Nightingale of the Orient: Who is Umm Kulthum?

The songs that Ummu Kulthum performed with her deep voice and in different maqams had an impact on the listeners like epics.

Until the early 1900s, the tiny village of Tamây ez-Zehâyira in the city of Senbellâveyn in Egypt's Dakahliyye province was an ordinary, poor, and unremarkable place, like tens of thousands of its counterparts in the country. The imam and muezzin of the village, Sheikh Ibrahim es-Seyyid Beltacî, was also a person who continued his modest life quietly. Like millions of Egyptians. However, the fame of the daughter of Sheikh Ibrahim and his housewife, Fâtıma Melîcî, who was born on May 4, 1904, would spread to the four corners of the world. This baby, whom the husband and wife joyfully named "Fâtıma", will find fame in the future with the name "Ummu Kulthum"; She would be deemed worthy of titles such as "Star of the Orient", "The fourth pyramid of Egypt", "Noble sun", "Lady", "Lord of Arabic music". But on this warm spring day, of course, no one could have predicted all this.

Umm Kulthum (31 December 1898 – 3 February 1975) was an Egyptian singer, songwriter, and film actress active from the 1920s to the 1970s. She was given the honorific title Kawkab al-Sharq ("Star of the East"). In her native Egypt, Kulthum is a national icon; she has been dubbed as "The Voice of Egypt" and "Egypt's Fourth Pyramid". In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked Kulthum at number 61 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.

Sheikh Ibrahim was a person who earned his living by reading the Quran and singing eulogies at weddings and other ceremonies in his spare time from his duty at the mosque. Over time, he began to take his son Halid with him and raise him as his own. His younger daughter, Fâtima, was growing up on her own in a family surrounded by religious music and the Quran. Sheikh Ibrahim did not have any dreams about his daughter, but little Fatima drew attention with her extraordinary voice and the power of her memory when she was only seven or eight years old.

As was the custom in Egypt at that time, two music men, Ebu'l-Alâ Muhammed (1884-1927) and Zekeriyyâ Ahmed, went to Senbellâveyn to spend the entire month of Ramadan by reciting hatim, singing hymns and eulogies, and performing tarawih prayers in villages and towns. (1896-1961) would be the ones who discovered the ore in Fatima a few years later. Meanwhile, young Fatima, who completed her basic education, learned the Quran and was interested in Arabic poetry, attended ceremonies in the village with her brother and performed religious music. Abu'l-Ala, who kept in touch with Fatima and her family after meeting her, gave music lessons to this talented young girl and insisted on her father "Take Fatima to Cairo." Finally, in 1922, these insistences yielded results, and the 18-year-old young talent and her family moved to the capital from the remote village of Dekahliyye.

Fâtıma İbrahim Beltacî, who turned her amateur performances into a professional one after settling in Cairo, also acquired a stage name for herself: Ümmü Gülsüm. This name was closely related to her physical appearance. As a slightly overweight, plump-cheeked young girl, she was one of the most appropriate names she could choose. Because Ummu Kulthum meant "full-cheeked".

Ummu Kulthum, who needed some time to overcome her provincial shyness, quickly attracted attention with her art. By 1928, she was one of the most popular singers in Cairo. British and Western cultures were dominant in Egypt during the reign of King Fuad.

The launch of Egyptian Radio in 1934 marked the beginning of Umm Kulthum's international fame.

Until 1973, during the Ummu Kulthum concerts broadcast live on the radio on the first Thursday of every month, Arab streets from Morocco to Iraq would become deserted, and everyone would retreat to their homes or gather in coffeehouses to listen to this unique voice.

A classical Umm Kulthum concert consisted of at least three songs of 45 to 90 minutes each and lasted around four hours. The songs that Ummu Kulthum performed with her deep voice and in different maqams had an impact on the listeners like epics. In addition to the length of the lyrics, the uninterrupted and flawless performance of the orchestra that accompanied it was also highly appreciated. The approximately 50-minute break between each song would allow both the performers and the audience to rest.

In the years following the 1940s, Ummu Kulthum climbed to the top of her art. Those who listened to her always said the same thing: "Our lives are in their songs." Ummu Kulthum, who sang the composed versions of many poems of Ahmed Shawki (1870-1932), the great master of modern Arabic poetry, thus brought literature to the stage and managed to attract Arabic language enthusiasts. Ahmed Râmî (1892-1981), one of Egypt's most famous poets, wrote nearly 200 lyrics for Ummu Kulthum and literally devoted his pen to the Star of the East. The compositions immortalized with Ummu Gulsum's voice were signed by powerful composers such as Muhammed Kasabcî (1892-1966), Riyâd Sunbâtî (1906-1981), Ahmed Sabrî Necrîdî, Muhammed Abdulvehhâb (1901-1991), Belîğ Hamdî (1931-1993).

Riyâd Sunbâtî's composition in 1972 for "Talaa'l-Bedru Aleynâ", which is referred to as a fragmentary poem in some Islamic sources, will find fame in the Islamic world with the voice of Ümmü Gülsüm. It was written by Syrian director Mustafa Akkâd (1930-2005), Islam It would almost become identical to Siyer-i Nebî after being used in the famous 1976 movie "The Message", which tells about the birth of. Today, very few people know that "Talaa'l-Bedru Aleynâ" is a modern period composition.

There was also a surprising name among Umm Kulthum's songwriters: Prince Abdullah (1923-2007), the eldest son of King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. The song "Min Ecli Ayneyk" (From the Face of Your Eyes) by Prince, who stands out as a poet and sportsman, became one of Ummu Kulthum's most popular songs.

Umm Kulthum was a name that the Egyptian Royal administration paid close attention to and cherished. After the Free Officers junta overthrew King Farouk on July 23, 1952, and started the republican administration in Egypt, Umm Kulthum was also included in the list of "banned names". Her “crime” was the love of the members of the old regime for him. Gamal Abdun Nasser, one of the brain team of the junta, quickly intervened in this situation and lifted Ummu Kulthum's ban. Abd al-Nasser, who was also a staunch admirer of Umm Kulthum, asked his friends, "Are you going to make the Egyptian people enemies of us?" It is said that he said:

In the later periods of her life, Ummu Kulthum was constantly rewarded by Gamal Abdel Nasser and his successor Anwar Sadat. Their concerts were broadcast on state radio and television, and the Egyptian administration attended these concerts with full staff. Of course, Umm Kulthum did not leave this interest unrequited. She gave concerts for the benefit of the Egyptian army. After the defeat against Israel in 1967, Umm Kulthum went on a tour covering almost all the countries of the Arab world and donated millions of dollars to the army. After the defeat in which Abdel Nasser's title as "the standard-bearer of Arab nationalism" was deeply damaged, Umm Kulthum's personal arrival on the field meant to repair the reputation of both Abd al-Nasser and Egypt.

Towards the end of the same year, the concert she gave at the famous Olympia Hall in Paris, the capital of France, on the night of November 14, 1967, was recorded as Ummu Kulthum's only musical performance outside the Arab world.

On February 3, 1975, Egyptian radio and television announced perhaps the saddest news of recent years to the entire Arab world: The Star of the Orient had completed its mortal life.

Then, the protocol applied only to heads of state was adopted and the publication of the Holy Quran was started. Umm Kulthum's funeral ceremony two days later would take place accompanied by a crowd of people, with more than four million people filling the streets of Cairo to say goodbye to the Star of the Orient. Egyptian President at the time, Anwar Sadat, also wanted to attend the funeral personally, but when the presidential protection directorate said, "We cannot ensure your safety in this stampede," Sadat gave up.

In the background of all this bright life, there was a lonely person. Ummu Kulthum, who married Dr Hasan Seyyid Hafnavi on paper in 1954, remained officially "married" until her death. However, her relationship with Hafnavi, who was already married with three children, was not a husband-wife relationship, but to have a doctor nearby. Neither Ummu Kulthum nor Hasan Seyyid Hafnawi ever spoke about this "marriage" until their deaths. Just for this reason, "Umm Kulthum's married life" continues to be news in the tabloid press today.

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What Does the Lady Say? The Legacy of Umm Kulthum

https://easteast.world/posts/339