Nevine El-Aref attends the celebrations marking the 125th anniversary of the birth of , Egypt's imam of Quran reciters Islamic Cairo was in celebratory mood on Sunday. Its buildings, busy streets and alleyways were adorned with colourful lanterns and the sound of Quran recitals echoed in the distance, growing louder the closer you got to Al-Hussein Mosque with its distinctive minaret. Not far away, the Al-Ghuri complex, with its honey-coloured dome, mosque, palace, mausoleum and sabil-kuttab, was welcoming visitors who had flocked from across the capital to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the birth of the master of Quran reciters, (1882-1950). The celebration was organised by the Cultural Development Fund (CDF) as part of its programme to preserve and revive traditional arts by organising festivals commemorating Egypt's most distinguished practitioners in the fields of art, religion and literature. Sheikh Rifaat, whose voice is engraved in the collective memory of millions of Egyptians, was an obvious candidate. A sense of serenity prevailed as recordings of Sheikh Rifaat's incomparable voice filled the evening air. A large screen placed at one corner of the courtyard showed a series of archive black and white photographs featuring the sheikh dressed in a quftan, the traditional garb of men of religion. The show evoked varying emotions from the audience. Some closed their eyes and lowered their heads, others wept while yet more shouted "Allah! Allah!" They were scenes that afforded a glimpse into the power and majesty of a tradition that is all but extinct, the art of reciting the Quran. Rifaat's recitals demonstrated the supreme beauty of the tradition of Quranic rendering, abundant with nuance and expressive melody, which started in Egypt. It used to be said that while the Quran was revealed in Mecca and printed in Istanbul it was in Egypt where it was recited. Sheikh Rifaat was born in Cairo in the Al-Azhar district of Megharbelin on 9 May 1882. It was on 9 May, too, that he died, 68 years later. As a child he contracted ophthalmia which led to his blindness when he underwent an unsuccessful operation on his eyes. Yet far from being an obstacle, his sightlessness pushed him forward, and he was to become the greatest Quranic reciter of his generation. Unlike many of his peers, he attended secular schools rather than the traditional kuttab. Yet by the age of 10 he had memorised the entire Quran. Rifaat began reciting at mulids (religious festivals) following the death of his father, when he was left to support his family. He soon developed an ardent following and by the age of 15 had landed a permanent job reciting the Quran at the Mustafa Fadel Pasha Mosque in Darb Al-Gamamiz Street. He spent the next 25 years of his life working there. Meanwhile, Rifaat studied the phonetic rules of Quranic recitation under the most prominent reciters of the time. His masters were quick to appreciate the extraordinary talent and voice of their apprentice. He overwhelmed his listeners with graceful shifting tones that served to explicate the texts he recited. In giving voice to submissiveness, power and compassion Rifaat attained the paradox of the ideal Quranic recitation, achieving the state of tasweer al-maana (picturing the meaning), a perfect correlation of melody and meaning. "Such perfection did not come haphazardly," says Iraqi musician Nasseer Shamma, whose masters thesis was about Rifaat. Shamma explains that in addition to talent, an agreeable voice and finely honed skills, Rifaat's voice also resonated with the timbre of faith. It was the purity of his belief, says Shamma, that enabled Rifaat to recite the holy verses of the Quran in a way that touched the hearts of millions. "God may have deprived Rifaat of one of his senses in order to bestow him with greater insight in his heart and voice," says Shamma. Rifaat, who was well acquainted with the techniques of Arabic rhythmic prose, which he utilised while reciting, was also a fan of popular Egyptian singers such as Mohamed Abdel-Wahab, Munira El-Mahdiya and Um Kolthoum as well as of the European classical tradition embodied by the likes of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Chopin. "Rifaat affected the souls and hearts of the whole Islamic world with his fine, tender and spiritual voice. Through his devotion to Quran recitation he built a bridge between Muslims and their God," says Shamma. Syrian conductor Selim Sahab tells an oft- repeated anecdote involving Mohamed Abdel-Wahab, who was reputed to sit at the feet of Rifaat when he was reciting in an attempt to master Rifaat's own use of Arabic rhythmic prose. The rise of Rifaat in the 1930s coincided with the emergence of a ground breaking generation of musicians, filmmakers, journalists and writers who together blazed a trail across decades that would come to be seen as a golden age. In May 1934, Rifaat recited verses from the Quran at the inauguration of EgyptCairo Radio (ECR). Recordings of those recitations are among the most valuable and prized contents of the ECR's library.
