. dr. love
Al Aab - CNED/W94
if an arab is head over heals, in love
it is befitting 2 b sick
what patient does not need a doctor ?
what doctor befits a romantic patient like his lover ?
ever heard of "mejnoon leila" = leilamaniac ?
il mejnoon, is the arabic answer 2 Shakespeare's Romeo (unless it is
the other way around.)
il mejnoon ( the maniac, a nickname ) was a classic poet.
His real name was Qeis. He was in love w his 12-14 year old cousine, Leila.
He made famous romantic verses. That was his mistake. Why ?
Cause, according 2 bedouin tradition, that immediately make him ineligible.
So... il mejnoon fell sick, body & mind. Prophet Mohamed's grandson took
pity on him & interceded with leila's father.
More than that. That poetic romance went down in history, that the 20th
century egyptian poet, aHmad bey showQi, wrote a poetic book on it. He
called it, what else, mejnoon leila. it was so popular, that i read, that
it was produced on Cairo theatres, that the great egyptian singer & asmahan
il eTresh (fareed's sister) sang part of ShowQi's book. That was in a film.
The dialogue + monlogue became 1940's hit :
seja il leil = such a serene, quiet desert night !
Hetta haje, lea = so much so, that i feel like
il leil, = night,
wesh she@r, = poetry,
wel Hobbo = & love.
elemme, @ela ebiati leila, = lead 2 leila's camp
biyel hewa ... = by nothing but love
wema gheire eshwaqi deleelon = nothing save my love being a guide,
wela rekbo = nor a ride !
iza Tafe Qelbi Howleha = if my heart circles leila
jonne shoQoho ! = my heart's desire/fire goes mad !
fe ya wile Qelbi : = o ! dear 4 my heart :
kemm yeHinno = how much does it long 2 leila !
wekemm yeSboo ! = how much does it adore leila !
That hit
(showQi's remake of the romance + abdel wahab's composition + voice)
was supposed 2 have been poeted by the sans-camel, sans-horse,
sick+dazed mejnoon Qeis,
while tramping the desert night, leila bound.
when mejnoon (m. abdelwahab, in that film) , eventually, makes it 2
leila (egyptian singer, asmehan)'s tent ( actually, just outside it ),
he is intercepted by leila's fearsome father. What a mejnoon 2 do ?
mejnoon pretends 2 b on errand 2 borrow some cinders.
leila orders her
slave
2 bring the fire 2 mejnoon.
in the heat of the costly rendez-vous, mad mejnoon
almost sets the camp on fire. he burns his hand. but he senses only
one fire, the love fire.
love fire notwithstanding, the firey father ( who
played that part ? He was a hell of an actor, whose name escapes me )
breaks the rendezvous, & kicks the mad
tramp out.
An arab dad gotta protect his camp, not 2 mention
his 12year old daughter's reputation. not 2 mention ...
-------------------
Classic arabic poetry is sickly replete w such sick love,
khod @endek, ya salam = 4 instances :-
1- te@jbeene min seQemi ? = (my love) thou art surprised by
my (secondary 2 love) sickness
SiHHeti, hiye el @ejeb = my health, if any, should b
THE surprise.
2- Qalet te@eyyert ! = then she said: thou hath changed !
Qolto : = said moi :
fi bedeni. verily ! my health hath.
3- yeQooloone : = rumour hath it :
leila, bil @iraQi, mereeDeton ! = leila, in Iraq, is sick
ya leiteni konto el mereeDe el modawiye !
= wouldeth moi b the doctor !
the healer !
4- (not classic, but egyptian folklore. The first time i heard it, a bus
bum boy was singing it on "ebu rgeila" bus, in Cairo, in the nasser
era ! I could not help being touched. I bestowed upon the singing
romantic lad a whole piastre.)
enal @eleel ! = je suis the sick guy
winteT Tebeeb ! = vous etes the doctor
wizay @Teeb min Gheir dewak ?!
= how the ... could i
b revived sans votre medication ?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
anyone can add 2 the a/m list of
the sick,
the hopeles/hapless love
& love doctors
??
bas...@crl.aecl.ca
point of death. khod 3andek:
1- Sayeed Darweesh in his beautiful:
ana hawet wain antehet = I had loved and vanished
we leh ba-aa Loum il-3azool = please don't make it worse (by questioning)
2- Abel Wahab in ( Ahoon 3alleh)
kan 3ahdy a3ahdak fi il-hawa = w.r.t.to your love, I'd promised
ya ne3eesh sawa, ya nomout sawa = together either we live, or die !!
Our old composer sure knew something about how doctors make good living. But
they did include others. For example:
1- Drivers:
by car as in LeilaMourad song;
Sook 3al il-donia we emshee 3aleh = drive over it, and walk over this
world. Neither you nor me has nothing
to gain
by train as in Abdel Wahab song:
Ya wabour Oully rayeh 3ala feen = O train, tell me where are going..
2- Teachers
in Arabic as in Leila Mourad's
abgad hawaz hooti kalmoon .. = abc .. etc
shakl il-ostaz baa monsagmoon = the porfessor looks happy now..
in math as in Leila Mourad's again
wahid we wahid yeboo etnin = 1 + 1 = 2
il hob kilma min harfeen = love is made of two letters (in arabic)
3- Dumb students as in Shadia nad Fateen Hammama
Hello Hello ehna hen = Hello Hello We are here
we neghen oho fi el-madrassa = and we have succeeded at school
4- flower girl as in Leila Mourad's
min yeShteri il ward minni = Who would flower from me ..
or flower boy as in Abdel Wahab:
ya ward min yeshtereh = Oh flower, who is going to buy you
wee lil habeb yehdeh = and send it (the flower) to his lover?
5- Coffee make as in Asmahan
Ahwa. ana min yooli ahwa = that is tough to translate because
as eeh bi eidy Qahwa = the double meaning of Ahwa ..
There was also a group of more dwn to earth singer (Abele Aziaz Mahmoud,
Mohmad Andeel, Abdel el-ghani el-sayeed) who did not mind to include less
glamorous songs as:
1- Capenter:
Shebaak habibi, ya khashab il ward = My lover's window is mode of rose wood
2- tailor
Mandeel habibi, ya mandeloo = my lover's kershief, Oh what a kershief
3- shoes maker
ya shebsheb il hana = my lover's slipper, I whis I were it.
I'm sure ther is more. any contribution ??
By the way , the father in majnoon Leila was Abbas Farris
Al Aab - CNED/W94
: 2- Abel Wahab in ( Ahoon 3alleh)
: kan 3ahdy a3ahdak fi il-hawa = w.r.t.to your love, I'd promised
: ya ne3eesh sawa, ya nomout sawa = together either we live, or die !!
thanks basets !
4 4 yrs, votre truly has been surfing,
has been lonely
feeling like the most ancient arab surfer aroun the net.
last year, i tried 2 start a thread on abdel wahab (80 years of wahabian
songs) ...
alas
no one seemed 2 remember the dynasaur
takes 1, 2 lv 1.
ey wallahi !
was abdel wahab my favourite, especilly his 1940's songs
(ya know: il jondool, il kernek, kilo patra, & his film songs)
i did not hear the "kan @edi" song.
2 young 4 that @ehd.
but, eons ago, my late older brother sang it 4 me.
the context was interesting:
that tune was borrowed (iQtibas) semi-verbatim from a bethoven's
symphony, or somethin.
moQtebesah or not, borrowed or whatever ...
viva @obed !
no one came close 2 him
@bdel Heleem Hafiz tried 2 imitate one of his 1930's songs
Feirooz ditto (ya jaretel wadi teribto, we @adeni, ma yoshbiho el enghme,
min Zikraki !)
they both succeeded in 1 thing
abdel wahab is inimite
(sheepishly i might retract that adulation a bit)
mohamed Qendeel, a hell of a motrib/technician,
had the ability to imitate abdel wahab successfully,..
but ..
he did not really pursue it.
that goes 2 show that technicability is not all
u need street smarts
abdel Haleem had it
but not the technability.
o ! well !
:
in the 1940-1950's egypt, there was a slew of riding/driving hit songs :
1- abdel wahab
a- ya waboor olli rayeH @ela fane
ya waboor olli wi sefirt minane
b- igri ! igri ! wddini ewam wesselni
de Hebeeb irroHe mistaaaaaaannni ! (rooH ! Allah yisamHek !)
2- noor il hodda
illegally, rear-riding outside a car driven by her discoverer, yousif
bey wahbi ( remember any of the jokes on him ) :
ya automobile ! ya gemil meHlaaak !
min wera SaHbek, ena rakbak !
rooH il geezeh, wi rooH Hilwan !
wiTle@ beene il al@e, keman !
weQQef ! @endek ! = hold it. There !
Hassib ! heddi ! = steady ! easy !
wedi ogritek ... irsh miSeddi ! = here is votre
fare :
1 whole rusty
piastre !
teeeeeeeeR ! teeeeeeer ! = sweep ! sweep !
go ! go ! go !
ya automobile ! = o ! automobile !
3- the cutie pie, shadiah , the turk beaut who impoverished actor @imad
Hemdi (of ikhmeem, upper egypt) when married together,
who cost fereed il etresh his voice, when boyfriending her,
who now is miT TereHa=veiled ( thanks 2 sheikh she@rawi ) :
doos @ed donia ! wimshi @eleih !
ena wella inta ! lina min feeha !
( her driver was the pretty boy, ex art teacher
oops ! forgot his name. but he looked soooo much like mohamed
fowzi, the singer, that the ex teacher made a film & played the role of
late moh fowzi, the gay singer, brother of hoda Sultan, a songress -
fereed showQi's divorcee. )
4- mohamed fowzi
(forgot his driving song)
5- farid il etresh ( ya bekht il etresh )
(forgot his song, but it was an imitation - even in film
direction - of one of the abdel wahab's above 2 songs)
: By the way , the father in majnoon Leila was Abbas Farris
thanks.
he was a hell of an actor
when it came 2 classic arabic
especially when he played in a radio drama (@enter we @ebla)
opposite @enter (george ebieD) :
we lakin ... heb enni ... ... Qeteltok ! ...
=
suppose i killed ya !
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keep threading
keep living
i don't wanna b the only dynasaure here !
bas...@crl.aecl.ca
art in Egypt of the 1940-50. I was still a child, but boy Oh boy. These
were the golden years of music/ cinema and theater. Too bad I can only
see some of it from poorl produced videos and cassets.
Any how, I think the following song was for Leila Mourad + driver Anwar Wagdi
in the film "3anbar"
doos @ed donia ! wimshi @eleih !
ena wella inta ! lina min feeha !
with the best song of all in the same movie being a sketch with S
Ismahil Yasseen, Shokoko, M. Ossman, Adeeb somthing, Leila and Anwar:
...
Marboot 3al dargga el-tmans = i've been in the 8th rank for long
we annas dargaat! = and people are ranked accordingly
we merashah akhod el-tasah = and I'm candid for the 9th rank
gheer il-3elawat = plus bonusses !
remember that beautiful song.
I think you meant Shadia's song as follows
Sook 3ala mahlak soook ! = Take it easy when driving
Khalli il-donia terrook = Let the world be nice.
I don't remember her driver, but she used to have Kamal el-Shinnawi or
Rushdi Abbazza as leading men.
About Youssef Bey Wahhabi: I was not lucky to be around when he was at
his prime. But I remember he was playing the role of the father in
Nageeb Mahfooz's Bain il-Qassran. His job was a kind of retailer. When
his accountant asked under what expense he should put the money spent on
the mistress, he (Youssef Bey) said:
Baddee3on attlaffah il-Howa = goods spoiled by air (or love)
" another example of playing with the bouble meaning of Howa"
I suppose the credit should goes to Mahfooz rather than Youssef Bey. But
he certainly knew how to deliver a line..
Wa-Allah Zamman.