Getting Started

Hi welcome to Egyptian Arabic online lessons. Due to the popularity of my other blog Arabic Song Lyrics and Translation at arabicmusictranslation.com, I have launched this site to help readers use music to learn Egyptian Arabic dialect. Music is a great way to access colloquial Arabic because unlike newspapers and books, it is predominantly composed in colloquial Arabic, Egyptian being the most popular dialect to use. This allows users to hear the words as well as read them, and music is optimized for memorization. Moreover, the songs use a limited vocabulary, which allows one to access all the aspects of grammar and speech with out being bogged down by lots of new vocabulary.

Egypt is the largest speaking Arabic country and the Egyptian dialect has become widely known in the Arab world thanks to Egypt's movies and music. Thus, it is a useful dialect not just in Egypt, but in all Arabic speaking countries.

First I will make clear: I am not Egyptian. I was born in the United States and have been learning Arabic as a second language for a few years now. I don't claim to know everything about Arabic, let alone a dialect like Egyptian. This being said I will only publish content here that I am confident is accurate. I spent a short time in Egypt, but most of my knowledge of the Egyptian dialect was learned entirely through music, so you will see that you can learn a lot just from memorizing some songs and their meanings!

To use this site properly, one should have some knowledge of Standard Arabic and mastery of the Arabic alphabet. If you don't know the alphabet, don't give up! I have made some accommodations to help the motivated learner transition into using exclusively Arabic alphabet. The first lesson is intended for even beginners to be able to follow. Although the site is self-contained, A Dictionary of Egyptian Arabic by El-Said Badawi is an excellent reference for learning dialect, especially for understand the differences between colloquial and Standard Arabic.

In addition to the lessons, I will provide and continually update a "vocabulary" that contains important words and phrases.

This site is a blog, which means users can leave comments. If you have any comments or questions about the lesson or other related questions feel free to use the comment function to do so.

To begin learning Egyptian Arabic, click here to see the Egyptian ABCs!

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

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 14: انا مش بعيد

New Vocabulary

raghm (رغم) - in spite of, despite
saa3itha (ساعتها) - at the same time, at that time, then and there
Taayil (طايل) - getting to, reaching
gaay (جاي) - coming
xaTwa (خطوة) - step, footstep
maw3iid (موعد) pl. mii3aad (ميعاد) - appointment, date, appointed time
gah al-3ayn fi al-3ayn (جه العين في العين) - for one eye to meet another

Su3ub (صُعُب) - to get more difficult
shaaf (شاف) - to see
3azar (عذر) - to excuse and sympathize with, to pardon

After that vocab filled Lesson 13, I thought it was time to do a song that reviews some things you already know. This lesson centers on the song "ana mish ba3iid (انا مش بعيد)" by Medhat Saleh, an Egyptian pop singer of the generation of Amr Diab. The title, which means "I am Not Far," refers to the awkward situation in the song in which the two lovers are estranged from one another despite their close proximity. Take a listen and read along.

انا مش بعيد يا حبيبتي عنك
ده اللي بينا خطوتين
ورغم شوقي وقربي منك
صعب تيجي العين في العين

يمكن قدامي ومش طايلك
بس انا فى القلب اكيد شايلك
مهما اتعب وطريقى هيصعب جاي لك فى ميعادى
جاي لك فى ميعادى

ايوة شايفك وانتى لا
بس بكرة هتشوفينى
وتعرفى اننا ليا حق
واكيد ساعتها هتعزرينى

يمكن قدامي ومش طايلك
بس انا فى القلب اكيد شايلك
مهما اتعب وطريقى هيصعب جاي لك فى ميعادى
جاي لك فى ميعادى

انا مش سايبك ده انا علشانك
بتغرب واتحدى الدنيا
خليكى يا حبيبتى مكانك
جاى اخدك من الدنيا التانيه

يمكن قدامي ومش طايلك
بس انا فى القلب اكيد شايلك
مهما اتعب وطريقى هيصعب جاي لك فى ميعادى

There's some tricky sentences in here, but for the most part the song is very clear. Let's take a look at the first and titular line:

انا مش بعيد يا حبيبتي عنك

You should understand this. If it helps I will reorder it for you like this: "ana mish ba3iid 3annik ya Habiibi (انا مش بعيد عنك يا حبيبي)" "i am not far from you my darling."

ده اللي بينا خطوتين

"xaTwa (خطوة)" is a step, so "xaTwatayn (خطوتين)" means "two steps." Break down this sentence. "This which is between us is two steps." Meaning they are in close proximity of each other.

Next line:

ورغم شوقي وقربي منك

"raghm (رغم)" is a very important word meaing "in spite of." You will also see it in "3ala raghm min (على رغم من)" meaning "despite" and "raghm inn (رغم إن)" meaning "although" or "despite the fact that." Here "raghm shuu'i wa 'urbi minnik (رغم شوقي وقربي منك)" means then, "in spite of my desire and closeness to you."

Last line of the verse:

صعب تيجي العين في العين

Of course we know the word "Sa3ab (صعب)" to mean "hard" or "difficult." At the beginning of the sentence, it takes the meaning of "it's hard." Here we have a little bit of an idiomatic phrase. As we know, the verb "gah (جه)" means "to come." "tiigi al-3ayn (تيجي)" means "the eye comes." However for one eye to come to another eye or "tiigi al-3ayn fi al-3ayn (تيجي العين في العين)" means "the eye comes in the eye" but really "the eye meets the eye" or here in this context "my eye meets yours," so the line could be translated as "it's hard to make our eyes meet."

Here comes the chorus:

يمكن قدامي ومش طايلك

Remember the word "'udaam (قدام)" meaning "in front of." The word "Taayil (طايل)" is from the verb "Taal (طال)" which has many meanings. Just know that "Taayil (طايل)" here means "getting to" or maybe "reaching." So he says, "maybe you're in front of me and I'm not getting to you." In keeping with the theme of the song, they are right there with each other but it seems like they are miles apart.

Next line:

بس انا فى القلب اكيد شايلك

These are all words you know. If you're having trouble understanding, consult the Egyptian Arabic Vocabulary provided on this site.

مهما اتعب وطريقى هيصعب جاي لك فى ميعادى

First the unclear words. The verb "Su3ub (صُعُب)" means "to become more difficult." So "mahma it3ab wa Tarii'i hayiS3ab (مهما اتعب وطريقي هيصعب)" means 'no matter how tired I get and how hard my road gets." The word "maw3id (موعد)" is "date" or "appointment." The plural is "mii3aad (ميعاد)." "gaay lik fi mii3aadi (جايلك في ميعادي)" means like "I'm coming to you in my appointment" or "I'm coming to you on time," meaning essentially that he will be there when he needs to be.

Next verse:

ايوة شايفك وانتى لا

Might look a little weird, but it just means "yes, I see you and you don't (see me)."

Next line:

بس بكره هتشوفينى

Did you get it?

Here is the continuation of the last line:

وتعرفى اننا ليا حق

"And you'll know I'm right."

Next line:

واكيد ساعتها هتعزرينى

The verb "3azar (عذر)" means "to excuse and sympathize with." "saa3itha (ساعتها)" means something like "at the same time" or "then and there." So the whole thing means, "for sure, then and there, you'll excuse me and sympathize with me," meaning she'll understand and forgive him.

Chorus again, then the final verse:

انا مش سايبك
ده انا علشانك بتغرب واتحدى الدنيا

Remember the word "saab (ساب)" meaning "to leave behind." "3alashaanik (علشانك)" means as we've learned means "for your sake." "itgharrab (اتغرب)" means "to leave one's country or town," literally "to make oneself estranged." "itHadda (اتحدى)" means "to challenge" or "to take on." So, "I'm not leaving you, I'm leaving and taking on the world for you."

The last lines are nothing new for you guys:

خليكى يا حبيبتى مكانك
جاى اخدك من الدنيا التانيه

Understood? Go back an listen again and again to ingrain the chorus into your head, as was done to me once in a Cairo internet cafe (the owner played this song over and over for like a half hour). Maybe this lesson was easy, but the next one is even easier and will show how much progress you've made! Lesson 15: انت معايا

Lesson 13: ولا حاجة

New Vocabulary

wala Haaga (ولا حاجة) - nothing
wallahi (ولله) - I swear, I swear to God
min imta (من امتى) - since when?
ghayr (غير) - other than
'awii (قوي) - very
waaDiH (واضح) - clear, it's clear
ma3'uul (معقول) - reasonable, it's reasonable, is it reasonable?
za3laan (زعلان) - angry, mad, irritated
ghayraan (غيران) - jealous
kaddaab (كدّاب) - liar
'albi 3aleek (قلبي عليك) - I have you at heart, I care about you
barii' (بريء) - innocent
ha'ii'a (حقيقة) - truth, reality
wahm (وهم) - illusion, delusion, something imaginary
mashuftish bi3ayneeki (ماشفتش بعينيكي) - you didn't see with your own eyes

istaahil (استاهل) - to deserve, to merit, to be worth
itxayyal (اتخيّل) - to imagine
DiHik 3ala (ضحك على) - to cheat, to fool, to deceive
Halaf (حلف) - to pledge, to give an oath

Lesson 12 featured a Lebanese singer singing in the Egyptian dialect, however, this lesson will feature an Egyptian singer Hisham Abbas singing a song from the soundtrack of a popular movie "Omar wa Selma (Omar and Selma)." The song is entitled "Wala Haaga (ولا حاجة)" meaning "Nothing," and as you will see, Hisham's point in this song is prove to his lover that contrary to what she has heard, he hasn't done "wala Haaga." Listen to the song and read the lyrics, and try to pay attention to the conjugations of the past tense in negated form.

انا والله ما عملتش ولا حاجة

مش عارف ليه زعلانة مني
عايز اعرف عني قالوا لك ايه
يوقعوا بيني وبينك ليه

انا والله ما عملتش ولا حاجة

ياما حاولوا يفرقوا بينا زمان
اعقلي يا حبيبتي ده كله جنان
لو الموضوع محتاج حلفان

انا والله ما عملتش ولا حاجة

مين في قلبي مين غيرك انتي
دول لا كدابين يا حبيبتي
ولا قلبهم عليكي

مش عارف ليه زعلانة مني
عايز اعرف عني قالوا لك ايه
يوقعوا بيني وبينك ليه

انا والله ما عملتش ولا حاجة

عرفاني انتي وحفظاني وعارفة ان انا افكاري بريئة
مش عارف ليه ظلماني وليه مش لاقي معاكي طريقة

والموضوع مش مستاهل
ليه بتخلي الوهم حقيقة

واضح قوي انها تلفيقة

مين في قلبي مين غيرك انتي
دول لا غيرانين يا حبيبتي
ولا قلبهم عليكي

مش عارف ليه زعلانة مني
عايز اعرف عني قالوا لك ايه
يوقعوا بيني وبينك ليه

انا والله ما عملتش ولا حاجة

يا حبيبتي مفيش غيرك في حياتي وحبقى لمين غير ليكي
معقول صدقتي كلامهم وانا امتى كدبت عليكي

والموضوع مش مستاهل وانتي مشفتش حاجة بعنيكي
انا من امتى ضحكت عليكي

مين في قلبي مين غيرك انتي
دول لا كدابين يا حبيبتي
ولا قلبهم عليكي

ولا حاجة

Let's take a look at the crux of the song which rests on this one repeated line:

انا والله ما عملتش ولا حاجة

First of all "wallahi (ولله)" means "by God" or "I swear to God" or "I swear." OK? We've already learned a little about negation in Egyptian with the word "mish (مش)", however, verbs are negated a little differently as in Standard Arabic. To negative a verb in the present or past tense in Egyptian colloquial, attach the particle "ma (ما)" to the front of the verb and "-sh (ش)" to the end. Here we have the verb "3amal (عمل)", "to do." "3amalt (عملت)" means "I did" so "ma3amaltish (ماعملتش)" means "I didn't do." "wala Haaga (ولا حاجة)" of course means "nothing." So he says "I didn't do anything" or maybe more precisely "I swear to God I didn't do nothing."

The chorus:

مش عارف ليه زعلانة مني

"mish 3aarif leh (مش عارف ليه)," "I dunno why." The word "za3laan (زعلان)" means "angry" or "irritated." Here it is the feminine form, "za3laana (زعلانة)" which indicates that he is referring to a girl he is talking about. Thus, the line is "why are you mad at me?"

Next line:

عايز اعرف عني قالوا لك ايه

You know what this sentence means but in case you're having trouble picking it apart reorder it this way: "3aayiz a3raf eh 'aaluu lik 3anni (عايز أعرف ايه قالوا لك عني)" meaning "I wanna know what they told you about me."

Next line:

يوقّعوا بيني وبينك ليه

The verb "wa''a3 (وقّع)" means "to stand." "Why are they standing between us?"

Next part of the chorus:

ياما حاولوا يفرّقوا بينا زمان

Remember the verb "Haawil (حاول)" The verb "farra' (فرّق)" means "to separate" or maybe "to drive apart."

Next line:

اعقلي يا حبيبتي ده كله جنان

The verb "3aqal (عقل)" means to believe. So he says "believe it my darling, this is all crazy."

Next line:

لو الموضوع محتاج حلفان

The word "Hilfaan (حلفان)" is the verbal noun of the verb "Halaf (حلف)" which means "to swear" or "to pledge." So he says "if the matter needs an oath."

Then:

انا والله ما عملتش ولا حاجة

"I swear to God I didn't do anything!"

Here's the verse:

مين في قلبي مين غيرك انتي

Remember the word "ghayr (غير)" meaning other than. So "ghayrik (غيرك)" means "other than you." So, "Who is in my heart, who other than you."

Next line:

دول لا كدابين يا حبيبتي
ولا قلبهم عليكي

"kaddaab (كداب)" means liar. The phrase "'alb 3ala (قلب على)" means "to have someone's interest at heart." "'albi 3aleek (قلبي عليك)" means "I have your interest at heart" or "I care about you," so "'albhum 3aleeki (قلبهم عليكي)" means "They have your interest at heart." Of course put the whole grammar together, and it means "they liars, my darling, and they don't have your interest at heart."

Then repeat the chorus, next verse:

عرفاني انتي وحفظاني وعارفة ان انا افكاري بريئة

The verb "HafaZ (حفظ)" means many things, "to memorize," "to keep, retain," "to protect, preserve," and in this case "to keep an eye on." The adjective "barii' (بريء)" means "innocent." The whole thing means something like "you know me, and you keep an eye on me, and you know that my ideas are innocent."

Next line:

مش عارف ليه ظلماني وليه مش لاقي معاكي طريقة

"Tarii'a (طريقة)" is "a way." "I don't know why you're hurting me or why I can't find a way with you."

والموضوع مش مستاهل

Here's a good word. The verb "istaahil ()" means "to deserve or merit" or "to be worth it." So he says, "this subject has no merit/isn't worth it."

ليه بتخلي الوهم حقيقة

"wahm (وهم)" of course is an "illusion" or "delusion" or "lie/falsehood" and "Ha'ii'a (حقيقة)" is a "truth" or "reality," so they're opposites. He's saying, "Why are you making this lie real?"

واضح قوي انها تلفيقة

"waaDiH (واضح)" here means "it's clear." Remember that "'awii (قوي)" means "very." "talfii'a (تلفيقة)" is a "fabrication."

Final verse:

يا حبيبتي مفيش غيرك في حياتي وحبقى لمين غير ليكي

Understand that? Next line:

معقول صدقتي كلامهم وانا امتى كدبت عليكي

"ma3'uul (معقول)" means "reasonable," but often at the beginning of the sentence it can be a question. So he says, "Did you really believe what they said." The second part "wa ana imta kadabt 3aleeki (وانا امتى كدبت عليكي)" means "when have I lied to you."

Next line:

والموضوع مش مستاهل وانتي ماشفتش حاجة بعنيكي

"mashuftish (ماشفتش)" if we break it apart is comprise of "ma (ما)" "shuft (شفت)" and "-sh (ش)" which as we've learned is a negative past tense verb, this time of the word "shaaf (شاف)," "to see." "You didn't see anything with you own eyes!"

Finally:

انا من امتى ضحكت عليكي

The phrase "min imta (من امتى)" or course means "since when." We know the verb "DiHik (ضحك)" means "to laugh" or "to smile," however, "DiHik 3ala (ضحك على)" is an idiom which means "to cheat," "to deceive," or "to fool." Got it?

Go back and listen again. If you are following along with these songs, you are doing a great job. Believe it or not, we have already covered hundreds of new words and most of the basic grammar points of Egyptian colloquial Arabic. If some of the explanations seemed insufficient in this song or you can't follow all of the lyrics, go back to some previous lessons and review that highlighted vocabulary. Next lesson, Lesson 14: انا مش بعيد

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

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 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 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. 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.

Egyptian Arabic Alphabet

There's no way I can put Arabic orthography lessons on the site. The only way to learn the alphabet is to practice and memorize. But I'll give a run down of the sounds of Egyptian Arabic using words commonly found in Arabic music.

ا - alif, as in "Ah" آه which means "ow," like an expression of pain or frustration

ب - ba, as in "Bahebbak" بحبك which means "I love you"

ت - ta, as in "Tani" تاني which means "another" or "again"

ث - ta or sa, as in "Sawani" ثواني which means "seconds" from the same word as "tani." While this letter in Standard Arabic is a "tha," it has merged with the letters "ta" and "siin" now. For old and common words "ta" is more common, and from new, borrowed, or reborrowed wor.ds "sa" is more likely.

ج - giim, as in "Gameel" جميل which means "beautiful." In Egypt, it is usually pronounced as a "ga" as opposed to the Standard Arabic "ja."

ح - Ha (7a), as in "Habibi" حبيبي which means "my darling." This sound does not exist in English, but it is like a regular Ha in English only "harsher." A friend has described it to me as a "phone sex 'h'"

خ - xa (5a or kha), as in "Khudni" خدني which means "take me." This sound is like kinda the ch in Bach from german, the french 'r' in "quatre" or to an English speaker probably sounds like they are about to spit

د - daal, as in "Dunya" دنيا which can mean "the world," "the prevailing environment" or "everyone."

ذ - daal or zaal, as in "Dayeb" ذائب which means "melting" often in love. Like "tha," "dhaal" loses its standard Arabic pronunciation, becoming a "da" sound for old and common words and a "za" sound for newer, borrowed, or reborrowed words from Standard Arabic.

ر - ra, as in "Rooh" روح which means "soul." It is trilled like the Spanish r.

ز - zay, as in "Zaman" زمن which means "time" as in the 4th dimension

س - sin, as in "Sawa" سوا which means "together"

ش - shiin, as in "Shuf" شوف which means "see," "look," or "look at"

ص - Saad, as in "Sabr" صبر which means "patience." The Saad is like an English s but with more rounding of the lips to produce a deeper hiss.

ض - Daad, as in "Da3" ضاع which means "lost" or "wasted." Daad is like the English d in the same relationship as Saad is to s.

ط - Ta (6a), as in "Tayr" طير which means "bird." Ta is in the same relationship with the English T as Daad is with d

ظ - Da or Za, as in "Zalim" ظالم which means "unjust" or "oppressive." This sound is DHa in Standard Arabic, but either becomes a "Za" sound or a "Da" sound in Egyptian.

ع - Ayn (3ayn), as in "3ayni" عيني which means "my eye" (a very common term of endearment in Arabic). 3ayn has no equivalent in English and I don't know how to describe it. Just read and listen for it. For those who know linguistics, its the voiced version of ح

غ - ghayn, as in "Ghali" غالي which means "precious." It's like a ga sound only it's like you're gargling water.

ف - fa, as in "Farah" فرح which means "joy" or "happiness"

ق - qaff (9aff, 2aff), as in "Qalbi" قلبي which means "my heart." Originally this sound is like an English k only deeper in the throat, as if you were choking, but in Egypt it is usually pronounced as a glottal stop like the sound in between Uh and Oh in Uh-Oh. So "Qalbi" becomes "Albi."

ك - kaff (Chaff), as in "Keef" كيف which means "how" east of Egypt.

ل - laam, as in "Leel" ليل which means "night"

م - miim, as in "Majnun" مجنون which means "mad" or "crazy"

ن - nuun, as in "Nar" نار which means "fire"

ه - ha, as in "Hawa" هوى which is one of the many words for love "hawa"

و - waaw, as in "Waheshtini" وحشتيني which is how you tell a girl "I miss you"

ي - ya, as in "Ya habibi" يا حبيبي which means "oh my darling." To address someone like "oh" or "hey" in English, you say "ya" before the name or title you are calling them.

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 6: لمستك

New Vocabulary

dah (ده) - this, that (masculine)
di (دي) - this, that (feminine)
dah (دا) - exclamatory particle at the beginning of sentence
feen? (فين؟) - where?
li (ل) - to, for
low (لو) - if
kamaan (كمان) - also, as well, too, more, in addition
makaan (مكان) - place
al-layla (الليلة) - tonight
al-layla di (الليلة دي) - this night (aka tonight)
bidaaya (بداية) - beginning
ta3aali (تعالى) - come on!
yalla (يالله) - let's go!
yoomeen (يومين) - two days

lamas (لَمَس) - to touch
'arrab (قَرَّب) - to get close
ibtada (ابتدى) - to start, for something to begin

In this lesson, you will start to learn about expressing "this" and "that" in Egyptian Arabic. The masculine and feminine words meaning both "this" and "that" are "dah (ده)" and "di (دي)." To say this is a boy, you just have to say "dah waad (ده واد)," however, to say "this boy," you say "al-waad dah (الواد ده)." Do you see how it is affixed to noun? this is a specific feature of Egyptian Arabic, just like the questions coming at the end of the sentence.

The song in this lesson is entitled "lamastak ()," meaning "I Touched You." Notice how once again the singer, Amr Moustafa, is singing to a grammatical male but of course it is meant for a girl or a "generic" person. Watch the video, listen to the song and read the lyrics:

لمستك نسيت الحياة
وانت اللى بحلم اعيش يوم معاه
والليلة هى البداية وخليك معايا
ده عمرى الليلة دى ابتدى

ولازم نعيش يالله قرب كمان
تعالى حبيبى لأبعد مكان
ننسا اللى ضاع من ايدينا نعيش بس لنا
خلاص اللى جوانا بان

سرحت بعيونك لفين
ايوة انت جمبى وهعيشلك سنين
وحياتى قرب عليا يا عمري وعنييا
نعيش الحياة لو يومين

Did you understand anything? Let's find out:

لمستك نسيت الحياة
وانت اللى بحلم اعيش يوم معاه

"I touched you and forgot life. You are the one who I dream to live with one day." Notice that "yoom (يوم)" used in the indefinite sense in this case brings the meaning of "one day."

والليلة هى البداية

"al-layla (الليلة)" means tonight. So this means "tonight, it is the beginning" or "and tonight is the beginning."

وخليك معايا

remember? Next line:

ده عمرى الليلة دى ابتدى

This line is tricky because of the use of "dah (ده)" here for emphasis. When you see this, it is usually easiest to skip over "dah (ده)" to see the rest of the sentnece. "3umri (عمري)" is of course "my lifetime." The verb "ibtada (ابتدى)" means "to begin." "al-layla di (الليلة دي)" literally means "this night," but here you can say tonight. So the sentence means "my lifetime began tonight." The "dah (ده)" just adds the sense of "really!" or "truly!"

Moving to the chorus:

ولازم نعيش يالله قرب كمان

Here we see the familiar "laazim na3ish (لازم نعيش)," "we gotta live." "yalla (يالله)" means basically "let's go!" or "c'mon!" "'arrab (قرّب)" is the command form of the same verb, "to get close." "kamaan (كمان)" means "too, as well, also" and here has the sense of "more." So he says "c'mon, get a little closer."

Next line:

تعالى حبيبى لأبعد مكان

"ta3aala (تعالى)" means "come on," very similar to "yalla (يالله)." "Come on, my darling, to the farthest away place."

ننسا اللى ضاع من ايدينا

"Daa3 (ضاع)" is the verb "to be lost." "iydee (ايدي)" is the plural of "yad (يد)," meaning "hand." So it means "we'll forget that which we have lost," kind of like "we'll forget our past."

نعيش بس لنا

Before we talked about the word "bass ()" meaning "but." However, here is means "just" like "only," so he says, "we'll live just for us" meaning away from everyone else.

خلاص اللى جوانا بان

"baan (بان)" means "to come clear" or "to show" or "to manifest." Understood?

Next verse:

سرحت بعيونك لفين

"saraH (سرح)" is a verb that means "to wander" or "to go astray." "feen (فين)" means "where?" See how it is at the end of the sentence? So he says "where did you wander off to with your eyes." He wants to see them!

ايوة انت جمبى وهعيشلك سنين
وحياتى قرب عليا يا عمري وعنييا

Everything clear there? "'arrab 3alaya (قرب عليا)" means "get close to me."

نعيش الحياة لو يومين

"low (لو)" means "if." "yoomeen (يومين)" means "2 days." As you can see, this is the familiar dual form from Standard Arabic, however, don't worry, it is only used for nouns. So "we'll live life if just two days" is an expression that even if it's a short time, he wants to be with her.

That song was a breeze. Soon we will be able to move onto more complex songs and you will be able to understand with relatively little explanation.

Next lesson, Lesson 7: وماله؟

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 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 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