سواح
Sawwah

(Vagabond)

This page contains a translation into English of the song lyrics for "Sawah". Also included is a transliteration into the Roman alphabet of the original Arabic lyrics. This song was first popularized by Abdel Halim Hafez. Sawwah (Vagabond), 1966 Lyrics: Mohamed Hamza Composer: Baligh Hamdi Original Artist: Abdel Halim Hafez 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 Abdel Halim Hafez Abdel Halim Hafez was born in 1929 in a village north of Cairo. He was orphaned at a young age. His mother died a few days after giving birth to him, and his father died five years later. After a few years of living in an orphanage, he went to live with his aunt and uncle in Cairo. At age 14, he joined the Arabic Music Institute in Cairo. His big break came in 1953 when he was recruited to do a live radio performance to substitute for another artist who was unable to do it. This performance was heard by Hafez Abdel Wahab, the supervisor of musical programming for Egyptian national radio, and he opened doors for the young artist. Abdel Halim Hafez was known as both a singer and a movie star. His music, in particular, appealed to young women because of its romantic character. At the peak of his popularity in the 1960's, he was famous both as a singer and as a movie star. He was known as the "Dark Nightingale." Lyrics: Mohammed Hamza Music: Baligh Hamdy

Listen to MP3 Clips of this Song

	Sung by Abdel Halim Hafez
	Performed by the Salatin al Tarab Orchestra

Lyrics

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

• Translation by Nicole Ibraham, made available to this web site by Amina Goodyear
• Translation provided by Linda Grondahl, made available to this web site by Lennie Clark

Translation by Nicole Ibrahaim, Provided by Amina Goodyear

Translation Provided by Linda Grondahl

Note from Lennie Clark: A viewer has noted that an alternate translation of the title "Sawah" would be "together". This is translated by Nabil Gheith, who translated songs for me for about three years," writes Linda. "He taught Arabic at the Defense Language School. The spelling is edited by Amina of the Aswan Dancers.

Where to Get Recordings of this Song

	Listen to Clip	Artist: Abdel Halim Hafez CD Title: Anthology 1965 - 1969
	Listen to clip	Artist: Salatin al Tarab Orchestra CD Title: Belly Dance 2000
		Artist: Mary Ellen Donald & Mimi Spencer CD Title: Gems of the Middle East, Volume 3 To contact her: Mary Ellen Books P.O. Box 411562 San Francisco, CA 94141-1562 U.S.A. Telephone: (+1) (510) 654-DRUM or (+1) (510) 654-3786 Web Site: www.maryellendonald.com

Acknowledgements

About the Source of the First Translation

This translation and transliteration appear on my web site with permission from Amina Goodyear, who hired Nicole Ibrahim to do them for her. Many thanks to Amina for agreeing to let me share it with you!!!

Amina is a Middle Eastern dance artist based in San Francisco, California, USA, and the director of the Aswan Dancers. Her band, the Arabian Nights, plays every Friday plus the third Sunday of every month at the Grapeleaf in San Francisco. Her studio features weekly belly dance classes (taught by Amina) and drum classes (taught by her daughter Susu). Amina regularly pays native speakers of Middle Eastern languages to do translations like this one for her to use in her classes.

About the Source of the Second Translation

This is translated by Nabil Gheith, who translated songs for me for about three years," writes Linda Grondahl, the person who made this translation available to this web site. "He taught Arabic at the Defense Language School."

Linda Grondahl's background is that of a devoted lover of Arabic music and dance. She danced with Amina and the Aswan Dancers for many years. She took Arabic percussion with Mary Ellen Donald, Su Su Pampanin, George Dubai, Vince Deldado, and Tony Lammam. She took Arabic singing from Nicole Ibrahim, Mimi Spencer, Georges Lammam. On the oud, she studied under Nazir Latouf, Mimi Spencer, Abdullah Kdough. She was a member of the Aswat Arab-American Choir under the direction of Elias Lammam. She is now a member of the El Ashaab dance troupe, and Tahneen, the all-girl, all-American Middle eastern music ensemble. They have played for Arab and American events, and for many years at the Rakassah festival.

"I just saved whatever I could get my hands on, for years", writes Linda, "and really don't know why. It was always so dificult to get music, so I just kept on saving."

Linda lives in San Francisco, California. Her favorite color is any shade of purple.

About the Source

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.

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