In memory of Ahmed Adaweyya: translating Salametha Om Hassan
I did a workshop last August about two Ahmed Adaweyya songs that are very often used by dancers, Salametha Om Hassan and Bint El Sultan. This has been sitting in my drafts since October, and sadly, Ahmed Adaweyya has since passed away at the end of December. But finally, I present you with this translation and notes, in his memory.
A young Ahmed Adaweyya
To talk about Ahmed Adaweyya and any of his songs, it is impossible not to talk about Egyptian society and culture in that time period, social classes and perceptions of class in Egyptian society , the role of the affordable, portable cassette in disseminating popular culture, the role of cultural “gatekeepers” such as state television and radio, and especially popular folk culture and traditions in order to understand what a zar is, and what hasad is, among other things. It is especially necessary if you want to try and translate one of his songs.
I could probably have presented that workshop without a lot of preparation, since those concepts and the context of the song and Adaweyya’s rise to popularity were not new to me- in fact me and my music/language obsessed friend Amina had many discussions about this and related subjects over the years and we had even done workshops that touched on these subjects when I lived in San Francisco.
But, me being the perfectionistic, chronic over-preparer that I am, I reviewed every single concept that I wanted to touch on and looked anew for resources to share.
I also sat down to do my own translation of both songs, despite being told by a few Egyptian friends something along the lines of “you can’t translate Adaweyya! His songs don’t make sense/are nonsense/have no meaning!” Well, I don’t buy that, except for maybe the case of El Sah El Dah Embo…but still, I would even try that one. You can translate his songs, but they require giving some extra context and explanation, which I have done here in the footnotes.
During research for this workshop, I also stumbled across a blog dedicated to Adaweyya by American music writer Gary Sullivan that has a lot of fun writing to explore:
https://ahmedadaweya.blogspot.com/
And a recent article about the genesis of his love for Adaweyya:
https://scenenoise.com/Features/My-Obsession-with-Egypt-s-Greatest-Voice-Ahmed-Adaweya
Under my translation there are links to learn more about Ahmed Adaweyya, shaabi music, and the cassette culture and music industry in Egypt.
Salamet-ha Om Hassan, composed by Farouq Salama, originally sung by Ahmed Adaweyya
Salamet-ha Om Hassan min el ‘ain wa min el hasad*
Let’s hope Om Hassan gets better, from the evil eye and envy
سلامتها ام حسن من العين ومن الحسد
Wa salamtak ya Hassan min el rimsh illy hasad
And you Hassan, I hope you recover from the eye who envies you
وسلامتك ياحسن من الرمش اللي حسد
Salamet-ha, salamet-ha om hassan
Get well soon to Om Hassan
سلامتها ام حسن
Galha eldor illy mashi wa el dor ma layemhashi
She caught what was going around [like an illness or epidemic] and she can’t get over it
جالها الدور اللي ماشي والدور ما لايمهاشي
Wa el ‘ain ma tesibhashi, mahsouda om hassan
And the evil eye doesn’t leave her alone,
Someone put the evil eye on her…
والعين ما تسيبهاشي محسوده ام حسن
Salamet-ha Om Hassan min el ‘ain wa min el hasad
Let’s hope Om Hassan gets better, from the evil eye and envy
سلامتها ام حسن من العين ومن الحسد
Wa salamtak ya Hassan min el rimsh illy hasad
And you Hassan, I hope you recover from the eye who envies you
وسلامتك ياحسن من الرمش اللي حسد
Salamet-ha, salamet-ha om hassan
سلامتها ام حسن
Malboukha leih, malboukha min el fikr galha dokha
Her mind is in a mess, her dark thoughts are making her dizzy
ملبوخه ليه ملبوخه من الفكر جالها دوخه
Hara’et shabba wa fasoukha
She tried to undo the spell (by burning different ingredients)**
حرقت شبة و فاسوخة
Salamet-ha Om Hassan min el ‘ain wa min el hasad
Let’s hope Om Hassan gets better, from the evil eye and envy
سلامتها ام حسن من العين ومن الحسد
Wa salamtak ya Hassan min el rimsh illy hasad
And you Hassan, I hope you recover from the eye who envies you
وسلامتك ياحسن من الرمش اللي حسد
Salamet-ha, salamet-ha om hassan
سلامتها ام حسن
‘Amelouha el zar letash-ha, wa ka’annou ‘ayyar dawwasha
They did a zar for her, the sound [of the drumming] was so deafening it was like gunshots
عملولها الزار لطشها وكانو عيار دوشه
Ya reit kan had hash-ha, ma’azoura om hassan
I wish that someone had held her back [from going], but she was desperate [so we excuse her]
ياريت كان حد حاشها معذوره ام حسن
Salamet-ha Om Hassan min el ‘ain wa min el hasad
Let’s hope Om Hassan gets better, from the evil eye and envy
سلامتها ام حسن من العين ومن الحسد
Wa salamtak ya Hassan min el rimsh illy hasad
And you Hassan, I hope you recover from the eye who envies you
وسلامتك ياحسن من الرمش اللي حسد
Salamet-ha, salamet-ha om hassan
سلامتها ام حسن
Gara ‘eih ya om hassan, laymiha wa ikhgali
Come on, om hassan, pull yourself together and show some restraint
جرى ايه يام حسن لايميها واخجلي
La bokhour wala el zar byenfa’, ma tefo’i wa te’ly
Neither the zar nor the incense worked, so wake up
لا بخور ولا زار بينفع ماتفوقى و تعقلى
Salamet-ha Om Hassan min el ‘ain wa min el hasad
Let’s hope Om Hassan gets better, from the evil eye and envy
سلامتها ام حسن من العين ومن الحسد
Wa salamtak ya Hassan min el rimsh illy hasad
And you Hassan, I hope you recover from the eye who envies you
وسلامتك ياحسن من الرمش اللي حسد
Salamet-ha, salamet-ha om hassan
سلامتها ام حسن
*I wrote a short explanation of “hasad” in my translation of ‘Ayoun Baheyya, which is here: https://www.hattayabatta.com/blog/the-importance-of-names-and-a-translation
** If you have been investigating Egyptian dance or popular culture for any length of time, you would have heard of the zar- but it is really beyond the scope of these notes to go into detail about it so here is a link to what seems to be a pretty well-considered piece of writing about it: https://jujusounds.com/2019/02/13/zar-cairo/?lang=en
*** It was not easy to discover the actual, literal meaning of “shabba wa fasoukha” but thanks to my friend and fellow word-person Ayman Helmy, whose skill in both Arabic and English is formidable and who sought out the English equivalents for me- I now bring their definitions to you: “shabba” is alum powder, and “fasoukha” means talisman or amulet. So “hara’et shabba was fasoukha” means that the burned these ingredients after going to a sheikh who would have prescribed doing this as a way of breaking the spell.
More about Ahmed Adaweyya, shaabi music, the cassette culture and music industry:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Adaweyah
https://www.aswandancers.org/shaabi-history
https://www.gildedserpent.com/cms/2009/05/17/aminaadaweyashaabi/
https://pan-african-music.com/en/egypt-cassette-culture/
https://www.popmatters.com/media-masses-andrew-simon-2022-excerpt
https://www.madamasr.com/en/2017/05/28/feature/culture/on-the-economic-history-of-making-music-in-egypt-and-yousra-el-hawarys-crowdfunding-campaign/
About the 6-day war in 1967:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-39960461