Filler
Photo of Shira

 

 

PHOTO CREDIT: Above photo by John Rickman Photography, San Jose, California.

From the Site

Arab Song Translations

By Lennie Clark

Lennie

Inte Omri
(You Are My Life)

 

This page contains the English translation to the song lyrics of "Inte Omri", an Egyptian classical song which was made popular by Oum Kalthoum in 1965. It is sometimes spelled as "Inta Omri", "Enta Omri", or "Ente Omri".

Lyrics: Ahmed Shafik
Music: Mohamed Abdel Wehab

The full length of this song, including its instrumentals, is about 40 minutes. Over the years, different recordings of this were made during her varying concerts, so different lengths of the song may be offered by vendors.

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 is one of four vocalists who have achieved legendary status in Egyptian music. The other three are Farid al-Atrache, Mohammed Abdel Wahab, and Abdel Halim Hafez.

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.

Oum Kalthoum

 

---------------

Listen to MP3 Clips of this Song

Note

Instrumental Segment from Version Sung by Oum Kalthoum

---------------

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 Nicole Ibrahim, 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 Nicole Ibrahim.

(Note from Lennie Clark: There is some wonderful footage of Umm Kalthoum singing this song, accompanied by Mohammed Abdel Wahab and orchestra, in the documentary "Umm Kulthoum, a Voice Like Egypt". That historic performance was the first joint performance of these two great artists.)

Arabic Lyrics

English Lyrics

Part 1

Part 1

Ragaounee eineik lei ayame elee raheit They brought me back, your eyes, to my days that
Aleinou nee andam, alal maadee wei geiraho They taught me to regret the past and its wounds
Elee shooftou, able ma tshoufak eineya What I have seen, before, have seen you, my eye
Omr da-yea, yeihseibou eizai alaya Is a lost life, counting it, how on me
Enta omree, elee eibtada bei nourak saba You're my life, that started its morning with you
Adei eih men omree ablak rah wei ada ya habibi Has much from my life before you has gone by, oh my darling
Wala shaf el alb ablak farha wahda Neither has he seen the heart, before you, one joy
Wala daa fei donia gheir taam el geirah Neither has he tasted in life besides the taste of so*
Eibtadeit deilwa'tee bass, aheib omree I started now only, to love my life
Eibtadeit deilwa'tee akhaaf, akhaaf lal omr eigree I started now to fear, to fear that life would run
   

Part 2

Part 2

Kol farha eishta'ha mein ablak khayalee Every joy that longed for it before you my in*
Eilta aha fee nour eineik albee wei feikree It has found it in the light of your eyes, my heart and *
Ya hayaat albee, ya aghla min hayatee, lei Oh you, the light of my heart, o you dearest than my life*
Lei, ma albeilneesh hawak ya habibi badree Why, it didn't meet me your love earlier
   

Part 3

Part 3

El layalee el heilwa, weil sho', weil mahaba The beautiful night, and the longing, and the love*
Mein zamaan, wil alb ahayeilhom ashaanak From a long time, and the heart is heaping them fo*
Dou' ma-aya el hob, Dou' haba bei haba Taste with me the love, taste, little by little
Min hanaan albee, elee taal sho-o lei hananak From the tenderness of my heart, that longed for your tenderness
Ya habibi taala, wei keifaya elee fatna Oh, my love come, and it's enough what we missed
Howa fatna ya habib el rooh showaya Is what we missed oh the love of my soul a little
Ya aghla mein ayamee Oh, dearer than my days
Ya aghla min ahlmee Oh more beautiful than my dreams
Khodnee lei hanaanak, khodnee Take me to your tenderness, take me
An el weigoud weib-eidnee From my existence and far away
Bei-eed, ana winta, wahdeena Far away, mee and you, are above
Al hob teis-ha ayam-na Oh, love, our days, we'll wake up
Al sho' teinaam layaleena Sleeping our nights missing each other
Saleiht beek ayanee Reconsidered because of you my day
Sameiht beek el saman I forgave because of you, the past times
Naseitnee beek alamee You made me forget my pains
Weinseet ma-ak el shagan And I forgot with you bitterness

* Lennie wasn't able to decipher the copy she received from Linda

 

Translation by Hani Guirguis, Provided by Yasmina Ramzy

This translation was provided to this web site by Yasmina Ramzy. The translator was her late friend Hani Guirguis.

Arabic Lyrics

English Lyrics

Ragaa’ouni a’einaik el Ayam illi rahou Your eyes took me back to my days that are gone
A’alamouni andam a’ala El-Madhi wi gerahou They taught me to regret the past and its wounds.
   
Illi shouftouh kabli ma tshoufak a’inaih Whatever I saw before my eyes saw you was a wasted life.
Omri dhayea’ yehsibouh izay a’alaya? How could they consider that part of my life?
   
Inta Omri illi ibtada b’nourak sabahouh With your light, the dawn of my life started
Ad eyh min omri kablak ray w a’ada How much of my life before you was lost
Ya habibi ad eyh min omri raah It is a wasted past, my love.
   
Wala shaf elkalb kablak farhah wahdah My heart never saw happiness before you
Wala dak fi eldounya ghair taa’m el-jiraah. My heart never saw anything in life other than the taste of pain and suffering.
   
Ibtadait bilwakti bas ahib omri I started only now to love my life
Ibtadait bilwakti akhaf la ilomri yijri And started to worry that my life would run away from me.
   
Kouli farha eshtakha min kablak khayali Every happiness I was longing for before you
Eltakaha fi nour a’ainaik kalbi w fikri My dreams they found it in the light of your eyes.
Ya hayat kalbi ya aghla min hayati Oh my heart’s life .. You are more precious than my life
Leih ma kabilni hawak ya habibi badri Why I didn't meet your love a long time ago?
   
Illi shouftouh kabli ma tshoufak a’inaih Whatever I saw before my eyes saw you was a wasted life.
Omri dhayea’ yehsibouh izay a’alaya? How could they consider that part of my life?
   
Inta Omri illi ibtada b’nourak sabahouh You are my life that starts its dawn with your light.
   
Ellayali el hilwa wil shouk wil mahabah The beautiful nights and the yearning and the great love
min zaman w elkalbi shayilhoum a’ashanak From a long time ago the heart is holding for you.
   
Douk maa’ayah elhoub douk habah bhabah min hanan kalbi illi taalshoukouh li hananak Taste the love with me bit by bit from the kindness of my heart that is longing for the kindness of your heart.
Hat a’inaik tisrah fi dounyethoum a’ineyyah Bring your eyes close so that my eyes can get lost in the life of your eyes.
Hat eydak tiryah lilmoustahm eydaiyah Bring your hands so that my hands will rest in the touch of your hands.
   
Yahabibi taa’ala w kfaya ill fatna My love, come, and enough.
Howa illi fatna ya habibi elrouh shwayah What we missed is not little, oh love of my soul.
   
Illi shouftouh kabli ma tshoufak a’inaih Whatever I saw before my eyes saw you was a wasted life.
Omri dhayea’ yehsibouh izay a’alaya? How could they consider that part of my life?
Inta Omri illi ibtada b’nourak sabahouh You are my life that starts its dawn with your light.
   
Ya aghla min ayyami You are more precious than my days.
Ya ahla min ahlami You are more beautiful than my dreams,
Khoudni li hananak khoudni Take me to your sweetness--
Mina el woujoud w iba’idni Take me away from the universe
Bia’eid bia’eid ana w inta Far away, far away.
Bia’eid bia’eid wahdeina I and you far away, far away. Alone.
   
A’ elhoub tisha ayamna With love, our days will awaken
A’ el shouk tnaam layaleina We spend the nights longing for each other
   
Salaht beek ayami I reconciled with days because of you
Samaht beek el zaman I forgave the time because of you
Nasitni beek aalami With you I forgot my pains
W inseet maa’aak elshagan And I forgot with you my misery.
   
Ragaa’ouni a’einaik el Ayam illi rahou Your eyes took me back to my days that are gone
A’alamouni andam a’ala El-Madhi wi gerahou They taught me to regret the past and its wounds.
   
Illi shouftouh kabli ma tshoufak a’inaih Whatever I saw before my eyes saw you was a wasted life.
Omri dhayea’ yehsibouh izay a’alaya? How could they consider that part of my life?
Inta Omri illi ibtada b’nourak sabahouh You are my life that starts its dawn with your light.

 

---------------

Translations of
Oum Kalthoum's Songs on This Site

Other translations of songs performed by Oum Kalthoum on this web site include:

 

---------------

Where to Get Recordings of this Song

Enta Omri

Note

Listen to Clip

Artist: Oum Kalthoum
Album Title: Enta Omri

Gems of the Middle East Volume 2 Album Cover

 

Artist: Mary Ellen Donald & Mimi Spencer
CD Title: Gems of the Middle East, Volume 3

To contact her:

Mary Ellen Books
P.O. Box 411562
San Francisco, CA 94141-1562
U.S.A.

Telephone: (+1) (510) 654-DRUM or (+1) (510) 654-3786

Web Site: www.maryellendonald.com

Best of Om Kolthoum CD Cover  

Artist: Hossam Ramzy
CD Title: Best of Om Kolthoum

Renaissance of Arabic Classics CD Cover

 

Artist: Various
CD Title: The Renaissance of Arabic Classics for Clubbers

 

---------------

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 dificult 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

Thanks are due Yasmina Ramzy of Arabesque Academy of Toronto, Canada for granting permission to share these beautiful song lyrics via this web site. The translation was done for Yasmina by her friend, the beloved and late Hani Guirguis of Toronto, Canada.

 

Also, many thanks to Tahseen Alkoudsi for providing the transliteration into the Roman alphabet of the Arabic-language lyrics. He died October 15, 2006.

 

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.

Lennie Clark

 

---------------

Copyright Notice

This entire web site is copyrighted. All rights reserved.

All articles, images, forms, scripts, directories, and product reviews on this web site are the property of Shira unless a different author/artist is identified. Material from this web site may not be posted on any other web site unless permission is first obtained from Shira.

Academic papers for school purposes may use information from this site only if the paper properly identifies the original article on Shira.net using appropriate citations (footnotes, end notes, etc.) and bibliography. Consult your instructor for instructions on how to do this.

If you wish to translate articles from Shira.net into a language other than English, Shira will be happy to post your translation here on Shira.net along with a note identifying you as the translator. This could include your photo and biography if you want it to. Contact Shira for more information. You may not post translations of Shira's articles on anybody else's web site, not even your own.

If you are a teacher, performer, or student of Middle Eastern dance, you may link directly to any page on this web site from either your blog or your own web site without first obtaining Shira's permission. Click here for link buttons and other information on how to link.

 

 

Explore more belly dance info:

Top >
Belly Dancing >
Middle Eastern Culture >
Index to Middle Eastern Music Section

 

Share this page!

On Facebook
 

 

   Top > Belly Dancing > Middle Eastern Culture > Index to Middle Eastern Music Section

| Contact Shira | Links | Search this Site |