Tahseen

عالندا الندا الندا
Al Nedda, Al Nedda, Al Nedda

(Oh Nadda, Oh Nadda, Oh Nadda)

This page contains a translation into English of the lyrics to the popular Lebanese song "Al Nedda", which was made popular by Sabah. Also included is a transliteration of the Arabic lyrics into the Roman alphabet so you can sing along if you like. Al Nadda, Al Nadda, Al Nadda (Oh Nadda, Oh Nadda, Oh Nadda), 1964 Song Title in Arabic: عالندا الندا الندا Album: Released as a single Appeared in the Motion Picture Lubnan Fi Allayl Lyricist: Mansour Rahbani Composer: Assi Rahbani Original Artist: Sabah This song comes from the region known as the Levant, which includes Lebanon, Syria, and surrounding countries. This song is appropriate for use in doing the folk dance known as debke. The melody for this song appears with different lyrics under the name "Ya Abboud" on an old record album used by many U.S. folk dance clubs. 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 Sabah Sabah was a highly successful Lebanese singer and movie star, born in 1927 to a Christian family. Tragically, her father was abusive, and her brother murdered her mother because he believed she was having an affair. Sabah's first marriage was mostly to escape this home life. Sabah recorded her first song in 1940, at age 13. Her first movie, El-Qalb Luh Wahed, was released in 1945 and made her a star. Her career in cinema led her to move to Egypt. Sabah had ten different husbands. One of them, Egyptian actor Rushdie Abaza, married her in 1977 while still married to Samia Gamal! It seems he failed to inform Sabah that he had not yet completed his divorce from Samia, and the marriage only lasted three days. There is a famous quote in which Sabah said, "Whoever hasn't been married to Rushdy Abaza, hasn't been married." (Her words are always repeated with a broad wink.) Over the course of her career, Sabah recorded over 3,000 songs and appeared in 98 movies. She received a special honor at the 1998 Alexandria film festival and retired from cinema in 1981. Sabah is considered one of the three Lebanese icons, along Wadih El Safi and Fairouz, and she was nicknamed "The Empress of Lebanese Song".

Listen to MP3 Clips of this Song

	Sung by Sabah
	Sung by George Abdo
	Sung by the Brothers of the Baladi
	Performed by Salatin el Tarab Orchestra

Lyrics

Note from Shira: Two different 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 multiple translations to use, you can explore different people's ideas on how to convey these nuances.

• Tahseen Alkoudsi
• Adel Abdallah, made available to this web site by Lennie Clark.

Tahseen Alkoudsi's Version

Adel Abdallah's Version

Naada, Naada, your cheeks are like open roses
Getting to her is like reaching high mountains
I saw in her eye - that she wants to talk
But she does not want to talk at the same time
I'll see her coming down from the garden
And I'll just be able to look at her only
I'll be going home alone wandering without her
Naada, Naada
Oh night, oh night
You birds send my regards to her
Whenever you fly under the sun

Where to Get Recordings of this Song

	Listen to Clip	Artist: Sabah CD Title: Sabah Favorites
	Listen to clip	Artist: George Abdo CD Title: The Joy of Belly Dancing
	Listen to clip	Artist: Brothers of the Baladi CD Title: Hope
	Listen to clip	Artist: Salatin al Tarab Orchestra CD Title: Belly Dance 2000
		Artist: Melissa Murphey & Carmine T. Guida CD Title: Simplified Middle Eastern Songs for Learning and Practice, Volume 2

Translations of
George Abdo's Songs on this Site

Other translations of songs performed by George Abdo on this web site include:

About the Translator Adel Abdallah

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 Translator Tahseen Alkoudsi

More than 100 song translations that appear on this web site, including this one, were created by Dr. Tahseen Alkoudsi. Together with his wife Kathe, Tahseen owned an import business in Lawrence, Kansas known as Cartouche.

Dr. Alkoudsi's imports business was his second career. His first career was in the service of the United Nations. Born in Damascus, Syria, he came to the U.S. for his M.A. and Ph.D. in economics, and worked in San Francisco. He joined the United Nations in Yemen, and worked in Saudi Arabia. He then joined the UNESCO Regonal Office for Arab States. He visited most of the Arab States in the course of his work, responsible for introducing computer sciences into educational facilities. For a time, he was stationed in Cairo, Egypt. He retired from that work in 1995.

Sadly, Tahseen died on Sunday, October 15, 2006. See this link for his obituary.

To me, Tahseen was so much more than a contributor to my web site. Even though we lived far apart, I saw Tahseen and Kathe several times over the years. I always appreciated their warmth and generosity. I first "met" Tahseen online back in 1997 on the med-dance list on the Internet, where he periodically posted messages. I knew he was in Lawrence, Kansas, so when a business trip arose requiring me to travel to the Kansas City area, I emailed him to say I'd be in the neighborhood. He and Kathe came to Kansas City for an evening get-together at Tasso's restaurant, and they invited several local dancers to join us. I saw them on follow-up visits to Kansas City. They vended at Rakkasah for several years, and it was always a pleasure to greet them there in the anteroom off to the left of the main stage. I also enjoyed encountering them in Egypt at the Ahlan wa Sahlan festival. Tahseen will be missed by many.

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