Popyrus|Heritage
The month of Ramadan comes with joy and happiness, and before the arrival of the holy month, its most famous songs come to us, carrying with them our memories. One of the most famous of these songs is the song "Wahwy Ya Wahwy", which is the oldest Ramadan song in history. It is a widely known song, as children in Egypt carry lanterns and sing "Wahwy Ya Wahwy". It usually precedes the arrival of Ramadan and even accompanies its days and nights, and adults repeat it before children.
The song "Wahwy Ya Wahwy" was first presented in 1937 with lyrics by poet Mohamed Helmy El-Manasterly and music and singing by Ahmed Abdel-Qader. Then, Fathy Qoura and Ahmed Sabry reformulated its lyrics and music for the Lebanese Hiam Younes to sing it, as a child, in the events of the movie "Qalbi Ala Weldy" directed by Henry Barakat in 1953.
Welcoming the Queen in Ancient Egypt
While researchers say that the lyrics of this song are older than the month of Ramadan itself, as they date back to the Pharaonic era, as evidenced by its first words represented in “Wahwi ya Wahwi Iwha”, where “Wah wi Iwha” a phrase that the Pharaohs used to welcome their queen “Iahhotep” or “Moon of the Age”, who was the mother of Ahmose I, the conqueror of the Hyksos, who lived at the end of the Seventeenth Dynasty and was greatly appreciated for her sacrifices for the sake of the homeland. The ancient Egyptians used to go out to welcome her, carrying torches and lamps, singing "Wahwy ya Wahwy Ayahah."
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| Ayah Hotb |
Shaaban is over; the moon is here
Another saying mentions that the Egyptian pharaohs used to go out to welcome the moon at the beginning of each month, chanting "Wahwi ya Wahwi ayaha", meaning welcome, moon, where "Wahwi" means welcome, and ayaha means moon.
Some historians resorted to a different story, and said: "Wahwi ya Wahwi, a pharaonic word meaning he went or departed, said about bidding farewell to Sha'ban and welcoming Ramadan, i.e. Wahwi ya Wahwi, meaning Sha'ban has departed and Ramadan has come."
Historians added: "The word "Ayuh" means the moon or the crescent, and the song was a greeting to the moon in the past, and since the Fatimid era it has become a special greeting to the crescent of Ramadan," justifying this by saying that the song also contains the word "Wahwi" meaning come closer, and thus in the first verse: "Wahwi ya Wahwi Ayyuha, directed to the crescent of the month of Sha'ban that has departed," while in the second verse: "And again Wahwi Ayyuha, to the crescent of the coming Ramadan," meaning farewell to the crescent of Sha'ban and welcoming the crescent of Ramadan.
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| Al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah Al-Fatimi |
As for the story of the lantern, historians say that it began in the Fatimid era when the Egyptians went out to welcome Al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah Al-Fatimi at night, and this was in the month of Ramadan, so this custom remained associated with the holy month.