From Lennie Clark's Web Site:

Ya Mustapha
(Oh Mustapha)

This page contains a translation into English of the Arabic version of the lyrics to the popular song "Ya Mustapha". The song's lyrics are in three languages - French, Italian, and Arabic. It evokes memories of the multinational community that lived in Alexandria, Egypt back then. "Ya Mustapha", which is sometimes spelled as "Ya Mustafa", has been recorded by many artists through the last half-century all over the world. In addition to the Arabic-language version from December 1959, there are versions in Greek (1960), two Turkish versions (the newer recorded in 1978), and an Indian version (1982). Appeared in Egyptian Films: El Fanous el Sehri (The Magic Lantern), 1960, as Naemet Mokhtar dances. From Egypt, sung in Arabic. El-Hobb Kedah (Love Is Like That), 1961, sung by Dario Moreno. From Egypt, sung in Arabic. About Bob Azzam The original artist to record this song in Arabic was Waddie George Azzam, who recorded under the stage name Bob Azzam. He was born to Palestinian parents in Nazareth, but his family relocated to Egypt, which is where he grew up. His family followed Greek Orthodox Christianity. Click here for more information about this song.

Listen to MP3 Clips of This Song

	Sung by George Abdo
	On the album Mezdeke Volume 6, titled "Ruh Rahleh"
	Performed by Mediterranean RaqsBand
	Performed by Desert Wind

Lyrics

This translation is based on George Abdo's recording of this song. They match the lyrics that were sung by Dario Moreno in the 1962 movie titled Al Hob Keda which also starred Sabah. Other recordings have different lyrics.

Other versions of this song include these lyrics in one of the verses:

We been waiting but do not know know when you will be back
Do not forget to write and make my eyes and my heart happy
Come on, Mostafa, the son of our neighbors, come back.

Where to Get Recordings of this Song

	Listen to clip	Artist: George Abdo CD Title: The Joy of Belly Dancing
	Listen to Clip	Artist: Mediterranean RaqsBand CD Title: Music Saqra Likes for Dancers & Drummers, Volume 1 Web Site: www.raqsband.com
	Listen to Clip	Artist: Desert Wind CD Title: Gaia, Earth Goddess Ritual Dances of the Mother "Ya Mustapha" appears as part of the medley titled "Celebration Dance" on Track 15.
	Listen to Clip	Artist: Mezdeke CD Title: Mezdeke 6 Sözlü Pop Arabic / Misir Danslari
	Listen to Clip	Artist: John Bilezikjian & Var Daghdevirian Album Title: Tapestry of the Dance Dantz Records - John Bilezikjian P.O. Box 2434 Laguna Hills, CA 92654-2434 U.S.A. Telephone: (+1) (949) 581-5664 Web Site: www.dantzrecords.com

Translations of
George Abdo's Songs on this Site

Related Articles

Acknowledgements

About the Translator

Adel Abdallah is an Egyptian who resides in New Orleans, Louisiana. If you are traveling to that great city, he invites you to stop by the Cafe Picasso, located at 3401 Chartres (on the corner of Chartres and Desire, in the Bywater). The cafe serves delicious Middle Eastern food, and offers shiisha smoking. They are open daily except for Sundays, from 10 A.M. to 6 P.M. (Deliveries until 10 P.M.) The phone number is 504-948-6881.

The translation summary was done by Adel at Lennie Clark's request. Muchisimas gracias to Kruz, (whose Morocco to India ethnic boutique, located in the historic French Quarter, is not-to-be-missed) for suggesting Adel as a translator.

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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