Finding a way to use the_permalink

Hello everybody! How can I use the_permalink in stead of the fancybox (line 11)? I tried everything I found in the Codex but could not solve the problem.

<?php if (mytheme_option('recent_works', TRUE)) { ?>
<div id="recent-works">
<h1 class="title"><?php echo mytheme_option('recent_works_title', '?') ?></h1>
<ul id="portfolio-items" class="clearfix">
<?php
query_posts(array('post_type' => 'portfolio', 'posts_per_page' => mytheme_option('recent_works_count', 4)));
$count = 1;
while (have_posts()) {
the_post();
echo '<li class="' . (!($count++ % 4) ? 'last' : '') . '">';
echo '<a href="' . wp_get_attachment_url(get_post_thumbnail_id()) . '" class="fancybox">';
echo the_post_thumbnail('recent');
echo '</a>';
echo '<span class="title">';
the_title();
echo '</span>';
echo '<span class="cat">';
echo get_the_category_list();
echo '</span>';
echo '</li>';
}
?>
</ul>
</div>