Posted in Duplicate Song Names

Nebtidi Mnain el Hikaya

Nebtidi Mnain el Hikaya

 

“Where would our story begin?”

This article is part of my series on common belly dance songs that appear under different titles.

To find more, or to suggest another many-named song, visit What’s In a Name?
 
 

Summary

“Nebtidi Mnain el Hikaya” is an Arabic classic about love conquering all.

The main section is a sweeping, lyrical motif (often but not always used for veil work), but it also has up-tempo sections.

Like many Arabic classics, the full version is quite long. Most recordings for dancers use just the first two or three sections.

It has also been recorded with Greek lyrics under the title “Ta Mavra Matia Sou”.
 

Various Names

 

“Nebtidi Mnain el Hikaya” (Arabic)

“Where would our story begin?”

(Lyrics in English and transliterated Arabic)

Because it has been transliterated from Arabic script to latin letters, it has many spellings:

  • Nabtidi Mini El Hikaya
  • Nibtidi Mneen al-Hikaya
  • Nabtadi Minen il Hikaya
  • Nipteddy Minen al Hekaya
  • Nebtidi M’neim el Hikaya

 

This song was first recorded by Abdel Halim Hafez. It’s romantic lyrics talk about how their love has stood the test of time, despite other people’s jealousy and gossip trying to tear them apart.

The version on the Belly Dance Superstars album credits Mohammed Abdul Wahab as the composer, but I couldn’t find any other confirmation of that. (And it’s not among the pieces listed in the most comprehensive list I can find.)
 

“Ta Mavra Matia Sou” (Greek)

“Your Black Eyes”

(Lyrics in English and transliterated Greek)

The Greek version of this song was made popular by Manolis Aggelopoulos. It has also been recorded by George Abdo, and many others.

It is NOT a translation of the Arabic version; it has completely different lyrics and meaning. In this version, the singer is telling a woman that her black eyes remind him of the lost love who hurt him badly.

 

Recordings

Important: many of the links below are affiliate links. That means that if you use them to buy, I’ll receive a small commission (usually a few cents). If you’re not comfortable with that, you can just search for the song title. That’s 100% okay by me.
 

 

Your Turn

Have you danced to this song before?

Do you use the Arabic or Greek version (or both)?

What’s your favorite recording of this song?
(Share a link if you have it, or the artist and/or album name.)

Do you know where I can find documentation on whether Mohammad Abdul Wahab composed this?
(Besides the BDSS album attribution.)

Do you know of any other names that this song goes by?

Do you know of any other songs with duplicate names that I should write about?
 

Share your thoughts in the comments.

 
 

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