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PHOTO CREDIT: Above photo by John Rickman Photography, San Jose, California. |
Gana el Hawa
(Love Has Come Our Way)
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This page contains a translation into English of the lyrics to the popular Egyptian song "Gana el Hawa", which was sung by Abdel Halim Hafez. The song became a hit in 1969, when it appeared in the Egyptian movie Abi Foq al-Shagara (My Father Is Up a Tree.) This was Abdel Halim Hafez's final movie. The movie was immensely popular, lingering on theater screens for 36 weeks, making it second in popularity only to the 1972 movie Khally Balak Men Zouzou (Pay Heed to Zouzou. |
| The plot of the movie centers around a wholesome young man named Adel (Abdel Halim Hafez) who is lured by a nightclub dancer named Ferdous (Nadia Lotfi) into a dark world of gambling, alcohol, smoking, and sex. As they have their affair, he falls in love with her, leaving his former friends feeling disgusted with him. When one of his friends comes to the nightclub to confront him, he defiantly professes his love for her. Immediately after this scene, Adel sings "Gana el Hawa" as he and Ferdous enjoy a trip to Beirut together and cavort in the waves. |  |
Abdel Halim Hafez is considered one of the four legendary singers of Egypt. The others are Mohammed Abdel Wahab, Oum Kalthoum, and Farid al-Atrache.
Lyrics: Mohammed Hamza
Music: Baligh Hamdi
Listen to MP3 Clips of this Song
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Sung by Abdel Halim Hafez |
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Instrumental version by Cairo Orchestra |
See Video of Abdel Halim Hafez
Singing This Song
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3 1/2 minutes of the movie scene from Abi Foq al-Shagara |
Lyrics
Love has come our way
Love's thrown a net our way
That dark eyelash, there
Caught us in love's snare
Love caught us, and we got sleepy
The one who caught us can set us free
My love is on my mind
Oh boy… on my mind
You cast me in your eyes' sea
Tell me where you're leading me
To a new wound, or sighing, or to joy are we heading?
Why do I ask in perplexity?
One day soon, I'll see
Let's keep going our way
Love caught us and we got sleepy
The one who caught us can set us free
My love is on my mind
Oh boy… on my mind
Cross with us, yearning
Land us on the shore of longing
My life's with her, we're in love.
My life's with her, with her
We're in love
Breeze, our footsteps decorate
Stars, us do embrace
Take us far away on our own
Cast us away…
Oh love
Oh love cast us away
Please, passion, don't hurt us, one day
Bring us closer, don't separate
With our loved ones, our souls, elate
If yearning has us in its control
Give comfort to our soul
Let's keep going our way
Love caught us and we got sleepy
The one who caught us can set us free
My love is on my mind
Oh boy… on my mind
Where to Get Recordings of this Song
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Artist: Abdel Halim Hafez Amazon Store: |
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Artist: Abdel Halim Hafez Amazon Store: |
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Artist: Upper Egypt Ensemble Amazon Store: |
Translations of
Abdel Halim Hafez's Songs On This Site
About the Translation Source
| This translation comes from the English subtitles of the DVD edition of Abi Foq al-Shagara, which is sold under the title My Father Is On a Tree. |  |