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PHOTO CREDIT: Above photo by John Rickman Photography, San Jose, California. |
Habibi Ya Nour el Ain
(My Darling, You are
the Glow in My Eyes)
This page contains a translation into English of the song lyrics for "Habibi Ya Nour El Ain". This immensely popular Arabic song was released by vocalist Amr Diab in 1996.
Amr Diab was born in Port Said, Egypt on October 11, 1961. Although his father worked for the Suez Canal Corporation, he possessed a fine singing voice of his own and encouraged young Amr to sing. The boy's talent showed itself at an early age. One evening when he was only 6 years old, Amr accompanied his father to a festival in Port Said. When they visited a local radio station, Amr was invited to sing the national anthem, "Baladi, Baladi". The governor of Port Said praised him and gave him a guitar as a prize. Diab's musical talents extend beyond his singing - he also knows how to play oud and piano. Amr Diab graduated from the music program at the Cairo Academy of Art in 1986. |
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His first album, Ya Tareeq, was released shortly afterward and proved to be an instant success. However, the spectacular hit song that brought him to worldwide fame was his release in 1996 of this song, "Habibi, Ya Nour el Ain." It garnered the title of Arabic Song of the Year, and with its Spanish fusion sound it defined a new genre of music known as "Mediterranean music." Diab was one of the early artists to record music which later became known as al jeel, or "generation" music - the genre of pop music created for the under-25 generation of young Egyptians in the 1980's and 1990's. According to Let's Go Egypt, Diab is the best-selling Arab recording artist of all time. He has received the World Music Award in the category of "Best-Selling Arab Artist" three times - in 1998, 2002, and 2007. In 2003, Amr Diab won two major awards in a poll done by Nile Variety TV. One was "Best Music Video" for the song, "Ana "A'ayesh," and the other was Best Singer. Amr Diab has a daughter from his marriage to Sherine Reda (Mahmoud Reda's daughter), and three children from his later marriage to Zinah Ashour. |
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Lyrics: Ahmed Shatta
Music: Nasser Al Mezdawy
Listen to MP3 Clips of this Song
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Sung by Amr Diab |
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Sung by Brothers of the Baladi |
Lyrics
Arabic Lyrics |
English Lyrics |
| Habibi ya nour el-ain | My darling, you are the glow in my eyes |
| Ya sakin khayali | You live in my imagination. |
| A’ashek bakali sneen wala ghayrak bibali | I adored you for years. No one else is in my mind |
| Habibi, Habibi, Habibi ya nour el-ain, aah | My darling , my darling, my darling glow in my eyes, aah |
| Habibi, Habibi, Habibi ya nour el-ain | My darling, my darling, my darling glow in my eyes |
| Ya sakin khayali | You live in my imagination |
| Agmal a’ouyoun filkone ana shouftaha ... | The most beautiful eyes I ever saw in this universe. |
| Allah a’alake allah a’la sihraha | God be with you ... what magic eyes. |
| A’oyonak maa’aya ... | Your eyes are with me ... |
| A’oyonak kifaya ... | Your eyes are enough ... |
| Tinawar layali | They light the nights. |
| Habibi, Habibi, Habibi ya nour el-ain, aah | My darling, my darling, my darling glow in my eye, aah |
| Habibi, Habibi, Habibi ya nour el-ain | My darling, my darling, my darling glow in my eye |
| Ya sakin khayali | You live in my imagination |
| Qalbak nadani wkal bithibini | Your heart called me and told me you love me |
| Allah a’alake allah | God be with you |
| Tamentini | You reassured me. |
| Maa’ak elbidaya ... | You have the beginning ... |
| W-koul el-hikaya ... | And the entire story ... |
| Maa’ak l-il-nihaya | I will be with you to the end of the story. |
| Habibi, Habibi, Habibi ya nour el-ain, Aah | My darling, my darling, my darling glow in my eye, aah |
| Habibi, Habibi, Habibi ya nour el-ain, aah | My darling, my darling, my darling glow in my eye, aah |
| Aah ... Habibi ... Habibi ... aah | ah ... my darling ... my darling ... aah |
Where to Get Recordings of this Song
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Artist: Amr Diab Amazon Store: |
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Artist: Amr Diab Amazon Store: |
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Artist: Brothers of the Baladi Amazon Store: |
Translations of
Amr Diab's Songs on This Site
About the Translator
More than 80 song translations that appear on this web site, including this one, were created by Tahseen Alkoudsi. Together with his wife Kathe, Tahseen owned an import business in Lawrence, Kansas known as Cartouche.
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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