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

This page contains a translation into English of the lyrics to the classic song "Gamil, Gamal", which was sung by Farid al-Atrache. Also included is a transliteration of the Arabic lyrics into the Roman alphabet so you can sing along if you like.

Farid al-Atrache was a multi-talented entertainer of the 20th century. He was a virtuoso at playing the oud, a movie star, a singer, and a composer of music.

Al-Atrache was born in 1915 to parents Prince Fahad Al Atrache and Princess Alia of the Druze people. When he was 8 years old in 1923, his mother brought the family to Egypt to escape the violence of Lebanon, where people were fighting to end the French colonial occupation.

In Egypt, young Atrache became a naturalized Egyptian citizen. As a promising young musician, he was accepted into the conservatory. He became apprenticed to legendary composer Riad al-Sombati, who was known for creating several of Oum Kalthoum's hit songs. As he matured, he became a popular performer as a singer and oud player in Cairo's thriving nightclub scene, working first for Mary Mansour, and later for Badia Masabni. He was discovered by Medhat ‘Aassem who heard him sing in Badia Masabni's club, and recruited him to begin his radio career. Farid went on to enjoy a thriving career in Egyptian cinema, appearing as a leading man in over 30 movies, and composing music for more than 40.

ABOUT THE PHOTO: The photographer who took this photo was Van Leo (Levon Boyadjian), an Armenian-Egyptian known as the photographer to the stars because of his beautiful photos of the celebrities of his day.

Arabic Lyrics

English Translation

Artist: Farid al-Atrache
CD Title: Legendary Songs of Passion and Musical Extacy of the Arabian Nights

Artist: Hossam Ramzy
CD Title: Hossam Ramzy: The Best of Farid al Atrash

Artist: George Abdo
CD Title: The Art of Belly Dancing

Artist: Bashir Abdel Al
CD Title: Bellydance from Egypt: Gamil Gamal

• Al Rabea (also known as "Sketch al Rabie" and "Adi El Rabi3 3ad Min Tani"
• Gamil, Gamal
• Habena
• Hizzy Ya Nawaem

• Me Alli We-Oltelu (also known as "Ya Awazel Falfilu")
• Noura Noura
• Ya Ritni Tir

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.