CAIRO - His dark skin, the glow in his eyes and his warm, passionate voice made Abdel-Halim Hafez one of the Arab world's greatest and most popular romantic singers. Halim was not only a romantic singer, but also a patriotic one. Abdel-Halim Hafez, whose features were very Egyptian, was born in 1929 at el-Halwat in el-Sharqia governorate, about 50 miles north of Cairo. Some analysts believe that Halim's miserable childhood made his voice what it was, touching people's hearts in a special way. He was brought up in an orphanage, because his mother died three days after giving birth to him, followed by his father shortly after that. He suffered much because of his experiences at the orphanage and because of illness too, while still a child he was infected with bilharzias, a parasitic water-borne disease, which later caused him cystic fibrosis of the liver, which ended his life as early as 48. His fellow Egyptians loved him and his songs, and they dubbed him the ‘Black Nightingale'; his other nicknames included the 'King of Arabic Music' and the 'King of Emotions and Feelings'. The king of emotions and feelings was renowned for his songs that told of love. A revolutionary nightingale His forte was singing romantic songs, but he also sang patriotic songs, earning him another nickname, the ‘Son of the Revolution'. Halim was one of the singers who sang in the annual concert that celebrated the success of Gamal Abdel-Nasser's 1952 Revolution. He sang 'Thawretna el-Masriya' (Our Egyptian Revolution) when Abdel-Nasser was elected President in 1956. He also sang songs about the tripartite aggression in the same year. In 1959, he sang the operetta of 'Watni el-Akbar' (My Big Country) with the greatest singers of the time: Sabah, Fayda Kamel, Nagat, Shadya and the Algerian singer Warda. The music was by Mohamed Abdel-Wahab and Halim sang at the intro and at the end of the operetta. His musical abilities first surfaced when he was at primary school; his elder brother, Ismail Shabana, was his first music teacher. At the age of 11, he joined the Arabic Music Institute in Cairo, where he sang to the accompaniment of an oboe player. He struggled at the beginning of his career, as many Egyptians didn't like his new style of singing. But he persevered, eventually becoming his fellow countrymen's favourite singer. Halim played a political role, sharing the Egyptians' sadness and happiness through his songs. In 1960, when America refused to finance the High Dam project, Halim was there raising public enthusiasm to back Egypt's president to create the project by his own hand. Halim sang his popular song 'Olna Hanebni' (We said that we would Build). "We said that we would build, and we have already built the Dam… with our money and our labour,” he sang. A movie star During this period, from 1955 to 1969, he starred in 16 movies. His first movie was ‘Lahn el-Wafaa' (Faithful Tune) in 1955, in which he starred alongside legendary singer-actress Shadya; his last was ‘Aby foq el-Shagara' (My Father on the Tree) in 1969, with popular actresses Nadia Lotfi and Mervet Amin. The movies sandwiched in between were just as successful. One of Halim's most memorable songs was the unique ‘Belahdan' (With Hugs) of 1961, in which he was accompanied by 300 musicians. It dealt with the themes of agriculture, industry and development, with Halim for the first time using the xylophone and children as the chorus. The song's lyrics by Salah Jaheen were exceptional, as was the music, composed by Ali Ismail. Also, for the first time, politics were mixed with religion in this song, as he ended the song by singing: "Our God please light our future, and see our works and bless our jihad and our struggle, and please bless our President and our hero.” To this the chorus replied, “Amen.” His song in 1962, 'Mataleb Sha'ab' (Nations' Demands), also depended on a dialogue between Halim and the chorus, while he began the song with excerpts from Nasser's speeches. Halim's patriotism was not limited to Egypt, as he also sang for several other Arab countries on a number of occasions. In fact, he sang 'Mataleb Shaa'b' for Algeria after its liberation in that same year, 1962. He also sang when Syria broke off from Egypt after their three-year union, and for Palestine, Africa and Asia. Halim was Egypt's first romantic singer, with wonderful songs as 'Ba'amr el-Hob' (Ordered by Love), 'Betlomoni Leeh?' (Why do you Blame Me?) and ‘Gabar' (Gigantic). ‘Gabar' was truly a gigantic, dazzling song! The success of his romantic songs didn't distract him from his nationalism. One of his most famous national songs was 'Fawazer' (Riddles) which contained four riddles about the Suez Canal, the Aswan High Dam, the Martyrs and Nasser. In this song, the music talks instead of the words; each riddle has its own music, imparting a special meaning. In 1964, he sang another song for the Dam, upon its completion. When Nasser announced that Egypt would plant a million trees, he sang 'Bostan el-Ashterakya' (The Socialist Garden), whose language was simple, so that it would speak to all Egyptians. Halim in Tahrir By 1966, Jaheen's lyrics had reached a peak of perfection. That year, he and Halim teamed up with legendary musician Kamal el-Taweel to craft Soora (Photo), an amazing nationalistic song. Little did they realise that, 45 years later, Egypt's young revolutionaries would sing this song with heartfelt joy, during the 18 days of the revolution in Tahrir Square. "Photo… photo …photo, we all want to take a photo, a photo of a happy nation under the flag of victory,” Halim sang. Even after the 1967 defeat, Halim was there with his famous song ‘Ada el Nahar' (The day passed), that the famous poet Abdel Rahman el-Abanody wrote few hours after hearing the news of Isreal occupying Sinai. His musical genius was appeared also at his patriotic best with 'Ibnak yqolaq ya Batal' (Your Son calls you a Hero), the 90-second 'Ahlef' (I Swear) and several other songs, as Egypt fought Israel. "I swear by its sky and soil, I swear by its roads and doors, I swear by its wheat and its factories, I swear by the minarets and the guns, by my children, by my future, that the Arab sun will never set as long as I live". Halim said that he would sing 'Ahlef' at the beginning of each of his concerts until Egypt defeated Israel and won back its land. During the War of Attrition, in 1968, he sang 'El-Bondaqaya Ataklemt' (The Gun Talked). Singing for the 1973 victory His next patriotic song wasn't made until Egypt defeated Israel in 1973, when he expressed his joy and praised the vital role played by late president Anwar el-Sadat with his song 'Ash elli Aal' (Long Life to the One who Said). In the same year, Halim, who sang more than 50 patriotic songs, also starred in his one and only radio series 'Argok la Tefhamny Bsora' (Please don't Understand me Quickly), with popular actress Naglaa Fathy and Adel Imam. Then, in 1975, after the reopening of the Suez Canal, he sang ‘el-Merkeba Adet' (The Boat Passed Through). Two years later, Halim died on March 30, 1977 of liver failure, while undergoing treatment for bilharzias. He had been sick for quite some time. His death saddened the Egyptians, who attended his funeral in huge numbers. According to some reports, four women committed suicide by jumping off their balconies during his funeral. After his death, popular actor Ahmed Zaki was going to star in a biopic about Halim, called appropriately, Halim. Ironically, Zaki himself died in March 2005, before filming was completed. His son, Haitham Ahmed Zaki, completed the film after his father's death and it finally hit the silver screen in 2006. There was also a TV series 'El-Andaleb Hikayat Sha'ab' (The Nightingale, a Nation Story) about his life and how he chose his songs. Halim is an icon in modern Arabic music; his music is very popular today throughout the Arab world. “The nightingale's songs inspired us during the January 25 revolution,” Hossam Khattab, one of the revolutionaries, said. “Although he died 35 years ago, his songs will surely continue to inspire his fellow Egyptians for many generations to come,” he added.
