Learn Arabic as it is really spoken. Listen to and read Egyptian Colloquial Arabic.

Yomna goes to a lot of Sudanese weddings. Why? What does she like about them?

اهلاً بيكم. الاعياد فى مصر دايماً مواسم للافراح. انا فى عيد الاضحى اللى فات كنت معزومه على تلات افراح. انا بحب الافراح جداً. بس بييجيلى صداع من التفكير: هلبس ايه و انا رايحه الفرح؟ و معنديش وقت ان انا اقعد ادور على اللبس المناسب. بصراحه فيه فرحين من اللى كنت هحضرهم مريحينى كانوا جداً لانهم افراح سودانيه. الفرح السودانى بيبقى مسموحلى ان انا البس فيه الزى التقليدى للمراه السودانيه و هو التوب. التوب ده عباره عن قطعة قماش طويله حوالى تلاته متر و بتكون مشغوله مطرزه. و لونها بيكون يعنى لون زاهى اوى. بتتلف على الجسم بطريقه معينه. و خلاص هى دى بتبقى اللبس اللى بروح بيه الفرح. طبعاً حاجه سهله و بسيطه و فى نفس الوقت فى منتهى الشياكه. الفرح السودانى انا بحضره لانى انا متجوزه راجل سودانى. افراح العايله عنده كلها كده. دايماً الفرح ده بيتسم بتفاصيل جميله اوى. اولاً هما عندهم يوم العقد، بعد ما بيكتبوا وثيقة الزواج. بيروحوا على بيت العروسه يعملوا احتفال جميل. العريس بيقدم فيه المهر و الهدايا والعطور للعروسه. بيكون يوم لطيف فى بيتها. بعد كده بيتعمل يوم تانى اسمه ليلة الحنه. ده بقى بيبقى مرهق اوى للعروسه. العروسه فيه بتبدل حوالى توبين، تلاته، اربعه. كل توب بترقص رقصه و بعدين تغير و تلبس اللى بعده. بس بيبقى يوم جميل. القاعه بتكون مليانه بخور والسيدات كلهم لابسين التياب المطرزه. المكان بيكون فى منتهى الروعه. يوم الفرح بقى بيبقى اللبس العادى بدله و فستان فرح. لكن برضه السيدات بيكونوا لابسين التوب السوداني. انا فى الفرح اللى رحته لبست توب ازرق كان مطرز باللولى. و الحمد لله حاز على اعجاب اللى شافونى بيه. و من ساعة ما رجعنا من الفرح انا و ابنى حمزه بنردد الجمله اللى كان بيقولها المغنى: ابشر يا عريس ابشر. هو الفرح السودانى حاجه جميله جداً. و اتمنى انه تتاحلكو كلكو فرصه تحضروا فيها فرح سودانى. شكراً.

Hello! In Egypt, the holidays are always the season for weddings. During the last Sacrifice Feast I was invited to three weddings. I like weddings so much. But I get a headache from thinking, “What shall I wear to the wedding?” And I don’t have time to be looking for a suitable dress to wear. But frankly, there were two weddings I was going to go to which were a relief to me because they were Sudanese weddings. In a Sudanese wedding, I’m allowed to wear the traditional costume of the Sudanese woman, which is “toob” This toob is a long piece of fabric, approximately three meters long and embroidered. And its color is so bright. It is wrapped around the body in a certain way. And that’s it! That’s the outfit I’ll go to the wedding in. So easy, so simple, and at the same time so chic! I go to these Sudanese weddings because I’m married to a Sudanese man. And all his family’s weddings are like this. These weddings are always known for their very nice details. First of all, they have the agreement day, after they write the marriage document They go to the bride’s home and have a beautiful celebration. The groom gives her a dowry, gifts, and perfumes. It’s a very nice day at her house. After that, there’s another day called the “night of henna”. And this is very exhausting for the bride. The bride changes into two, three, or four toobs. She dances a dance in a toob, then she changes [clothes], and goes for another dance. But it is a lovely day. The hall is full of incense, and the ladies are all wearing the embroidered toob. The place becomes incredibly fabulous. Then, on the wedding day itself, the clothes [of the groom and bride] are an ordinary suit and wedding dress. But the ladies are also wearing the Sudanese toob. In that last wedding I attended, I wore a blue toob embroidered with pearls. And thank God, it gained the admiration of everyone who saw me wearing it. And ever since we came from that wedding, I keep singing with my son Hamza the phrase that the singer was saying, “Cheer up, oh groom, cheer up!” The Sudanese wedding is a very lovely thing. And I hope that you all have a chance to attend one. Thank you!

One Comment

  1. Had fun looking up the toob clothing in your article. The dresses look so beautiful and vibrant. I didn’t realize this was traditional in Sudanese weddings

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