ابي شال الصورة القديمة عن الحيط قبل ما نصبغ زاوية صغيرة بدهان ابيض.

Here ابي means my father.

A learner might be confused because in some Arabic varieties, a form like أبي can be connected to wanting, but in this sentence it is clearly a noun phrase meaning my father, because it is followed by the past-tense verb شال = removed / took off.

A very Levantine-sounding version would more often use:

• أبوي
• بيّي in some areas

So this sentence is understandable, but ابي feels a bit less colloquial than some everyday Levantine alternatives.

Yes, شال originally has the idea of lifting or carrying, but in Levantine it is also very commonly used for:

• remove
• take away
• take off

So شال الصورة عن الحيط means he took the picture off the wall or he removed the picture from the wall.

This is a very natural colloquial use of شال.

In Levantine, عن is very common after verbs like شال when something is being removed from a surface.

So:

• شال الصورة عن الحيط = he took the picture off the wall

Here عن gives the sense of off or away from the wall.

English uses off, while Arabic often uses عن in this kind of context.

Yes. الحيط is a common Levantine word for the wall.

A learner may know more formal words such as:

• الحائط
• الجدار

But in everyday Levantine, حيط is very common and natural.

So:

• عن الحيط = off the wall

In Levantine, قبل ما is a very common way to say before followed by a verb.

So:

• قبل ما نصبغ = before we paint

Important point: the ما here is not negation. It does not mean not paint.

It is just part of the common structure:

• قبل ما + imperfect/present verb

Examples:

• قبل ما روح = before I go
• قبل ما يجي = before he comes
• قبل ما نصبغ = before we paint

Even though the verb form looks like a present/imperfect form, after قبل ما it often refers to a future action relative to the main event.

Because the verb itself already includes the subject.

In Arabic, verbs usually show who is doing the action. In نصبغ, the prefix نـ tells you the subject is we.

So:

• صبغ = the root idea of painting / dyeing
• نصبغ = we paint

Arabic often does not need a separate word like we unless you want extra emphasis.

Because in Arabic, adjectives usually come after the noun.

So:

• الصورة = the picture
• القديمة = the old

Together:

• الصورة القديمة = the old picture

Also notice that the adjective matches the noun in definiteness, gender, and number:

• الصورة is feminine singular and definite
• القديمة is also feminine singular and definite

That matching is a very important Arabic pattern.

This is the normal Arabic noun + adjective order again:

• زاوية = corner
• صغيرة = small

So:

• زاوية صغيرة = a small corner

Both words are:

• feminine singular
• indefinite

That is why the adjective is also feminine singular and has no ال.

Compare:

• زاوية صغيرة = a small corner
• الزاوية الصغيرة = the small corner

It means with white paint or using white paint.

Breakdown:

• بـ = with / by means of / using
• دهان = paint
• ابيض = white

So بدهان ابيض describes the material used for painting.

A more fully vowelled spelling would be:

• بدهان أبيض

And in English the most natural translation is:

• with white paint
• or using white paint

Because دهان ابيض is indefinite: white paint, not the white paint.

In Arabic, if the noun is indefinite, the adjective is also indefinite.

So:

• دهان ابيض = white paint
• الدهان الابيض = the white paint

The same rule appears elsewhere in the sentence:

• زاوية صغيرة = a small corner
• الصورة القديمة = the old picture

So Arabic is very consistent here: the adjective matches the noun in definiteness.

Most of it is very natural Levantine, especially:

• شال
• الحيط
• قبل ما
• نصبغ

The part that stands out a little is ابي for my father. In everyday Levantine, many speakers would more naturally say:

• أبوي
• or بيّي depending on region

So a more conversational Levantine version might be:

• أبوي شال الصورة القديمة عن الحيط قبل ما نصبغ زاوية صغيرة بدهان أبيض.

But the original sentence is still understandable and mostly Levantine in flavor.