Min Bahary Webinhebouh

He Is From the Coast and I Love Him

Chorus:
Min bahary webinhebouh
He is from the coast (Alexandria) and I love him.
'alqima benestanu
I wait for him at the corner of the street.
* Shabak el gamalat w shabakni
He caught the beauty and he caught me.
W izay neqdar nensuh
And how can I forget him?
Min bahary webinhebouh
He is from the coast (Alexandria) and I love him.

Sallimt 'aleh bil eid
I greeted him by a handshake
walain basset lel 'ain
and our eyes looked into each other's (eyes).
Sudfa wamin gher mawaid
By change, without an appointment
zadu el 'ashlq etneen
the amount of lovers increased by two.
Shaghalitni 'aine min nazretha
The look from his eyes makes me busy
w ya khofi aleh min halawitha
and I'm afraid of the sweetness (of his eyes)
la yiroh mini we yakhdu
that he goes away from me and is taken.
Wailfikr fe hobu yetouh
And then I'll think of his love and get lost.
repeat from *

Lama abiltu we kallimtu
After I met him and I spoke to him
min albi w rohi hawitu
from my heart and soul I came to love him.
Wefi neni el 'ain naimtu
I put him to sleep in my eye
webrimsh el 'ain ghatetu
and I covered him by my eye lashes.
Martidsh anam wala youm teeni
I refuse to sleep another day
la ashouf fi manam ennu gafani
to avoid seeing him leave me in a dream.
Min kutr ma beishaghluh
So many try to catch his attention
we biyitmanu ye ablu
and they wish to meet him.
repeat from *

Aiyam w sinen fi hawa
For days and years I love
w ana be farheti walami
and he is my sadness and happiness.
Yohgorni wa oul ansa
He leaves me and I say "I forget him"
wen shuftu arg'a fi kalami
but when I see him again I take my words back.
Low bo'adu yezit walla yotul
Even if our distance increases
el hob yezit zai el awil
the love grows and becomes what it was in the beginning.
Ya salam 'ala ommu w abou
Oh dear, his mother and father
oluli izay amalu
tell me how he was made.
repeat from *

I'm very grateful for all my friends, who helped me to translate the lyrics of this song. None of my friends is a professional Arabic-English translator: some of them are fluent in Arabic, some in English and a few - my self included - have some skill in both languages. It's often quite challenging to express both the idea and the literal meaning of the lyrics in a few words, as I consider it most useful to dancers that the translation include both these aspects.