By Youssra el-Sharkawy Aiming to bring Egyptian art into international limelight, a group of Egyptians have started to translate some of the famous cinema, TV, and theatre scenes as well as songs into English.The idea for this came to Wessam Magdy, an electronics engineer, when he was accompanying some Chinese friends who wanted to know the meaning of some Egyptian songs. He, then, translated some of the songs for them. "I, then, thought about establishing a troupe with my friend Ahmed Abd al-Aal and other friends to do this and we translated some well-known Egyptian theatrial scenes and songs to make more foreigners know about them," Magdy, founder of the troupe, told the Egyptian Mail. Magdy and Abd al-Aal are talented singers and have a good sense of music.This allows them to produce works that can be a good introduction to Egyptian art. "Our main aim is to spread Egyptian culture all over the world," he added. One of the famous songs which the group translated into English was "Mawlay," a 1972 religious song praising God and expressing devotion to Him. It was written by Sayyid al-Naqshabandi, set to music by legendary composer Baligh Hamdi and sung by Abd al-Fattah Mustafa. The song, originally in Classical Arabic, is usually sung especially during the month of Ramadan. "Mawlay" was published by the troupe in June last year, went viral on social media and was viewed over 4,000 times. Magdy sang the translation to the same melody:" My Lord, I am at your door and I have raised my hand". He did not translate the exact meaning but wrote a very similar one to go with the melody. "We wanted not only to translate the words into English, but also to deliver the feeling. Some Arabic words when translated have no meaning in English. So, when we translate the song, we make sure that people feel and understand the meaning," Magdy told the Mail. To produce good quality songs, the group rented a professional studio, played and sang in it.The troupe is composed of five lyricists and musicians. They translated over 70 traditional Egyptian songs, and started to publish some of them via their Facebook page in 2017. "We started with improvisation but now we can translate any Arabic films or songs," he said. The group has also translated scenes of popular Egyptian TV soap operas starring Actor Mohamed Ramadan, old songs by Um Kolthoum and Abdul Halim Hafez, recent songs by Amr Diab and others into English. For Magdy, translating and dubbing the songs into English would not only promote Egyptian culture but would also attract tourists who would know more about Egypt's arts and heritage. "The project needs to be supported and promoted so it grows and reaches more people. It can also generate money," said Magdy, who added that the group was self-funded
