The Poet of the Poor has gone. At the age of 77, one of Egypt's most prominent vernacular poets died on the sixth anniversary of the 25 January Revolution this year. Sayed Hegab was born on 23 September 1940 in the Daqahliya governorate. His hometown, Matariya, is a coastal village overlooking Lake Manzala, and he grew up among fishermen, a factor which, as he explained during one of his later radio shows, inspired him to write vernacular poetry as he listened to the songs and tales of the fishermen. It was in Matariya that Hegab's poetic talent started to mature. Hegab went on to study architecture in Alexandria for two years, but discontinued his studies because of his interest in culture and the arts. He was, after all, in Alexandria which was a multicultural hub at the time. He then moved to Cairo to study engineering, but by then he had taken his first steps in the world of poetry and managed to publish some of his writings. Engineering stood in the way of his passion for poetry. Hegab's first “knock on the gate of life,” to borrow the first sentence of his series Bawabet Al-Halawani (Al-Halawani's Gate), was in 1964 when he published his first collection of poems Al-Sayyad wal-Geneya (The Fisherman and the Fairy). This reveals many details about Hegab's childhood in Matariya and the tales he heard from fishermen as a child that were full of the magic of the sea. He went on to publish at least 11 collections of poems and co-hosted the radio show Baad Al-Tahiya wal-Salam (After Salutations) with poet Abdel-Rahman Al-Abnoudi and hosted the shows Amar ya Masr (Your Welfare, Egypt) and Orchestra. He started writing political poetry in the 1960s when he joined a left-wing movement and was arrested for a few months with a group of other intellectuals in 1966. In 1968, he co-founded the Gallery 68 magazine in an attempt to voice the ideas of a generation of Egyptian intellectuals after the failure of the Nasserist project in the June 1967 War with Israel. Hegab wrote a number of poems and essays that were published in the magazine. He also wrote songs for leading singers like Mohamed Mounir, Ali Al-Haggar and Samira Said. He wrote a children's song with music by Ammar Al-Sherei that was later made famous by singer Afaf Radi. However, one of Hegab's most successful ventures at this time was writing the words for theme songs for television series that were memorised by Egyptian viewers for decades to come. In 1983, Hegab wrote the songs for the series Al-Shahd wal-Domou (Honey and Tears) directed by Ismail Abdel-Hafez and written by Osama Anwar Okasha and for the series Al-Bedaya wal-Nehaya (The Beginning and the End) composed by Al-Sherei and sung by Al-Haggar. In 1987, and in collaboration with composer Michel Al-Masri and singer Mohamed Al-Helw, Hegab wrote the theme for one of the most successful drama series in Egyptian television history, Layali Al-Helmiya (Al-Helmiya Nights), directed by Abdel-Hafez and scripted by Okasha. This ran for five seasons until 1995, during which its theme music was known by all television viewers. A sixth series was produced last year with Hegab's original song. From 1992 until 2001 Bawabet Al-Halawani ran for four series. Directed by Ibrahim Al-Sahn and scripted by Mahfouz Abdel-Rahman, the theme song was written by Hegab with music by Baligh Hamdi and sung by Al-Haggar. In 1994, Al-Sherei and Al-Haggar collaborated with Hegab again in Arabesque, a series directed by Gamal Abdel-Hamid and written by Okasha. The theme songs written by Hegab are rich in poetic imagery, combining the sensory and figurative in their words. But this was not the only reason Hegab earned a special place in the hearts of all Egyptians. His songs conveyed his deep concern for the people and their well-being, especially of the poorer classes. It was for this reason that he received the title of the “Poet of the Poor.” Hegab witnessed the end of the British occupation of Egypt and the overthrow of king Farouk and the end of the monarchy in the country at the hands of the Free Officers in the 1952 Revolution. During the rule of former president Gamal Abdel-Nasser, he dreamed of a better economic future for the country and of the building of a modern state. Politically, he wanted to see Egypt engage more in the Arab world, and culturally he wanted to see Egypt become the Arab cultural hub. He belonged to a generation who saw the dream of Egypt becoming a developed country and the leader of the Middle East almost coming true. His dreams were crushed in 1967 when Egypt was attacked by the Israeli military machine. In the 1970s and 1980s, Hegab and his generation witnessed the cultural, intellectual and social collapse that had befallen the country. They saw political corruption reach its peak until the eruption of the 25 January Revolution in 2011. They watched as the Muslim Brotherhood and those obsessed with political Islam reached the height of their power, only to fall at the hands of a popular uprising during the 30 June Revolution. In June 2013, Hegab demonstrated against the then Muslim Brotherhood minister of culture, Alaa Abdel-Aziz, in a protest organised by intellectuals outside the minister's offices in Cairo. The protest lasted for at least a month until Egyptians in their millions took to the streets to end the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood organisation. Over recent decades, Hegab has contributed enormously to shaping Egyptian humanist consciousness, and not only through his poetry. After the overthrow of the Brotherhood in 2013, he was a member of the Committee of Fifty charged with drafting the 2014 Constitution. He wrote an eloquent and graceful preamble to the Constitution, thus leaving an indelible mark on the chronicles of modern Egypt and its long literary and patriotic history. A poetic essence While adding to the general sadness and disillusionment on 25 January of all days, writes Rania Khallaf, Sayed Hegab's death has occasioned a celebration of his achievement across the Arab world. Most recently he was the subject of a scholarly book, Ibrahim Khattab's 650-page Hunter of Stories. I first became aware of Hegab through children's songs and TV shows as a child, when I met him at the house of his sister, who was a neighbour of my aunt's. It was therefore a remarkable opportunity for me when I got to interview Hegab at his Maadi house in 2008. I remember his warm welcome, his reassuring smiles and his keenness on detail, answering each question with patience, modesty and passion. Over two hours, the conversation was punctuated by small recitations of his. (read more)
