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

This page contains a translation into English of the lyrics to the Egyptian song "La Takzeby", which was popularized by Mohamed Abdel Wahab, Nagat al-Saghira, and Abdel Halim Hafez. Also included is a transliteration of the Arabic lyrics into the Roman alphabet so you can sing along if you like.

Other ways to spell the song title include "Leh Takzibi" and "Le Takdibi".

• La Takzeby (Do Not Lie), 1962
• Song Title in Arabic: لا تكذبى
• In the Motion Picture El Shoumou el-Sawdaa (The Black Candles)
• Language: Modern Standard Arabic
• Lyricist: Kamel el-Shennawi
• Composer: Mohamed Abdel Wahab
• Original Artist: Mohamed Abdel Wahab

Has Also Been Recorded By:

• Nagat al-Saghira, 1962
• Abdel Halim Hafez, 1962
• Hani Shaker
• Gada Ragab

Song lyrics are provided for educational purposes. If you like the song, please purchase either the album or a download from an authorized source.

About this Song

The lyrics of this song come from a poem by Kamel el-Shennawi. They speak of a man's shock about a relationship that binds the woman he loves to another man. Some say that the poet was in love with the singer Nagat al-Saghira, but she did not reciprocate.

El-Shennawi offered the poem to Mohamed Abdel Wahab to set it to music and made a recording of it in which he sang and played the oud.

At that time, Nagat al-Saghira was in the process of filming her movie El Shoumou el-Sawdaa, which had a plot line about betrayal. When she heard that Abdel Wahab had just completed a new song whose lyrics were about betrayal, she sought to perform it in her movie. Mohamed Abdel Wahab attended the film's premiere in May of 1962 to hear Nagat perform his song in it.

Later that year in July, Abdel Wahab arranged for Abdel Halim Hafez to perform the song in a public concert.

With three different great singers each performing the same song over the course of 1962, it was inevitable that their fans would compare the three versions to each other. Today, people fondly remember all three versions by these legendary artists.

About Mohamed Abdel Wahab

Mohamed Abdel Wahab was a prolific Egyptian composer of the 20th century. He was born in 1902 in the Bab El-Shaariyah neighborhood of Cairo, Egypt, where a statue now stands to honor him. He became known as the "Musician of the Generations" because his career spanned over half a century, creating new hit songs for each successive generation to enjoy.

Abdel Wahab was one of the innovators who created the big-orchestra sound of classical Egyptian music of the 20th century. He was a pioneer of Egyptian cinema, featured in Al Warda Al Baida (The White Rose), which was the second Egyptian movie musical ever made (the first was Ounchoudat al-Fouad).

Abdel Wahab was the first to compose for the "Oriental orchestra" that consisted of instruments from both Europe and the Middle East. In 1954 he introduced the European waltz rhythm into his composition "Al Gondol", and in 1957 he introduced a rock & roll rhythm into the song "Ya Albi Ya Khali" that he composed for Abdel Halim Hafez.

Abdel Wahab was a mentor to Abdel Halim Hafez, and composed many of his hit songs. He also composed ten songs for Oum Kalthoum, including "Enta Omri". In 1976, he composed for Nagwa Fouad the first mejance, "Amar 14".

Some of his personal belongings are housed in a museum at the Music Institute in Cairo.

About Nagat al-Saghira

Nagat al-Saghira is an Egyptian singer and actress. She was born in Cairo in 1936, and she came from a family of artists. Her father was a calligrapher, and her sister was the superstar actress Souad Hosni. Her brother was Ezz el-Din Hosni, a violinist who used to work with Oum Kalthoum. She was given the name "Nagat al-Saghira" (which means "Nagat the Young") because at the time she began her career, there was another artist named Nagat Ali who was famous at the time for both acting and singing.

When Nagat was young, her brother Ezz el-Din Hosni trained her to memorize and sing Oum Kalthoum's songs. She succeeded in imitating them to perfection, which led to her being discovered.

Nagat al-Saghira performed songs created by all the great composers of her day. These included some who also wrote songs for Oum Kalthoum and Abdel Halim Hafez, such as Zakaria Ahmed, Baligh Hamdi, Kamal al-Tawil, her brother Ezz el-Din Hosni, Mohamed al-Mougy, and others.

About Abdel Halim Hafez

Abdel Halim Hafez was born in 1929 in a village north of Cairo. He was orphaned at a young age. His mother died a few days after giving birth to him, and his father died five years later. After a few years of living in an orphanage, he went to live with his aunt and uncle in Cairo. At age 14, he joined the Arabic Music Institute in Cairo. His big break came in 1953 when he was recruited to do a live radio performance to substitute for another artist who was unable to do it. This performance was heard by Hafez Abdel Wahab, the supervisor of musical programming for Egyptian national radio, and he opened doors for the young artist. That same year, he sang "Ahwak" in the motion picture Bayieat al-Khubz, but he did not have an acting role.

Abdel Halim Hafez was known as both a singer and a movie star. His music, in particular, appealed to young women because of its romantic character. At the peak of his popularity in the 1960's, he was famous both as a singer and as a movie star. He was known as the "Dark Nightingale."