Lesson 4: هتمناله الخير

New Vocabulary

al-xeer (الخير) - goodness, good, wellness
al-farHa (الفرحة) - joy, happiness
ya3ni (يعني) - it means, I mean, you know, like (filler)
eh ya3ni? (ايه يعني؟) - so what?
3ashaan (عشان) - because, because of, in order to, for the sake of
3alashaan (علشان) - variant of
yaama (ياما) - so often!, so much!
maa been (ما بين) - between, in between
hawa (هوا) - love

itmanna (اتمنّى) - to wish, to hope for
faat (فات) - to pass
iftikir (افتكر) - to remember, to think
it'aabil (اتقابل) - to meet, to run into each other, to make acquaintance

In the last lesson using the song "lissah baHibbak (لسه بحبك)" by Tamer Hosni, we learned, among many things, to say that one is holding a grudge "shaayil min (شايل من)" someone. In this lesson featuring the song "hatmanna lu al-xeer (هتمنّاله الخير)" by Angham, you will certainly find a different sentiment." You guys are really accumulating some knowledge now, so I will be providing less and less explanation, allowing you to do your own reflection on and comprehension of the lyrics.

The title, "hatmanna lu al-xeer (هتمناله الخير)" can be translated as "I will wish him well," using the verb "itmanna (اتمنى)." "al-xeer (الخير)" is "goodness" or "good" or "wellness."

Listen to the song and follow along with the lyrics:

هاتمناله الخير .. إيه يعنى يفوتنى و ينسانى
مهو ياما إتحمل علشانى .. مهو ياما كان قلبه عليا

هاتمناله الخير .. مهو قبل ما يجرحنى داوانى
كان عمرى و كان هو زمانى .. كان قلبى و روحى و عنيا

هفتكرله حجات كتير كانت ما بينا
هافتكر .. أيام هوانا .. والخطاوى اللى فى طريقنا
لما كنا .. بنقسم الفرحه فى عيونا
هافتكرله حجات كتير .. حتمناله الخير

هاتمناله الخير من قلبى .. علشان يستاهل
دنا هتمنى تلف الدنيا تانى .. تانى و نتقابل

Get anything? Alright, let's get right to it:

هاتمناله الخير .. إيه يعنى يفوتنى و ينسانى

The phrase "eh ya3ni (ايه يعني)" is incredibly useful. "ya3ni (يعني)" is a common Arabic filler word that means literally "it means." The phrase "eh ya3ni (ايه يعني)" means "so what?" in English. "yafuutni (يفوتني)" uses the verb "faat (فات)," "to pass," but in this case to pass by or leave. So the whole sentence is "I will wish him well, so what if he's leaving me and forgetting me?"

ماهو ياما إتحمل علشانى

"maahu (ماهو)" is a tough but important aspect of Egyptian Arabic. "ma (ما)" is often used to add emphasis in various ways. For "maahu (ماهو)," it's something along the lines of "the fact is," or "but he's!" or something along those lines. It does not change the meaning of the sentence much, but adds a certain feeling in the way that our tone often adds feeling in Egnlish. "yaama (ياما)" also is used for adding emphasis. It is usually used with verbs and means like "oh how much!," "oh how often!," or "oh how great!" the verb "ittHammal (اتحمّل)" means "to bear" or "to endure." "3alashaan ()" is an essential Egyptian Arabic word that means "because," "in order to" or "for" in some contexts. "3alashaani (علشاني)" of course means "because of me" or "for me." How do we translate the sentence? Something like "but you know he's endured so much for my sake!"

Next line:

ماهو ياما كان قلبه عليا

Try to get the meaning from this best you can.

And the next one:

هاتمناله الخير .. ماهو قبل ما يجرحنى داوانى

You might be starting to understand. "'abl ma (قبل ما)" means before and is used before a verb. the verb "daawa (داوى)" means "to cure." So "before hurting me, he healed me." Get it? He made her life better before he made it worse, so why would she wish ill upon him?

Next line doesn't have much:

كان عمرى و كان هو زمانى .. كان قلبى و روحى و عينيا

"kaan (كان)" we know means "he was." These are pretty much just terms of endearments used to expressed how important someone is to you. Most of them should be known

And what's next?:

هفتكرله حجات كتير كانت ما بينا

The verb "iftikir (افتكر)" means "to remember" or "to think." "lu (له)" of course means for him, just like in Standard Arabic. "ma been (ما بين)" means "between or "in between" like the word "been (بين)." Put it together: "I'll remember for him there were many things between us."

Next line:

هافتكر .. أيام هوانا .. والخطاوى اللى فى طريقنا

"hawa (هوانا)" is another word for love. "xaTaawi (خطاوي)" is the plural of the word "xatwa (خطوة)," meaning "footstep." So she will remember "the days of our love and the steps in our path." See how "illi (اللي)" is being used here?

Some new vocab in the next line:

لما كنا بنقسم الفرحه فى عيونا

Remember "lamma (لما)" which means "when" in a non-interrogative sense. "inqasam (انقسم)" means "to share" and "al-farHa (الفرحة)" is a word for "joy" or "happiness." Sooo, "when we were sharing joy in our eyes."

Nothing new here:

هافتكرله حجات كتير .. هتمناله الخير

Understand?

Let's keep going:

هاتمناله الخير من قلبى

Remember what "'albi (قلبي)" means?" If not, click to the dictionary in the right hand column.

And why does she?:

علشان يستاهل

Here's the word "3alashaan (علشان)" again. So it means, "because he deserves it."

Following that:

دنا هتمنى تلف الدنيا تانى

"dana (دنا)" is tricky. For now just know it means the same thing as "ana (انا)." This time "hatmanna (هتمنى)" must be translated as "I would hope" rather than "I will" because it is hypothetical as we will see. There is no real word to distinguish "will from "would" in all cases so just use judgment. "laff (لفّ)" means "to turn" or "to turn around." However "al-dunya bitliff (الدنيا بتلفّ)" is a proverbial sentence "things are always changing" and "it's a small world." So what she means here is that she hopes things will change or come around again (تاني).

So what will happen when that happens?:

ونتقابل

The verb "it'aabil (اتقابل)" means "to meet together" or "to run into one another" or "to make each other's acquaintance." Point is, she would give it all a second try.

By now we are finding less and less familiar words. Go back and listen again to see if you can really hear all the words she's saying and feel what she means when she says "maahu"

ما فهمت كل حاجة؟ ايه يعني!؟ معلهش

You will continue to improve. Remember the important new words "ya3ni (يعني)" and "3ashaan (عشان)" and "iftikir (افتكر)."

The next lesson continues on the theme of wishes. Lesson 5: Moustafa Amar - Munaaya