Celebrating Fairuz, Lebanon’s ambassador to the stars

Truth be told, Fairuz and her enchanting voice have played a significant role in elevating the status of Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria. This sentiment is echoed in the tribute collection compiled by the ATF, which features over 40 testimonials written by academics, researchers, writers, and poets from Arab countries.

Transcending music

As noted in the introduction to the collection, "Fairuz's impact goes beyond geographic boundaries, as her music transcends barriers to facilitate communication, dialogue, and interaction. She represents one of the most brilliant and distinct facets of the Arab cultural heritage, which could be emphasised and further developed on the path towards achieving Arab integration." The collection was overseen by Dr. Henri Awit and edited by poet Ahmed Farhat and Dr. Rafif Reda Sidawi.

Some suggest that Fairuz is the voice of the "Fertile Crescent" (Syria, Palestine, and possibly Iraq) in the land of Canaan and the Nile, as well as the regions of the Arab Maghreb in the west and Mesopotamia and the Arab Gulf in the east. The collection includes testimonials about Fairuz and the Rahbani brothers from various contributors, some of whom living outside their home countries.

Contributors include 14 writers, poets, and researchers from Lebanon and seven others from Syria, Palestine, and Jordan. Four writers from the Gulf, four others from Iraq, three researchers from Morocco, and one poet from Egypt also participated.

Taken together, these testimonials form a comprehensive panorama of Fairuz's impact on the human and cultural scene of the Arab world. Despite holding many titles and attributes, poets, writers, and researchers seem to unanimously agree that Fairuz — along with the "Star of the East" Umm Kulthum — is the voice of Arabs and the Arabic language throughout the world.

Yet, the testimonials only scratch the surface of what Arab poets and writers have written about Fairuz's ethereal voice throughout her long career — spanning from the early 1950s to the recent past.

Impact on poets

Fairuz's voice and charm had a profound impact on many acclaimed poets, including Saeed Akl, a pivotal figure in the Fairuz-Rahbani partnership, as Fairuz sang many of his poems for Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, etc. Poets Nizar Qabbani, Mahmoud Darwish, and Ounsi Al-Hajj were also deeply influenced by her unique talent. In the post-Rahbani era, Fairuz continued to sing the poetry of Joseph Harb, which made her a popular figure throughout the Arab world.

Fairuz is renowned not only for singing about the beauty of Lebanese nature but also for singing about cities and countries throughout the Arab world, including Mecca, Jerusalem, Damascus, Baghdad, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, and Beirut. The Rahbani-Fairuz production prominently featured Palestine, with contributions from poet Saeed Akl. Egyptian Poet Morsi Gameel Aziz stated in his testimonial addressed to the Arab community that Fairuz possesses all the essential qualities.

Flattering testimonials

An Arab intellectual commented that even reading two sentences is enough to light a glimmer in one's heart reserved for Fairuz and her music. In his testimonial, Saeed Hadef, an Algerian, stated that writing about Fairuz prompted him to reflect on six decades of his life within the context of the political and cultural climate of an independent Algeria.

According to Mohamed El-Mazouz, director of the North Africa Centre for Policy, Fairuz is a celestial being whose extraordinary voice is widely recognised. In his testimonial, Lebanese poet Aqel Al-Awit expressed his relentless search for the voice of Fairuz amidst the destruction and chaos of various places, including Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Baghdad, as well as Paris and the United Nations, and the collective consciousness of humanity, to no avail.

Abd al-Ilah Belkaziz, the Moroccan philosophy professor whose testimonial was used to introduce the tribute collection, expressed that Fairuz's voice stands out with its majestic and splendid quality among the great Arab voices. He added that Fairuz's voice belongs to a time when Arabs valued singing and art, a time that preceded the era of banality that has prevailed for the past four decades.

The testimonials contain excerpts from the history of the Rahbani-Fairuz collaboration, which began in the early 1950s on Radio Lebanon, Near East Broadcasting Station, and Radio Damascus.

The Rahbani brothers, Assi and Mansour, crafted a distinctive musical theatre style that drew inspiration from Egyptian Sayed Darwish and played a pivotal role in Fairuz's career, especially in her performances that took place at the Damascus, Baalbek, and Beirut international festivals during the 1960s and the first half of the 1970s. Despite the "political" reasons leading to the closure of borders between Syria and Lebanon, Fairuz's participation in the Damascus International Festival prompted Syrian authorities to reopen them.

The Rahbani brothers drew inspiration for their musical theatre from simple, often heroic folk tales. The lyrics of Fairuz's poetic songs also embody a sense of simplicity that can often convey philosophical ideas.

In his testimonial to Fairuz, Saudi critic Saad Albazei noted that the lyrics of Rahbani songs integrate seamlessly into daily life, and their poetics are derived from relatable details and language reminiscent of the works of Sayed Darwish and Bayram Al-Tunisi, as well as other folklore traditions. In fact, the Rahbani brothers' artistic tastes are largely influenced by the rich tradition of Levantine folklore.

Although musical films were not a part of Egyptian cinema production, the Rahbani brothers produced three films starring Fairuz in the late 1960s and early 1970s: "Biya' el-Khawatim"(The Seller of Rings), "Safar Barlik" (The Exile) and "Najma, Bint Al-Haris" (Najma, The Guard's Daughter). They enlisted the help of Lebanese-origin Egyptian directors Youssef Chahine and Henry Barakat for artistic direction.

Sabri Al-Sharif, a Palestinian who settled in Beirut after the Palestinian Nakba and obtained Lebanese citizenship, played a crucial but lesser-known role in directing the Rahbani brothers' musical works. In addition to managing the folklore dance troupe, he directed most of the Rahbani's theatrical works.

This amalgam of contributors to the Rahbani-Fairuz collaboration from across the Arab world shows that this partnership was a unique phenomenon, bringing together poets, composers, and songwriters from various Arab countries to create captivating lyrical, theatrical, and cinematic productions. The success of this collaboration may be attributed to the prominent role of Lebanon and Beirut during the mid-20th century (1950-1975).

In the aftermath of the civil war (1975-1990), Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri sought to legitimise the reconstruction project of downtown Beirut. To this end, he turned to Fairuz, the star of the Lebanese song, to lend her voice and presence to the project. Despite opposition from cultural voices emanating from the "Lebanese democracy," Fairuz performed a concert in the heart of the destroyed Martyrs' Square in the mid-1990s.

The timeless icon

Fairuz has been compared to the pillars of Baalbek Temple, to which she sang in the late 1950s: "I am a candle on your steps / I am a drop of oil in your lamp." Fairuz was praised for her legendary voice, with some even attributing Lebanon's glory to her.

Even if Fairuz's voice serves as a perpetual symbol of Lebanon in the Arab world, history has left Beirut, Damascus, Baghdad, and Palestine with immortalised legends and icons amidst bloodshed and turmoil. Perhaps the people of these countries failed to realise that relying solely on legends and icons cannot shape history and build societies and nations.