He was widely regarded as having an exceptionally pleasant voice. The late Sheikh Sayyed el-Nakshabandi's name and fame rested chiefly on the hymns he used to sing in the holy fasting month of Ramadan to the Prophet Mohamed and the spiritual values of Islam. El-Nakshabandi's recording of hymns and songs were once part of the precious audio collection, which belonged to the official Egyptian Radio. Also known as a Sufi, el-Nakshabandi contributed greatly to the spiritual atmosphere in Ramadan, and this earned him international and regional recognition. He received the State Medal (First Class) from late President Anwar Sadat in 1974, while President Hosni Mubarak bestowed on him the Medal of the Republic (First Class) years after his death. Shiekh el-Nakshabandi was born in the village of Talkha, el-Qaliubia Governorate in 1921. While he was still a little boy, his family moved to the faraway Upper Egyptian city of Tahta in Sohag. His father, Sheikh Mohamed el-Nakshabandi, who was the head of a big Sufi sect in the country, sent him to the kottab (a place for pre-school education), in order to recite and memorise the Holy Qur'an. The boy arrested the attention of his sheikh and his colleagues by the way he sang religious songs. "His powerful, resonant voice ruffled the feelings of everybody around him," recalls an old classmate. The boy also delighted his family when they discovered that he had memorised hundreds of lines from poems composed by great Sufi poets such as Al-Bousiri and Ibn el-Fared. Moreover, the boy was also a regular reader of late Taha Hussein (the blind Egyptian thinker), who was dubbed the Doyen of Arabic Literature. As he grew older, el-Nakshabandi began to bury his head in the works of other celebrated Egyptian literati, including the late Moustafa Lotfi el-Manfalouti and Abbas el-Aqqad. El-Nakshabandi moved to the Delta town of Tanta, el-Gharbiya Governorate in 1952 and was appointed reciter of the Qur'an in a mosque there. But his popularity was attributed more to his rendering of hymns and songs of praise to the Prophet and his companions than to his recitation of the Qur'an. The late General Waguih Abaza, the Governor of Gharbiya at the time, was the biggest admirer of el-Nakshabandi. He usually arrived at religious festivals arm in arm with his friend Sheikh el-Nakshabandi. Moreover, his performance of Sufi hymns and songs was indispensable on religious nights organised by Sufi sects to mark different occasions. Settling comfortably in Tanta, el-Nakshabandi married his cousin Sadika Mohamed Youssef in 1948; she bore him two boys and three daughters. After her death, he remarried and his second wife bore him two boys. El-Nakshabandi's fame echoed beyond the nation's borders when he was selected to lead festivities organised as part of the ‘Big Night', marking the birthday of el-Hussein bin Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Mohamed. Millions of people who tuned into the festivities on the Egyptian radio were curious to know who the man blessed with the extraordinary voice could be. His exceptional success prompted late celebrated radio official Ahmed Farag to interview him. The interview was a hit, prompting el-Nakshabandi to leave Tanta and travel to Cairo to start a new, successful chapter in his life. As soon as the radio officials were informed of his decision to settle in the capital, they invited him to record his hymns and religious songs every day throughout the holy fasting month. Several generations would associate the special rites in Ramadan with el-Nakshabandi's Sufi and spiritual songs of praise. Further, celebrated music composer Baleegh Hamdi was enthusiastic to co-operate with el-Nakshbandi. They formed a sort of team: Hamdi composed 14 religious songs and odes for el-Nakshabandi to sing in Ramadan. The 14 works have now been played during Ramadan for several decades. He was also invited by heads of state and royal families in different Muslim countries to entertain them in Ramadan. He visited Jordan, Iran, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Syria. The celebrated Sheikh Sayyed el-Nakshabandi, who also visited several African and Asian countries, passed away on February 14, 1976. He was 56.
