Asmahanأسمهان

Click play to listen to Asmahan while you read!

Introduction

The Empire is crumbling, and a rogue prince with a price on his head is left with no choice but to flee with his pregnant wife and kids on a ship across the Mediterranean where , amidst the crashing waves, his wife gives birth to a baby girl whom they name "Hope." It sounds like the beginning to what could be a suspenseful and/or terribly cliche film, so it's hard to believe that this is really the story of one of the first modern Arab celebrities, the Syrian Druze princess turned Egyptian diva, Asmahan. The life of Asmahan at times has been likened to that of Édith Piaf or Princess Diana, and indeed, her life events contain the intrigue of both of these figures combined. The story of Asmahan is among the most interesting biographies of modern history, and has in many ways come to transcend the music of Asmahan itself, despite the fact that she is the voice of some of the most celebrated and cherished recordings in Arabic music history. Asmahan rivaled the iconic Om Kalthoum in fame during her career, and she performed some of the most difficult songs composed in Arabic. Her concerts and recordings were and continue to be adored by millions, and her stunning face with her bright green eyes remains one of the immortal images of Arab music history. The life of Asmahan captivates the masses for all these reasons, but also tells us much about the times she lived in, an extremely formative period for the Modern Arab World.

Biographical Information and Career

Asmahan's youth was directly impacted by the turmoil that affected the region at large, i.e., the fall of the Ottoman Empire. Born Amal al-Atrash, her father was Fahed al-Atrash, a Druze leader from Sweida of the Arab Druze Mountains in modern day Syria serving at that time as Governor of Demirci (western Turkey) in the Ottoman Empire. By 1917, the Empire was crumbling at the hands of the Allies, Britain and France, as World War I dragged on, and fearing for his and his family's safety, Fahed al-Atrash boarded a ship from Izmir to Beirut along with his pregnant wife and children. On that ship the wife of Fahed al-Atrash gave birth to baby Amal in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.

These dramatic and inauspicious beginnings did not foretell the fame and fortune that Amal would soon amass. Soon after their flight, Fahed al-Atrash and his wife Aaliyah Menzer separated, and she left for Cairo with her young children. To support her family, Aaliyah sang and played oud at private parties, and this musical talent was imparted to her children, particularly Amal and her brother Farid, the famous singer and oud player known to the world as Farid al-Atrache (see picture at right for Asmahan with her brother Farid).

Asmahan recorded her first album at the age of sixteen, and was singing at venues such as the prestigious Cairo opera house from the very beginning of her career, working with major composers such as Farid Ghosn, Daoud Hosni, Zakaria Ahmed and Mohamed El Qasabji. However, soon after, she was brought back home to her family's native Sweida in Syria after her cousin, the prince Hassan al-Atrash, asked for her hand in marriage. She had one daughter with Hassan and spent four years as a Druze princess in Sweida, however, this Druze mountain lifestyle did not suit Asmahan who had grown up living in the bustling modern city of Cairo, and thus, she and Hassan divorced and she returned to Egypt. There, Asmahan amassed greater and greater fame, rivaling Om Kalthoum in popularity and starring in two films during the 1940s entitled Victory of Youth (انتضار الشباب) and Passion and Revenge (غرام وانتقام).

Asmahan's love life was subject to public scrutiny, which did not prevent her in any way whatsoever from engaging in what was considered scandalous behavior by Egyptian moral standards. Asmahan was linked to many men throughout her career, and she was briefly married to multiple men working in show business, with none of her relationships lasting very long. She was also linked to the journalist Mohamed al'Taba'i. Many Egyptians were outraged and offended by this behavior, which would normally not be allowed due to societal and family pressures, however, they were at the same time drawn to it, and Asmahan's position as a celebrity and indeed powerful woman free of the domination of her family allowed her to occupy the space of the independent working woman of today, the first of her kind in modern Egyptian society.

During World War II, Asmahan became politically involved with the Allies, and was enlisted by the French to serve as an envoy to her people, asking that the Druze side with the Free French and allow them to move freely in Syria, which had come into the hands of the Vichy government after Germany took over France during the War. The Allies were successful in Syria in part due to the cooperation of the Druze, and Asmahan was thanked personally by Charles de Gaulle for her efforts.

This should have been the peak of a long musical and, who knows, political career as princess, singer and movie star, but tragedy befell Asmahan in July of 1944 when her car carrying her and a female friend plunged into the Nile after her driver, who survived, by leaping from the vehicle, lost control. Of course, conspiracy theories abounded. Some said she was assassinated by the British after possibly betraying them and working as a double agent; others said she was killed by the German Gestapo. Certainly either of the two was capable of such an act. Still others blamed her rival Om Kalthoum, or her many former lovers who can have sought revenge. This is added to the fact that Asmahan was known to have had an irrational fear of water from a young age based on an alleged Gypsy prediction. However, the truth was never fully known.

Despite her career being cut short when she was just 36 years old, Asmahan left behind a modest volume of songs. Here is a sampling of songs available on the site:

Is'iniha أسقينيها
Ahwa أهوى
Imta Hataaref إمتى حتعرف translation available
Intisar al Shabab انتصار الشباب
Ayuha al Naim أيها النائم
Ana Illi Estahel أنا اللي أستاهل
Al-Leel الليل
Dakhelt Fi Marra Jenina دخلت في مرة جنينة translation available
Rigaet Lak رجعت لك
Aleek Salat Allah عليك صلاة الله
Kan Lee Amal كان لي أمل
Layali al Uns ليالي الأنس translation available
Ya Bida El Ward (يا بدع الورد)
Ya Dierti يا ديرتي
Ya Toyour يا طيور translation available
Ya Habibi Taala يا حبيبي تعالtranslation available

Asmahan also starred in two films, the second of which was not released before her death in 1944,

1941: Intisar al Shabab انتصار الشباب
1944: Gharam wa Intiqam غرام وانتقام

Her Music and Impact

Taken apart from her intriguing private and public life and her breathtaking good looks, Asmahan's singing in and of itself was enough to make her an important feature of Egypt's modern cultural history. Asmahan possessed extraordinary vocal abilities and exceptional range, utilizing both Arab and European singing techniques (i.e. singing both from her chest and nose as did Om Kalthoum in addition to using an opera-style head voice, similar to the old Italian singers and Lebanese singer Fairuz), making her especially versatile, as can be seen if one compares "I Once Entered a Garden (دخلت في مرة جنينة)" and "Oh Birds (يا طيور)", which are in fact two technically very different parts of the same composition.

However, Asmahan is most noteworthy for her unique social role in the young modern Egyptian society and her continued role in the imagined history of the region, because Asmahan, more than any other celebrity, was directly affected by the tumultuous events of the modern Arab World's becoming, and was at often times, at odds with a society that sought to define her every-changing female role. Sherifa Zuhur comments at length on Asmahan's place in Arab society in her 1988 book Asmahan's Secrets (click here to read the introduction). The world of Asmahan's family was turned upside-down by the fall of the Ottoman Empire, which marked the beginning of a new era in the modern Arab states. As an immigrant in a truly foreign country (the notion of Syria and Egypt being sister Arab nations had not yet been established) in Cairo, Asmahan was able to take on a liberated alternate persona that allowed her to be a shocking, yet ultimately socially acceptable diva figure in Egyptian society. Asmahan was quite possibly the Arab World's first sex symbol, creating a new kind of entertainment in the new social space of the night clubs and opera houses of British Mandate Cairo. Yet, she was not immune to the effect of patriarchy and traditional rule of the family over the individual. Her return to Sweida, her marriage to her cousin as a teenager, and her eventual pregnancy were all very much contrary to the life that Asmahan seemed to imagine for herself, as she much preferred her celebrity life in Cairo.

Moreover, her political involvement during World War II reflects the uncomfortable and difficult choice with which so many Arab notables of the times were faced; which side to join in a war of outsiders. The French and British had colonized the Middle East and dismantled the Ottoman Empire, which itself was seen as a colonizer by Arabs; yet, in the end many Arabs sided with the Allies during World War II when faced with the possibility of the Third Reich taking over. The details of Asmahan's life are confusing, much like history of the countries of Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Palestine in which she operated. Asmahan's story gives us a sense of the kind of change and upheaval that was taking place in the Arab World of the first half of the 20th century.

And thus, the legend of Asmahan is still being used to legitimize historical narratives of the time. As recently as 2008, a mini-series entiteld Asmahan was launched in Syria starring Syria's most enchanting TV star Sulaf Fawakherji (see right) depicting the events of Asmahan's life, casting it with a very Arab nationalist tone. Perhaps because she died so young, when the Arab nations themselves were in their very infancies, the legend of Asmahan remains one of the juiciest bits of Arab celebrity gossip sixty years after her death, and her music continues to play on Arab radio to this day.

Ziad Rahbaniزياد رحباني

Click play to listen to Ziad while you read!

Introduction

Those who are familiar with the Arabic music scene, know that for all the musical accomplishments of the early composers and singers, and for all the popularity of Arab musicians both in the Arab world and internationally, innovation, or perhaps appreciation for innovation, is noticeably lacking. This is only natural considering the economic and technological challenges of creating music and funding its continued production in these Arab countries, most of which are home to struggling economies, not to mention that freedom of expression is by and large muted and artists that address issues such as politics, sex, religion, minorities and the like have been and continue to be persecuted. On the level of content, art is subject to a large degree of state control and manipulation, and is threatened by a need to compete with the massive production capabilities of the United States and other Western countries whose cheap and crude cultural exports dictate the world music trends and fashion, resulting in an inexplicably bland and often obnoxious imitation of pop music aesthetics that are barely accepted as art in the West. Large corporations like Rotana monopolize production of these songs and video clips , spewing homogenized garbage music designed for mass consumption and the masses, due to this flood of noise and a lack of an alternative, either accept this music and enjoy it for what it is or reject it in favor of foreign products or lo-fi recordings of local artists.

Of course none of that dark picture is really any different than the state of the American music industry. It's the economic and sociopolitical problems that at the end of the day inhibit independent production of art, and more importantly, its distribution. In countries where not every 20-something has a MacBook and you could be jailed for disseminating your views on just about anything, artists are all the more at the mercy of those institutions that, rather than serving to promote art, seek to control it.

Perhaps for this reason the few artists that step out of the towering shadow of these institutions seem all the more impressive. Ziad Rahbani is one of these few and far between figures that has been able to innovate and, at times, instigate the Arabic music scene, making an artistic impact that transcends the music world. His plays have brought us some of the most creative and timeless musical compositions in the Arabic language, and his albums and words have inspired and enraged many. What is so remarkable about Ziad Rahbani is that he has sustained this high level of musical production and continued to transform as an artist across the decades, counted among the elite Arabic musicians to this very day. See this list of currently available translations of songs composed or performed by Ziad Rahbani on the site:

Performed by Ziad:

I'm Not a Heathen (انا مش كافر)
Pass it Around (دورها)

Collaborations:

Joseph Saqer - Living By Herself Without You (عايشة وحدها بلاك)
Joseph Saqer - The Bus (البوسطة) for Fairuz version click here
Joseph Saqer - It's a Bad Situation (الحالة تعبانة)
Fairuz - I Trust in You (عندي ثقة فيك)
Fairuz - I've Sent You My Soul (بعتلك روحي)
Latefa - Secure Me a House (أمنلي بيت)
Selma - Suit Against Anonymous (دعوى ضد مجهول)
Selma - Don't Just Call Me (مش بس تلفنلي)

Biographical Information and Career

One would think that all this aforementioned artistic energy and innovation might arise from hard life experience or some sort of rags to riches background, however, Ziad Rahbani was almost the complete opposite of this, born into Lebanon's cultural elite to parents Assi Rahbani, who along with his brother Mansour was Lebanon's premiere composer, and Nuhad Haddad a.k.a. Fairuz, the most iconic Lebanese singer in the history of Arabic music. The Rahbani family is Lebanon's musical dynasty, and as son of the biggest composer and biggest singer in Lebanon, Ziad was heir to this dynasty. Yet, this sort of an upbringing might not produce anything more than a privileged, uninspired youth who more often than not pales in comparison to his parents or rejects their craft entirely. In Ziad's case, he was not only a musical prodigy surrounded by music since he was born, working side by side with his father, but also proved to be an intellectual of sorts, excelling in writing as well. Ziad mastered the piano at a young age, but his first work of note was actually a collection of poetry written in his teens entitled My Friend God (صديقي الله) (for download click here). He made his musical debut in the play The Station (المحطة), when his uncle Mansour asked him to compose the music to the song "The People Asked Me About You (سألوني الناس)", which he had written about his brother and Ziad's father Assi, who at that time was unable to work on music due to illness. This song, sung of course by wife of Assi and mother of Ziad, Fairuz, was a hit and gained Ziad his first recognition in the Arabic music world (click here to read and listen).

Ziad worked on a few plays with his uncle before moving on to his first play entitled Sahriyye (view it here) in 1973. Often featuring the singer Joseph Saqr, Ziad composed several subsequent plays throughout the 70s and 80s, which often contained political content and were a huge success on Lebanese radio. Here is a short list, some of which have links to video clips or music, and most of these plays' recordings are available on Youtube.com without picture:

1974: Nazl el Sourour نزل السرور
1978: Bennesbe La Boukra Shou? بنسبة لبكرا شو؟
1980: Film Ameriki Taweel فيلم أمريكي طويل
1983: Shi fashel شي فاشل
1990: Bikhsous el Karameh wel Cha3b el 3aneed بخصوص الكرامة والشعب العنيد
1994: Lawla Fos7at el Amali لولا فسحة الأمل

In the late 70s Ziad's parents, Fairuz and Assi Rahbani, separated, and from that time on Ziad became the composer of Fairuz's subsequent albums as listed.

1979: Wahdon وحدهن
1987: Maarifti Feek معرفتي فيك
1991: Kifak Inta كيفك انت
1999: Mish Kayen Heek Tkoun مش كاين هيك تكون
2001: Wala Kif ولله كيف

Ziad has many of his own albums as well, some of which feature collaborations with other artists, especially as his career went on and his singing voice faded.

1979: Abu Ali أبو علي
1984: Shereet Ghayr Huduudi شريط غير حدودي
1984: Huduu Nisbi هدوء نسبي
1985: Ana Moush Kafer انا مش كافر
1987: Hekaya حكاية
1986: Bi Hal Shekel بهالشكل
1996: Bema Enno بما أنو featuring Joseph Saqr
1996: Musakkafoun Noun مثقفون نون for Makhoul Kassouf
2001: Monodose featuring Selma
2006: Maloumat Akeeda معلومات أكيدة featuring Latefa

These are only a sampling of some of the musical and theatrical projects Ziad has worked on or contributed to, in addition to his concerts all over the Middle East and Europe.

Ziad's personal life was not without some chaos. His first marriage ended in divorce, and in 2009 he filed to disown his son from that marriage Assi Jr. when it was revealed by DNA test that Ziad was not his father, see news article here

His Music and Politics

Ziad Rahbani is regarded as a versatile composer not only for the creativity and originality of his compositions but also for his mastery of both "Oriental" and Western musical styles, and thus, is responsible for some of the most popular as well as some of the most critically acclaimed music in the Arab world. More than any other artist, Ziad Rahbani was responsible for developing a kind of "Arab jazz" that was pioneered by his father Assi and uncle Mansour and incorporated Western musical elements while utilizing a combination of traditional Arabic instruments alongside new instruments. Many of his most famous compositions in his plays and songs for Fairuz are of this nature, however, he also has recorded much that would be considered more experimental and further removed from the Arabic music scene in such albums as "Relative Calm (هدوء نسبي)" and his collaboration with Selma "Monodose."

The lyrics of Ziad Rahbani's music, sometimes composed by his friend Joseph Harb, always feature a certain candidness not typical of Arabic music that blends nicely with his free and sometimes playful musical style. Ziad Rahbani more than any other Arabic composer successfully utilizes sarcasm and wit in a way that gives his songs a unique tone.

Following in the footsteps of his uncles, many of Ziad's works deal with politics, expressing his socialist and sometimes nihilistic views that contained real social criticism. The Lebanon of his heyday was certainly a society in turmoil; between the years 1975 and 1990 Lebanon was in an almost constant state of civil war that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians and the flight of millions. The civil war broke down along ethnic and religious lines, although these lines were not clearly drawn since different factions constantly changed sides. Moreover, the majority of Lebanese who were living in a once integrated, diverse society found themselves caught in the crossfire, being forced to choose sides in a seemingly senseless circle of violence and chaos. By 1985, Lebanon was in the throes what is often considered the fourth phase of the civil war in which violence hit the Palestinian refugee camps hard following the withdrawal from Beirut of Israeli forces who had overseen one of the biggest massacres of the war, Sabra and Shateela.

In the midst of this escalating and increasingly confusing violence, Ziad Rahbani recorded one of his most important songs entitled "I Am Not a Heathen (أنا مش كافر)" in which he railed against the leaders of Lebanon's religious communities, collectively blaming them for destroying the social fabric of Lebanon and bringing pain and suffering to the once prosperous nation (see link for music and lyrics). Ziad's boldness in such tense times and his insistence on continuing to live in the Sunni Muslim quarter of Beirut despite his being Christian sent a clear message and established him as one of the vocal figures of the Lebanese opposition to the status quo, influencing other artists such as Julia Boutros to follow his lead.

The bitter irony of Arab politics in the latter half of the 20th century is that the same problems recur, and thus, the plays and songs of Ziad Rahbani still resonate in countries like Syria and Egypt where little has changed and Ziad's old works can be heard as if they were commenting on the present. It's true that the Lebanese Civil War has long since ended, but political unrest remains a feature of the Lebanese political landscape, and likewise, Ziad Rahbani remains a prominent figure as a political and social writer in addition to continuing his music. He currently writes a weekly column in the newspaper al-Akhbar commenting on the important political events of the day and writing, unlike most writers, in colloquial Lebanese Arabic dialect (click here to view).

Without a shred of doubt, Ziad Rahbani is counted among the Arab world's most influential and talented composers; however, unlike most Arab musicians who have shied away from political controversy and outspokenness, Ziad has continued to exercise his artistic, musical, and social freedom throughout his career. Looking at the the state of Lebanese and Arabic music today, we can see his influences on the artists of today, yet no musician as of yet has risen to fill his shoes. Perhaps it is a matter of time, or perhaps he is the last of a rare and dying breed in the Arab world. Either way, it is safe to say that all of us are lucky to have lived in his lifetime.

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Letter to the Readers

First of all, I would like to thank all of you for your kind emails and generous donations, both of which help support this site and have driven it to be the largest original source of Arabic song lyrics on the web. Thanks to your participation, arabicmusictranslation.com has far exceeded my expectations from when I began the blog 3 years ago

Second of all, I would like to apologize for not responding to thousands of your emails and your requests over the past year. I was living in Syria where internet access is limited and slow, and the volume was simply overwhelming. In addition to this, working on the site was extremely difficult because youtube.com is currently banned by the Syrian government, and I was very disappointed by the amount of progress made on translations in the past year.

This being said, the year in Syria allowed me to greatly improve my Arabic skills, as well accumulate much knowledge about Arabic music and culture in general, and thus, the forthcoming year should yield better and more in-depth translations.

In the coming months I will be making a number of changes to the site as follows. First and foremost, I will continue to increase the volume of translation available, drawing heavily from your requests. In addition, I will begin revising and correcting many of the most egregious errors in previous translations to provide greater accuracy. In future posts, I will be utilizing a different translation strategy that provides less literal but more natural-sounding English translations, and will add commentary where explanation is necessary. This way, the readers should better understand the songs both as they should sound in English and how they should be understood in Arabic. Another vital addition to the site will be more useful background information on artists and Arabic music in general, and more helpful commentary and analysis provided by me, so that the site will be not just a lyrics site, but increasingly a source of intelligent information about Arabic music and language. To assist in this process, we will continue to accept donations, however we ask that if you are hoping to donate in compensation for a specific service rendered, please do not send donations before I have agreed to do the translation and have completed it, and please send such requests by email, chrisgratien@gmail.com, rather than using the typical request form.

If any of you have suggestions as to how we can improve the site in addition to what I have just stated, please comment here on this post or send and email, and, as always, please use the comment boxes to post corrections or suggest better alternative translations where you see fit. This is a major source of new information for me and a great service to me and the readers.

Thanks again to all, I look forward to resuming work on the blog and handling your continued questions and requests

Chris
arabicmusictranslation.com

About the Site

This blog, arabicmusictranslation.com (formerly musicarabi.blogspot.com), is dedicated to generating original translations of Arabic song lyrics into English. I founded the site in March 2007 as a project to help improve my Arabic knowledge in my continued study of Arabic language (I am a native speaker of English, not of Arabic). At present, this is the largest single source for original Arabic song translations on the web. While I don't make any claims that these translations are perfect, in fact they are certainly full of mistakes, I assure that I give my best effort on each one and do not translate songs unless I am quite clear about the meanings. This being said, suggestions and corrections are greatly appreciated.

Requests

One of the exciting features of this blog is that at least half the content is determined by its readers, that is, the songs I choose to translate to a great extent are based on your requests. To fill out a translation request form simply click here and supply the requested information. Due to the site's continued growth in content and traffic, it has become impossible for me to translate every song that enters my request box. In addition, songs are sometimes requested to which I am unable to find transcripted lyrics or fully understand their meanings. In these cases it would be irresponsible of me to provide incomplete or unsatisfactory translations, and thus I am unable to fulfill the request, but I retain the request for future consideration. I do not delete requests until they have been fulfilled or responded to by email. While not every request is fulfilled, I assure you that I read every request and investigate its feasibility. I try to handle requests on a first come first serve basis.

Comments

One of the useful aspects of the blog format for this site is that readers are able to leave comments. These comments could be of any nature you like provided that they are not too obscene (a little is OK). While songs do sometimes touch on controversial issues in the Arab world and the international community, any comments on sensitive political and social topics should be intelligent and I won't accept inflammatory or unsubstantiated comments. In the case that a comment is considered inappropriate or contains spam, ads, etc. I reserve the right to delete it. Comments on the translations themselves, that is, the meanings of lyrics, words in the song and the like are greatly appreciated because they improve the quality of the translations and allow me to learn new things. If you find a mistake don't consider it an imposition to correct it, this will do me a big favor! However, if you would like to request a song, please do not do so in the comment box. Instead fill out the translation request form to make sure I receive your request and can fulfill it in an organized fashion.

Media

I am proud to supply embedded audio and video to enhance the readers' experience as an innovation. As a free blog on Google's blogspot.com, this site has zero hosting costs. All media found on this site is hosted on third party sites such as youtube.com and other Arabic music sites, and they are the suppliers of all content for free. Thus, I do not personally have any of the audio or video files. Please do not send me emails asking where you can download them or if I can send them to you because I cannot. However, please leave a comment if a particular media file is not working so I can fix it.

Citations

When I pull content from other websites, which I frequently do to obtain transcription of lyrics in Arabic, I always supply the link to back track to for these lyrics. The most commonly linked to site for my lyrics transcriptions is la7oon.com. I have no problem with posting of content from this website on youtube.com or other locations, but please provide a link to our site as a reference so that it can be traced back. I do not block the text from being copied because I am happy to provide it as free information, but please do not steal it without citation or submit it to other lyrics sites that turn profits off advertising without actually doing any work for the translations. If you think for any reason that your content has appeared on this page without proper citation please let me know.

Donations

This site is not for profit and contains no advertising. Ads make the site slower and with the multimedia and everything involved in the site, I do not wish to clutter it with any additional content such as advertisements. This site is intended to provide information in and interactive and accessible form, not to make any money. This being said, this blog is not my full-time job and updating takes time. Thus, we do accept donations from those who are particularly grateful and wish to support the project. However, please do not feel obligated in any way to donate money, even if we have fulfilled translation requests for you. I hate paying for information and I don't expect any of you to pay for something I do voluntarily.

Authors

Another great function of the blog format is that I can add other authors who can submit content independently for me to edit and post on this page. These authors receive full credit for their work. If you are interested in being an author, please email me. Currently, I am especially in need of someone who can translate Maghrebi, Gulf, or Iraqi dialects as I am not very strong in these dialects!

Feedback

If you have anything to say feel free to email me. However, if you have a request once again, please fill out the translation request form so I can handle it in an organized fashion.

Arabic Terms of Endearment

Just like songs in English are full of terms of endearment such as baby, darling, honey, sugar, dimepiece, etc there is a library of pet names that Arabic singers can draw on. I'll be compiling a list here.

Habiibi	حبيبي	My darling, Beloved
3ayni	عيني	My eye
nuur 3ayni	نور عيني	Light of my eye
'albi	قلبي	My heart
3omri	عمري	My life(time)
Hayaati	حياتي	My life
RoHi	روحي	My soul
Hubbi	حبّي	My love

About Arabic Music: An Introduction

Arabic is spoken in countries such as Morocco, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Saudia Arabic and everywhere in between. Each region has its own recognizable dialect. There are over 300 million people who speak Arabic as a first language worldwide.

Country profile:

Egypt
Lebanon
Palestine
Algeria
Morocco
Iraq
Syria
The Gulf

There are some things that are good to know when attacking Arabic music for the first time. Here I will try to list some useful hints. Everytime you see a link, it goes to a song that can serve as an example.

Tips

- Arabic dialects usually deviate from Standard Arabic pronunciation and grammar so a student of Arabic may have trouble making any sense out of songs at first. However, the grammar of the dialects is actually much simplified and aside from a few common words most of the vocabulary is the same. Looking at a transcript of the lyrics in Arabic script will reveal to you just how close these dialects are to the standard and each other!

- Some music by older artists such as Abdel Halim Hafez and Fairuz as well as contemporary artists such as Kazem el-Saher and Marcel Khalifa use Arabic poetry for their lyrics which causes them to tend to be more standard.

- Verses are usually repeated once or more than once in Arabic music, whereas this is quite uncommon in modern American music. I usually do not retype a listing of lyrics that are repeated to save space and time but beware that this is completely the norm in most songs.

- Arabic music does not always conform to the Western musical scale, however, it is far from being atonal! The classical "Arabic" scale as it is known in the West contains semi-tones which we consider quarter step's in between Western notes which are all half-steps from each other. In other words, Arabic music just utilizes more notes than Western music; the instruments are not out of tune.

- The instruments most commonly used in Arabic music have traditionally been hand drums and fretless stringed instruments such as the lute and the violin. Piano is a more recent innovation and now most pop songs are produced electronically on a synthesizer like most pop from around the world.

- Although much of the music on this site is intended for predominantly Arab audiences, artists like Natacha Atlas and Alabina have an international market, not to mention Rai artists from Algeria like Cheb Khaled and others like Souad Massi who are hugely popular in France.

- Aside from pop, the Western genre of hip-hop has become popular in most Arab countries with artists like DAM achieving international popularity. Rock still remains scarce in the Arab world.

- Many male singers sing love songs that are grammatically about other males. This is not meant to be homoerotic, rather, the male gender is being used as a neutral gender. There is a precedent for this going back over one thousand years in the poetic tradition. If you watch the videos this is often clear. So when Amr Diab says "habibi ya nur al-3ayn," he's not talking about his boyfriend.

- The word "ya" is used to address someone like "o" in English, which actually quite uncommon in contemporary music. In songs the "ya" will usually be followed by a term of endearment of some sort, for example "ya habibi."

- Sometimes sentence order is highly irregular or words are missing. The lyrics of Arabic music are highly contextual just like the lyrics of American songs or music from anywhere else. Keep in mind that the literal translation doesn't always make sense.

- Although religious music exists in Arabic, most popular music does not have much religious content except for occassional specific songs. Nationalist music, however, is more common within pop music.

Useful Vocabulary

Love
Habibi - My darling, Beloved, kind of how 'Baby' is used in some American songs
Ruhi - My soul
Hayati - My life (notice the -i suffix to indicate "my")
Qalbi, 'Albi - My heart
3omri - My life, my years
Hubbak - Your love
3oyunak - Your eyes (notice -ak/ik suffix to indicate "your"
Ghali - My precious

Hubb - Love
Hawa - Love
Shoq - Desire, Love
Gharam - Passion, Love
Mushtaq - Longing, Yearning
Majnun/Magnun - Crazy

Hibb - to love
Dala3 - to flirt, spoil
Bahibbak - I love you
Wahashtini - I miss you
Halwa - Beautiful

Qurbak/'urbak - Your closeness
Bo3dak - Your remoteness, farness (can have the same effect as closeness, see Hobak Nar)

There's plenty more too

Important body parts
Qalb/'alb - Heart
3ayn, pl. 3oyun, 3ynay - Eye
Yed, pl. iyday - Hand
3aql/3a'l - Mind
RuH - Soul

Common question words
Eh - What
Shu - What
Feen - Where
Ween - Where
Leh - Why
Miin - Who
Imta - When
Keef - How
Izzay - How
Ah, Aiwa - Yes
La - No

Other common phrases/Vocab
Qulli/'ulli - Tell me
IHkini - Tell me
Khalini - Let me, May I
3ayz - I want
Biddi - I want
Kidda - Like this
Qarabi/'arabi liy - Get close to me
Ib3ad 3ani - Get far from me
BasHar - I'm sleepless
Leyla, pl. Layali - Night
ad-Dunya - The world
Hilm - Dream
Bahlam Bik - I'm dreaming of you
Khalas - It's over, done
Ghena - to sing
Nar - Fire (Everything is fire when you're an Arab in love)
Farah - to get happy
Gharib - Strange, stranger

Again, this is a very basic and simplified outline of some of the main things one encounters when listening to Arabic music. I'll try to add to it as things come up

Lesson 1: ABCs of Arabic

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 letters 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 - Tha, as in "Thawani" ثواني which means "seconds" from the same word as "tani." In most dialects the Tha becomes a Ta or a Sa, but in the Gulf, Iraq, Tunisia and Standard Arabic it is still Tha like the th at the end of "math."

ج - Jiim/Giim, as in "Jameel" جميل which means "beautiful." In Egypt, it is usually pronounced as a Ga and in the Gulf sometimes as Ya

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 - Kha (5a or xa), as in "Khudni" خدني which means "take me." This sound is like the ch in Bach 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 - Dhaal, as in "Dhayeb" ذائب which means "melting" often in love. Like the Tha, the Dhaal becomes a Da or a Za in many dialects but in the Gulf, Iraq and Tunisia it is preserves like the th in "the."

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 - Shin, 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. It is usually indistinguishible from DHaad.

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 - DHa/Za, as in "THalim" ظالم which means "unjust" or "oppressive." THa is in the same relationship with dha as Daad is with d. It always becomes a Daad or Zaad in Lebanese and Egyptian dialects.

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.

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. In Egypt and parts of the Levant it is usually pronounced as a glottal stop like the sound in between Uh and Oh in Uh-Oh. So "Qalbi" becomes "Albi." Also in the rest of the Arab world it may be a Ga sound like the English g or more emphatic.

ك - Kaff (Chaff), as in "Keef" كيف which means "how" east of Egypt. In some parts of the Gulf and Iraq it becomes a Chaff like the ch in "cheese" to varying degrees

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 2: The Arabic Sentence

One of the hardest parts of figuring out the meanings of songs is breaking apart sentences and understanding what they mean as a whole. Even for an advanced or fluent user of the language this can be a daunting task. One can easily know every word in a sentence and totally get the meaning wrong (as I'm sure I've done 1000 times on this site) or just be left clueless.

Fortunately for anyone who knows English or most other European languages, Arabic sentence order is very similar to English. Although classical Arabic tends to put the verb at the beginning of the sentence, the Arabic of the dialects usually puts subject first, then verb, then the objects, prepositional phrases etc etc.

The Equational Sentence

I'll use the song "Albi Moshtaq" by Wael Kfoury to highlight the equational sentence.

انا قلبي مشتاق وبعدك جمر ونار

Ana albi moshtaa' we-bo3dak jamr wu-naar
My heart is yearning and your absence is embers and fire

Ok so to break down this sentence first look at "ana (I or me)." You might think the subject of the sentence is "I." While it is true that he is talking about himself, in this case he is only drawing attention to himself in saying that his heart is yearning. This happens from time to time in Arabic so just be aware of it. The subject of the sentence is "albi (my heart)" which in this sentence is "moshtaa' (yearning, longing)." So as you can see the equational sentence goes like this

Albi=moshtaa'
My heart=yearning

There is a verb for "to be" in Arabic like in English, but it's not used in the same way and for now just now that the simple present tense needs no verb as such.

The Verbal Sentence

As previously mentioned, the verb usually comes after the subject and before the object in the Arabic sentence, just like in English. I'll use the song "Dablet Bakiir" by Julia Boutros

هالورده دبلت بكير. حلوة بعدا حلوة كتير

Ha-al-warda dablet bakiir. 7elwa ba3da 7elwa kitiir.
This flower has wilted early. She’s still pretty, very pretty.

So in this sentence the subject "ha-al-warda (this flower)" precedes the past tense verb "dablet (she/it wilted)," which is followed by the object, time, place or manner in which the flower wilted, in this case "bakiir (early)." This is how a verbal sentence is normally composed, however, sentences often lack a subject because it is implied by the verb. If we dropped of the subject in this sentence and said:

دبلت بكير

Dablet bakiir.
It/She has wilted early

This sentence is grammatically correct as well, but of course without the context of the rest of the song we wouldn't know what has wilted early.

Lebanese Music

Lebanon may be considered the center of pop music for the Arab world. While the population is only 4 million, scores of Lebanese pop artists are popular throughout the Arabic speaking world and beyond.

The most notable Lebanese artists is of course Fairuz, who became popular during the 1960s and continues to perform to this day. The Rahbani brothers typically produced music for their sister Fairuz, in a classical Arabic style and sometimes in what might be considered a more Westernized style. Fairuz starred in many musicals about Lebanon and Palestine that dealt with the hardship of these peoples during the 1960s and 1970s. Nostalgia for a homeland is certainly a theme that arises in much of her music. Today, Fairuz is not just one of the most famous Arab singers ever, but also a cultural icon that is tied to a modern Arab and Lebanese national identity.

Other classic Lebanese artists include Sabah, Warda and Farid al-Atrache.

A number of women have attained superstardom in the more recent Lebanese pop music movement. Elissa is multimillion-dollar earning singer who has been recording for over 10 years. Nawal al-Zoghbi is another artist who has been singing for about the same amount of time. These artists were at the forefront of the Westernization of Lebanese pop musical styles, and comparing an early Nawal al-Zoghbi CD to a more recent one will illustrate this change. One artist, Najwa Karam, has been particularly stubborn about making her music and pronunciation "less Lebanese" to conform to expectations of the modern global audience.

Ragheb Alama is among the most famous male acts. He was very popular in the early 1990s and is notable for having made a huge comeback in the year 2000 with his album 'Tab Leh?.'

Modern Lebanese pop has flooded the Arabic music market with artists. The most famous currently is Nancy Ajram, who has become a prominent and controversial figure in the world of Arab pop because of her tendency to push the boundaries of sexuality. Haifa Wehbe, a former model, is another rising star in Lebanese pop and has successfully starred in some films such as "Wawa." Modern female Lebanese stars, especially those like Haifa Wehbe and Dana, are pushing the boundaries of the risque in the Arabic pop music scene and Lebanon. Many of these artists have been banned from performing in more socially conservative Arab states including Egypt because of what has been considered an overly sexual image. Although their lyrics and wardrobes may seem mild compared with the blunt sexuality of modern Western pop music, one must bear in mind that the transformation has been much more rapid and less inline with mainstream values in the Arab world.

Yuri Murqadi is another popular musician who often sings in Standard Arabic, similar to Kazem el-Saher. Here is a list of some of the most prominent Lebanese pop artists:

Nancy Ajram
Haifa Wehbe
Nawal al-Zoghbi
Elissa
Ragheb Alama
Wael Kfoury
Dana
Yuri Murqadi
Joanna Malah
Carol Samaha
Najwa Karam

Palestinian Music

The lack of a fully viable Palestinian state due to the Israeli population leads to a general lack of national structure that facilitates albums, videos and things generally associated with pop music. However, there are many Palestinian musicians know throughout the world.

Palestinian music is markedly different from the music found in other Arab countries because of its elevated political consciousness. Hip-hop is found more in Palestine than any other Arab country. The most famous rap group, DAM (Da Arab Mcs), is well known for rapping in both Arabic and Hebrew to spread their political messages to the very different Israeli and Palestinian populations. The song "Min Irhabi (Who's a Terrorist?)," in which DAM turns the lens back on Israel to criticize their oppression and mistreatment of the Palestinian people, had a huge impact in terms of raising awareness through its dissemination on the internet.

The most famous Palestinian musician, although he is in fact born as a Lebanese Christian, is probably Marcel Khalifa, who sings both in dialect and in Standard Arabic, deriving many of his lyrics from the poems of Mahmoud Darwish. These songs use a folk style and are often highly political in nature.

The Palestinian cause is of international concern, especially among Arab nations, and almost every prominent artist makes a tribute to Palestine or Jerusalem at some point. Also, many Arabs in other nations claim Palestinian descent and nostalgia figures prominently in the works of Fairuz.

Algerian Music

Algeria is a country of over 30 million people bordered by Morocco on the west and Tunisia and Libya on the east. Most Algerians speak Arabic, although about 20% of Algerians speak Berber languages such as the Kabyle. The music of Algeria is heavily influenced by the classical music of Andalusian Arabs and Jews who migrated to Algeria, as well as the French who occupied Algeria as a colonial power for about 130 years.

The most famous musical tradition to come out of Algeria is Rai. In Arabic, Rai means "opinion" or "way of seeing things," and Rai artists referred to their genre as such because it often contained the opinions of the younger generation of Algerians growing up in the malaise of the 1980s. The musicians of this movement are all known as "Cheb" (Sheb), which means a young man or kid in Arabic, similar to American rappers who call themselves "Young" like Young MC, Young Jeezy, Young Turk and the Young Dynamos. There were also some female artists in the Rai movement known as "Chebba" the female of Cheb. The lyrics of these songs typically discuss social decay as disenchantment with the political status quo in Algeria, as well as normally rebellious activities like drinking alcohol and love affairs. For this reason, Rai music was considered controversial and many Rai artists moved to France when a conservative party that came into power in the mid-90s in Algeria began to target these musicians and even had one, Cheb Hasni, assassinated. Rai became very popular in France due to the large immigrant population from Algeria, and now Rai is known around the world.

The most famous Rai musician is Cheb Khaled, dubbed the King of Rai. He was at the front of the Rai movement in Algeria during the 1980s and moved to france during the 1990s like many Rai artists. He is known for his gruff voice and passionate vocals. Another artist, Cheb Mami, has similarly moved to France and enjoyed success singing in French and Arabic. Cheb Mami is known for his very high, malleable voice. A French born Rai artists named Faudel, who is dubbed the Prince of Rai, also enjoys commercial success and is known for his good looks.

Algeria is also home to folk musician Souad Massi who has enjoyed international success similar to that of Cheb Khaled. Influenced by Rai, Fado, and American country and rock music, Souad plays guitar and writes her own lyrics. She was previously in a rock band called Akator. In 1999 she left Algeria amidst death threats similar to those faced by Rai musicians. This being said, she is quite modest in comparison to female pop stars out of Egypt and Lebanon.

There are also many Algerian hip-hop arists who, like Rai artists, tend to operate out of France. These include Intik, MBS and MIA.

Egyptian Music

Egypt is the largest Arab country, with about 80 million people living mostly along the Nile river running from Aswan near the Sudan border to Alexandria on the Mediterranean Sea. As a regional geographic, economic and population center, Egypt is center of cultural production in the Arab world, and the Egyptian dialect has become widely understood thanks to the dissemination of Egyptian films, television programs and music.

The story Egyptian music begins in the colonial era before World War II. During the 1920s and 1930s, the most prominent Egyptian composer was Mohammed Abdel Wahhab, who adapted many poems such as those of Ahmed Shawky to music and made the soundtracks to many Egyptian films.

Abdel Wahhab often wrote songs for the most prominent singer of this time period and Egyptian music history is Om Kalthoum. Known as Kawkab al-Sharq (Star of the East), she rose to prominence in the 1940s and remained the adoration of the Egyptian public every since. With the nationalist movement and the revolution of 1952, Om Kalthoum became a national symbol for Egypt and many of her songs of this period are nationalistic in nature. She died in 1975, but remains probably the most well-known Arab performer throughout the world and certainly throughout Egypt.

At the beginning of Om Kalthoum's career, there was another very popular female singer named Asmahan, who was a descendent of Druze royalty and sister of Farid al-Atrache that moved to Cairo. She produced several songs and films, but died in car crash under some dubious circumstances, and rumors abound that she may have been a Soviet spy. Because of her mysterious beauty and her premature death, Asmahan is a legend in the world of Arabic music.

Abdel Halim Hafez is another Egyptian singer who became very famous in post-independence Egypt. He is known for singing love songs of epic proportion like Om Kalthoum and a trademark smile. Like most Egyptian singers of this time, he starred in several musical films. He died fairly young, at age 48 in 1977, and thus remains a musical legend in Egypt. In 2006 a film called "Haleem" starring the late Egyptian film legend Ahmed Zaki as Abdel Halim Hafez. The Natacha Atlas album entitled "Halim" is named so in honor of Abdel Halim.

Today there are many Egyptian pop stars, none more famous and legendary than Amr Diab. He became internationally famous with the song "Nour el-Ayn" during the 1990s, and remains the king of Egyptian pop today. Amr Diab is now known for his ageless face, which appears quite young despite the fact he is approaching 50.

Mohammed Mounir is an artist from Upper Egypt born in Aswan. He is known for blending Arabic musical styles with more African styles. He has also been outspoken about issues such as religion and politics. After September 11, he sought to learn more about his religion, Islam, and has since been critical of both Muslims who do not practice responsibly and Westerners who hold outrageous misconceptions about Muslims. He has also been a long supporter of the Palestinian cause, and a peace advocate in general.

The two singers Sherine Ahmed (born Sherine Abdel Wahhab) and Tamer Hosni have become very popular in Egypt during the past few years. They rose to prominence together with a mix CD that contained both singles and duets. Now both have successful solo careers and have released many albums.

Shaaban Abdel Rahim is a well-known and controversial figure in Egyptian Shaabi pop music. He is a sort of rags to riches story in that he worked as a low-wage laundary man for years before his songs became popular. His typically no frills songs focus on catchy lyrics and expressing popular ideas, such as his 2000 songs called "I Hate Israel" and his 2003 song "Don't Hit Iraq" have made him a beloved figure, despite his lack of fashion sense. Hakim is another singer in the Shaabi genre who has sold millions of albums since the early 1990s.

The first Egyptian hip-hop group to achieve success is MTM. Their 2003 album entitled "Ummi Mesafra" (My Mom is Away) was groundbreaking in the world of Arab pop music. Although some of their singles are mostly pop much like Will Smith in the United States, some of their songs deal with social issues using humor.