Ana f'Inta Zarak
(I'm Waiting for You)

This page contains a translation into English of the song lyrics for "Ana Fi Intizarak". Also included is a transliteration into the Roman alphabet of the original Arabic lyrics. This song was popularized by Oum Kalthoum. Sometimes the title is written as "Ana F'entezarak", "Anna Fintizarak", "Ana B'intizarak", or "Ana Fe Entezarak". Lyrics: Mahmoud Biram Altounisi Music: Zakaria A'hmad Oum Kalthoum was born in 1904 and died in 1975. She was unquestionably the most gifted singer and musician of the 20th century in the Middle East. She was continuously popular for over 50 years and her songs are still played nightly on any number of Arabic-language radio stations. Oum Kalthoum has achieved legendary status in Egyptian music. Her name is transliterated many different ways in the Roman alphabet, including Um Kulthum, Om Kalsoum, Umm Kulthoum, Om Kalthoum, Umm Kalsum, Oum Kalthum, Oum Kolthoum, Oum Kaltsoum, and others. Song lyrics are provided for educational purposes. If you like the song, please purchase either the album or a download from an authorized source.

Listen to MP3 Clips of this Song

	Performed by Oum Kalthoum
	Performed by Cairo Orchestra
	Performed by Andalus Ensemble

Lyrics

Note from Shira: Two different transliterations and translations of this song have been contributed to this web site. I have decided to make both available. Song lyrics are poetry, and it can be challenging for a translator to communicate nuances of meaning. By having two translations to use, you can explore two different people's ideas on how to convey these nuances.

• Translation by Nabil Gheith, provided to this web site by Linda Grondahl and Lennie Clark
• Translation provided by Amina Goodyear

Translation by Nabil Gheith, Provided by Linda Grondahl and Lennie Clark

This translation was provided by Linda Grondahl, by way of Lennie Clark's web site. The translator was Nabil Gheith.

Translation Provided by Amina Goodyear

This translation was provided by Amina Goodyear in San Francisco, California:

Where to Get Recordings of this Song

	Listen to Clip	Artist: Andelus Ensemble CD Title: Al Andelus
		Artist: Hossam Ramzy CD Title: Best of Om Kolthoum

Translations of
Oum Kalthoum's Songs on This Site

Acknowledgements

About the Contributor of the First Translation

Linda Grondahl's background is that of a devoted lover of Arabic music and dance. She danced with Amina and the Aswan Dancers for many years. She took Arabic percussion with Mary Ellen Donald, Su Su Pampanin, George Dubai, Vince Deldado, and Tony Lammam. She took Arabic singing from Nicole Ibrahim, Mimi Spencer, Georges Lammam. On the oud, she studied under Nazir Latouf, Mimi Spencer, Abdullah Kdough. She was a member of the Aswat Arab-American Choir under the direction of Elias Lammam. She is now a member of the El Ashaab dance troupe, and Tahneen, the all-girl, all-American Middle eastern music ensemble. They have played for Arab and American events, and for many years at the Rakassah festival.

"I just saved whatever I could get my hands on, for years", writes Linda, "and really don't know why. It was always so difficult to get music, so I just kept on saving."

Linda lives in San Francisco, California. Her favorite color is any shade of purple.

About the Contributor of the Second Translation

This translation and transliteration appear on this web site with permission from Amina Goodyear, who procures song translations to enrich her Middle Eastern dance classes. Many thanks to Amina for making it available to the public via this site!

Amina is a Middle Eastern dance artist based in San Francisco, California, USA, and the director of the Aswan Dancers. Her band, the Arabian Nights, plays in various clubs around San Francisco. Her studio features 6 belly dance classes (taught by Amina) and 3 drum classes (taught by her daughter Susu) each week. Amina regularly pays native speakers of Middle Eastern languages to do translations like this one for her to use in her classes.

About the Source

This article originally appeared on Lennie Clark's web site, "Arabic Song Translations." Lennie created this web site in 2002 as a response to discussion on the Internet regarding incidents of dancers who performed inappropriate sensual dances to religious music. Lennie's web site resided on a free web hosting service known as Geocities. When the planned October 2009 closure of the Geocities web hosting service was announced, Lennie and Shira agreed to move the contents of Lennie's site to Shira.net. To explore all the articles and song translations that once appeared on Lennie's Geocities site, visit Lennie's portal page here on Shira.net.

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