a greeting

sallam (سلّم) - to say hi
Habb (حب) - to love

Before moving into some of the songs and breaking down their sentences, it will be nice to enjoy this video and get a simple introduction to Egyptian Arabic as well as Egyptian music. This song by Hakim is entitled "as-salaamu 3aleekum (السلام عليكم)" which means "Peace be upon you." This is a common way of saying hi in Egypt as well as much of the Muslim world. The response to "as-salaamu 3aleekum (السلام عليكم)" is "wa-3aleekum as-salaam (وعليكم السلام)" which should be said whenever anyone greets you saying "as-salaamu 3aleekum (السلام عليكم)." The verb "to say hi" or "to say salaam" is thus, "sallam (سلّم)."

The musical style in this song is shaabi, which means "folk" or "people's" music but refers to a certain style of pop music driven by the distinct kind of rhythm you'll find in this song optimized for dancing with lyrical emphasis on repetition of catchy lines.

Depending on your level of Arabic you may or may not understand much of this song. Try to focus on reading along and making out the words, picking out the few phrases and vocabulary I've highlighted above. Also, enjoy the video, which depicts various potential Cairo scenarios.



اس اس السلام عليكم
طب اس اس السلام عليكم
اس اس السلام عليكم
طب اس اس السلام عليكم
السلام عليكم السلام عليكم
السلام عليكم السلام عليكم

بعد السلام يحلى الكلام
نسهر ندوب حب و غرام
الحياه حلوه يالله بينا يالله نحضن الأيام

السلام عليكم السلام عليكم

انا قلبي سلم يا حبيبي رد السلام
و افتحلي قلبك يا حبيبي و انسى الخصام

حب و ارقص غني و أوعى تبعد عني
حب و ارقص غني و أوعى تبعد عني
هات ايدك يالله دا السلام لله و لا كفايا عناد

السلام عليكم السلام عليكم

ما تضم شوقك على شوقي قرب يا واد
و احلوي يا دنيا و روقي بعد البعاد

من رموشك خذني او تعالى في حضني
ضحكة مع غمزة نظرة مع همسة
كلو يبقى تمام

السلام عليكم السلام عليكم

انا بس عايزك تديني شوية حنان
و بأحلى حب تنسيني مر الزمان

لو غلطت عاتبني مش تروح و تسبني
لو غلطت عاتبني مش تروح و تسبني
يالله يا واحشني عيش و عيشني ليه تبات زعلان

السلام عليكم السلام عليكم

بعد السلام يحلى الكلام
نسهر ندوب حب و غرام

Aside from the line "as-salaamu 3aleekum (السلام عليكم)" you may not have understood very much of the song. That's ok, because with a little explanation, you'll soon find that comprehension is not as difficult as it seems. Just take these coming lessons one at a time and learn all the target vocabulary and grammar explanations and you'll understand Egyptian shaabi songs like this in no time! Yalla, Lesson 1: ما خلاص

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

hi, these lessons are wonderful and thanks a lot for actually taking up your time in making them.. i was just wondering whether you're learning turkish aswell considering you have also a turkish blog, i am turkish myself and would be pleased to help you in your turkish (if needed) since your blogs will be contributing greatly to my improvement in arabic & nothing is free in this world :D
shukran kteer for all ur efforts :)

Anonymous said...

Ayse!!! iam turk to! well, my family migrated from turkiya in the 1800s but iam still in touch with my heritage although nothing is more important than islam. why are you interested in arabic?

and here is a video that works:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xf8jsnwrk-0&feature=related

Anonymous said...

Hey I went to turkey last summer!! turkiye cok guzel:) i studied turkish before i went and it is easy once you figure out the patterns, good luck.

Anonymous said...

Merhabba! haha I also was in turkey for a week and loved it! I made friends with the locals and experienced the real turkey, not tourist turkey. I love turks! I hope to visit Egypt and study arabic there. Im american

Essam Sorour said...

السلام عليكم ,
أنا اسمي (عصام ٍسرور ) , مصري أنا بس حبيت أشوف الناس بره بيتعلموا اللغة بتاعتي ازاي , بيتهيألي انكوا بتعملوا كويس قوي , ربنا معاكوا لو محتاجين أي مساعدة بجد محدش يتردد في انه يتصل بيا , أكيد هيقى مبسوط جدا إني اساعد حد في انه يتعلم لغتي
سلام ,
peace be upon you ,
My name is Essam , Egyptian ,I just wanted to see how the people out there are learning my lanuage , I beleive that you are doing very good , God may help you all , If you need any help seriously nobody hesitate to contact me , for sure I will be very happy to help someone to learn my language ,
Peace ,

( and by the way Chris I'm sure that you are such a professional teacher ) keep up the good work

Anwar Allie said...

Salaam Esam How do i contact you.

adam rayfield said...

Hi and thank you for this great blog. I am a Canadian moving to Cairo to teach in August and I am keen to learn Egyptian Arabic. I also was wondering the number system you use to translate arabic words into english. What are the sounds for those numbers?
Once again thanks for the great site. It is a great learning tool and I am having a fun time learning the language. Thanks and hope to hear from you!

malaikainafrica said...

I love it!

I lived in the Middle East for a total of two years and am currently an Arabic instructor in Washington, D.C. bahib masr muuuuuut!

hussein said...

ASALAMU ALAIKUM AHLAN WA SAHLAN MY NAME IS HUSSEIN AND I AM ASKING BECAUSE I FIND THIS QUITE CONFUSING, WHEN EGYPTIANS TALK, SOME OF THE WORDS ARE NOT PRONOUNCES FOR E.G. ALA adi WHEN ITS MEANT TO BE ALA qadi SO I WONDERING HOW THEY CAN DO THAT

Unknown said...

salam aliykum, i use to be very fluent in Arabic when i was 5 and younger and i'm 20 now and needing to learn again i know some but not as well as i used to be, also not in a place where people speak it, im in small town in U.S. and really needing to pick back up on my language. insha allah, well any commets just mailing me thanks, diyanah_dahlisaa at yahoo dot com, take care to all,
Maa Asalama.

Unknown said...

salam aliykum, i use to be very fluent in Arabic when i was 5 and younger and i'm 20 now and needing to learn again i know some but not as well as i used to be, also not in a place where people speak it, im in small town in U.S. and really needing to pick back up on my language. insha allah, well any commets just mailing me thanks, diyanah_dahlisaa at yahoo dot com, take care to all,
Maa Asalama.

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ShiYuanShuang said...

I'm liking your lessons so far. I have two years of Standard Arabic and one year of Moroccan Darija, but have always wanted to learn Egyptian. Thanks for sharing the video, but as for it depicting "various potential Cairo scenarios", I think it is more lulzy than realistic.

Is said...

Esalaamu alaykum (X4)

After greetings
The words become nicer
We'll sleep late, to test love and love
The life is coming
Let's go!
To embrace the days

Esalaamu alaykum (X 4)

My heart said hello
answer back greetings to me
And open your heart to me
And forget the fighting (X2)
Love and dance and sing
Don't go far away from me (x2)
Give me your hands
The greetings for God
Enough with being stubborn!

Esalaamu alaykum (X 4)

Let's put your love with my love
Come closer ya wald*--yeah
A more beautiful world more clear
After being far away--yeah (X2)
Where your eyelashes take me
Come into my hug (X2)
Laugh with dimples
Just look with a soft voice
Everything is fine

Esalaamu alaykum (X 4)

I just want you to give me some love--yeah
Most beautiful love
you let me forget the sad days--yeah (X2)
If I was wrong blame me
Don't go away and leave me (X2)
Yalla someone I miss
Live and let me live
Don't spend the night upset!

Esalaamu alaykum (X 4)

After greetings
The words become nicer
We'll sleep late, to test love and love
The life is coming
Let's go!
To embrace the days

Es--es--esalaamu alaykum (to fade)

Anonymous said...

The first time I heard this was 2008. My Lebonese friend showed me a dance to this song. I had no idea what the song said and thought id never hear it again. This was a nice surprise to find while I'm learning the carene Arabic dialect:) Thank you

Anonymous said...

Why is this dialect Nationalism.It's a kind of Racisim. Better teach people High Arabic then useless Egyptian or other Arabic dialect.Protct your Language and Heritage just like the Turkish do.

Good Doer

Fakhr el-Zaman said...

baraka allah feik..ged sa3adteni kathiran..mar7aa..mar7aa..w kuntu 3aarifan bi el-su3uudiyya..w ma kuntusy 3aarifan bi el-misriyya w ged 3alemteny..shokran 2awi..! :)

iklan gratis said...

I am so glad to get this lesson.

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