I Lie to You (اكدب عليك – Akdeb Aleik) is an Arabic classic song by the renowned Algerian singer Warda from the album “Warda,” released in the 1970s. This soulful, romantic track lasts about 6 minutes. The song was written by Nizar Qabbani and composed by Baligh Hamdi.
اكدب عليك اكدب عليك اكدب عليك اكدب عليك
I lie to you, I lie to you, I lie to you, I lie to you.
Akdeb aleik, akdeb aleik, akdeb aleik, akdeb aleik
اكدب عليك لو قلت بحبك لسه اكدب عليك
I lie to you; even if I say I love you, I still lie to you.
Akdeb aleik law olt bihabbak lissa akdeb aleik
واكدب عليك لو قلت نسيتك همسه اكدب عليك
And I lie to you; even if I say I forgot you, I still lie to you.
Wa akdeb aleik law olt nseitak hamsa akdeb aleik
امال انا ايه قلي انت انا ايه
So what am I? Tell me, what am I?
Amal ana eih, olly enta ana eih
اختارلي بر وانا ارسي عليه
Choose me a shore and I will anchor upon it.
Ekhtarli barr wana arsi alaih
انت حبيبي يعني لسه حبيبي
You are my beloved; that is, you are still my beloved.
Enta habibi ya’ni lissa habibi
ولا حبيبي عشان كنت حبيبي
And you’re my beloved—not just because you used to be my beloved.
Wala habibi ashan kont habibi
قول يا حبيبي قول
Say it, my beloved, say it.
Oul ya habibi, oul
يا حبيبي
Oh, my beloved.
Ya habibi
عارف كان اجمل شيء في حياتي
You know, the most beautiful thing in my life was…
Aref kan agmal shay fi hayati
ايه يا حياتي
Oh, my life.
Eh ya hayati
كان اجمل شيء ان انت كل حياتي
The most beautiful thing was that you were my whole life.
Kan agmal shay in enta kol hayati
توعدني واطير قبل المواعيد
You promise me, and I fly before the appointments.
Twaedni wa atir qabl al-mawaeid
للفرحه اعيد قبل العيد
For joy, I celebrate again before the holiday.
Lil-farha a’eed qabl al-eid
والقاك يا حبييبي سابقني هناك
And to meet you, my beloved, I’ll be the first to arrive there.
Wal’aak ya habibi, sabaqni hunak
والحب ف ايد والدنيا ف ايدوالشمع يشوفني معاك يا حيبي
Love is in hand and the world is in hand, and the candle sees me with you, my beloved.
Wal-hob fi eed wal-dunya fi eed wal-sham’ yshoofni ma’ak ya hayibi
من غير ما نقيده لوحده يقيد
Without us binding it, it binds itself.
Min gheir ma noqayyiduh, liwahdu yuqayyid
كان شيء جوانا علينا جديد
There was something new within us.
Kan shay jowana alayna gadeed
دالوقت خلاص ما اصبحش جديد
Time has made it no longer new.
Delwa’t khalas ma asbahsh gadeed
حبيبي صحيح بنتواعد ونتقابل ونتكلم لئا بطولو
My beloved, indeed we plan to meet, we meet, and we talk, though not for long.
Habibi saheeh, bentawe’id wentaqabel wentikallim la btoolo
كلام يمكن مالوش معنى ما هوش من القلب
Words that might have no meaning; they are not from the heart.
Kalam yemkin malush ma’na, ma howsh min al-qalb
لكن برضه بنقوله
But still, we say it.
Lakin bardo ben’ooluh
ونرجع تاني نتقابل ونتكلم ولا عارفين بنفرح
And we meet again, talk again, without even knowing if we rejoice.
Wenarja’ tani netaqabel wentikallim wala ‘arfeen benfarah
او بنتالم
Or we suffer.
Aw bentalam
وفوق خد الليالي دموع بتسال ايه جرى لينا
And atop the nights, tears ask what has happened to us.
Wafouq khod el-layali, dumu’ bitsaal eih jara leena
شموعنا ما عادتش شموع ونيجي فايدها تطفينا
Our candles are no longer candles, and their light extinguishes us.
Shumu’na ma ‘aaditish shumu’, wanaigi faidha titfina
وده كله ومالناش الا بعضينا
And all of that, we have nothing but each other.
W da kullu w malnash illa ba’deena
دي جنه بنار بتجمعنا ليالينا
This is a paradise of fire that gathers our nights.
Di genna benar betegma’na layalina
عيني عيني يا عين قول لحبيبي يا عين
My eyes, my eyes, oh eye, tell my beloved, oh eye.
Einy einy ya ‘ein, oul li habibi ya ‘ein
لهفتنا راحت فين جنتنا راحت فين
Where did our yearning go? Where did our paradise go?
Lehftna rahet fein, jannatna rahet fein
كل الحجات الحلوه نجيبها تاني منين
Where can we retrieve all the beautiful things again?
Kol el-hagat el-helwa negeebha tani menein
حتى السلام بالايد باه شيء علينا جديد
Even the peace offered by hand is something new for us.
Hatta el-salam bel-eed baah shay ‘alayna gadeed
غير اللي كان غير اللي كان بسلم القلب قبل الايد
Different from what it used to be; the heart is surrendered before the hand.
Ghair elli kan, ghair elli kan, basallem el qalb abl el-eed
الحب بريء واحنا ظلمنا
Love is innocent, and we have been unjust.
El-hob baree’ we e7na zalamna
دوبنا شبابه قبل صباه
We melted its youth before its prime.
Dobbna shababo abl sabaho
يدينا الحب نصيب سنتين
Our love, in our hands, is allotted two years.
Yedina el-hob naseeb santain
نشربه في دقيقه مش في تنين
We drink it in a minute, not in two.
Nashrabuh fi daqiqa, mish fi tenin
وانقال يرتاح مثلنا ساعتين
And it is said that someone like us rests for two hours.
Wa in’it qal yertaah mithlina sa’atein
نحلف يمينين ولا غمضه عين
We swear by oaths, without even a blink of an eye.
Nahlif yemeenin wala ghamdat ‘ein
شوف كنا بايه وصبحنا بايه
Look, what were we and what have we become?
Shoof kunna bayah, wesbahna bayah
واختارلي بر وانا ارسي عليه
Choose me a shore and I will anchor upon it.
W ekhtarli barr wana arsi alaih
انت حبيبي يعني لسه حبيبي
You are my beloved; that is, you are still my beloved.
Enta habibi ya’ni lissa habibi
ولا حبيبي عشان كنت حبيبي
And you’re my beloved—not just because you used to be my beloved.
Wala habibi ashan kont habibi
قول يا حبيبي قول
Say it, my beloved, say it.
Oul ya habibi, oul
يا حبيبي
Oh, my beloved.
Ya habibi