Above the Palm Trees/I've Got a Friend Up There??? ?????\??? ???? ??Foug El Nakhel/Foug Ilna Khill

We've translated many an Arabic folk song here on the blog performed by various artists, but the discussion on this song is so massive and the versions so numerous that it deserves its own post. "Fog al-Nakhel (??? ?????)" is one of the most famous Arabic songs. It originated in Iraq and quickly spread throughout the Arabic world with the advent of radio and television. One of the earliest versions was performed by Nazem al-Ghazali, but there are others by Sabah Fakhri, Ilham al-Madfai, Kazem el-Saher and many others. Of course, the verses seem to be infinite.

I've always tried to understand the song, which eventually led me to discussion forums discussing the lyrics and meaning. That's when I discovered the open secret that the lyrics are not actually ??? ?????, or "above the palm trees," but rather ??? ???? ??, ie "I've got a friend above/up there" however you want to translate it. According to a discussion among posters in this forum here, the original composers had intended the song to be ??? ???? ?? (Fog ilna khell). The story behind the song is that there is a poor young man in love with a girl that belongs to a rich family, after seeing her on their big house's balcony and exchanging glances. The song became "Foq al-Nakhel (??? ?????)" because even though it makes the meaning quite strange, the audiences liked it better, according Sabah Fakhri and others. This explains the lyrics:

I've got a friend above
I don't know if that's the shine of your cheek or a shine above (ie the moon)
I swear I don't even want her
It's ruining me/It's causing me a problem

??? ???? ?? ??? ???? ??? ???? ?? ???
???? ???? ??? ???? ???? ???? ???
???? ?? ???? ?????? ????

That is pretty much the standard chorus and after that the versions diverge greatly. I'll try to add as many versions as I can here, hopefully with the help of the readers, since lyrics are surprisingly scarce.

First and foremost is the Nazem al-Ghazali (???? ???????) version:

???? ??????? - ??? ????? (??? ???? ??)

I have no hope for my soul, you're still my beloved
Everyone gets to be with you and my destiny is to be abandoned by you
I swear she's torturing me and she has no interest in me

???? ??? ?????? ??? ???? ????? ???? ?????
???? ??? ????? ??? ???? ?????
????? ?????? ??????? ?????

Here's the version by Sabah Fakhri (???? ????), the legendary Syrian singer hailing from Aleppo. I haven't included the lyrics for "albulbul nagha", which he usually performs alongside "foug al nakhel".



It contains this additional verse:

Oh river, go say hi to them for me
The separation is hard for me
I miss them

????? ?? ???? ????? ???? ??? ?????
????? ?????? ??? ???? ?????? ?????

Here is the Kazem el-Saher version I found on youtube.com. I'd like to point out that Kazem days no say "yaba" rather he uses "3ayni" which means about the same thing: nothing.



Here is an Ilham al-Madfai (????? ???????) version. Note the excessive palm trees in the video.



Here's some new verses, I'll do my best:

Your cheek shined, my love, and lit up the country
I can't make my soul patient or bear this separation
I swear she's torturing me with her beautiful eyes

All the faces pass, and my eyes are only on yours
May the lord give you my love
I swear she's torturing me and she has no interest

??? ??? ?????? ????? ??? ??????
???? ???? ????? ?????? ??????
????? ?????? ?????? ??????

?? ?????? ???? ???? ???? ??? ????
??? ????? ?????? ??? ?????
????? ?????? ??? ???? ????

There's more versions available, but I don't really have lyrics for them.

Here is a stupid version by Dania (?????)



Here is George Wassouf (???? ????)



Here is Palestinian band Zaman (????) with a flamenco version