Huwwa Sahih el-Hawa Ghallab
(Is It True That Love Is Irresistible?)

This page contains an English-language translation to "Huwwa Sahih el-Hawa Ghallab", a song made popular by the beloved Egyptian vocalist, Oum Kalthoum. The song title is sometimes spelled as "Howa Saheeh al Hawa Ghallab".

Lyrics: Beram Et-Tunsi
Music: Zakareyya Ahmad

It is typical for multiple recordings of Oum Kalthoum songs to exist, each different from the others. This is because recordings were made and sold of her various radio concerts. Some versions of a song she recorded may be only 15 minutes, while others are as much as an hour in length. For this reason, a translation may show a different number of repetitions than those used in a particular recording.

Oum Kalthoum was born in 1904 and died in 1975. She was unquestionably the most gifted singer and musician of the 20th century in the Middle East. She was continuously popular for over 50 years and her songs are still played nightly on any number of Arabic-language radio stations. Oum Kalthoum is one of four vocalists who have achieved legendary status in Egyptian music. The other three are Farid al-Atrache, Mohammed Abdel Wahab, and Abdel Halim Hafez.

Her name is transliterated many different ways in the Roman alphabet, including Um Kulthum, Om Kalsoum, Umm Kulthoum, Om Kalthoum, Umm Kalsum, Oum Kalthum, Oum Kolthoum, Oum Kaltsoum, and others.

Listen to MP3 Clips of this Song

Lyrics

Is it true that love is conquering?
I do not know.
Foresaking they said is bitter and brings suffering
The day is like a year
Love has come to me without a date!
More and more, its sweetness increases
I never thought for even one day it would take me so far
He says he is bestowing favors to my heart
Yet I return and my heart is full of wounds
I wonder how?
But this is what happened
And I do not know.

Translations of
Oum Kalthoum's Songs on This Site

About the Translator

This translation was done by Dr. George Sawa for Yasmina Ramzy of Arabesque Academy of Toronto, Canada. I'd like to thank Yasmina for permission to share these song lyrics with you via my web site.

Dr. George Sawa was born in Alexandria, Egypt in 1947, where he completed his undergraduate studies in Western music and Classical Arabic music. In 1970, after immigrating to Canada, he completed graduate work at the University of Toronto, obtaining an MA in musicology and ethnomusicology at the Faculty of Music, and a PhD in Arabic historical musicology at the department of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies. Since 1972, when he founded the Traditional Arabic Music Ensemble with Ebrahim Eleish, he has directed and performed with the ensemble all over North America, in both concert venues and in lecture demonstrations at universities and colleges. As a soloist, Dr. Sawa has also performed in Europe, in concerts and radio broadcasts. As well, he is frequently invited to international conferences for presentations and lectures on various aspects of medieval and modern Arabic music. At present he is directing the Centre For Studies in Middle Eastern Music.

Yasmina Ramzy has been performing, teaching, and choreographing Middle Eastern dance since 1981. She has toured extensively throughout Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Greece, England, Mexico, the United States, and Canada as a soloist and with her company, sometimes performing for royalty and heads of state in many of these countries. She is the Artistic Director of Arabesque Academy, School of Culture-Specific Dance and the Arabesque Dance Company. Although Yasmina has dedicated her life to Middle Eastern dance, she also produces Gypsy and Dancenet which are culture-specific dance and music events with an educational slant. She is also a member of Canadian Alliance of Dance Artists and serves on the board of directors for Dance Ontario.