Fairuz, Music and Lebanon: The Legend of Arabs Musical History

Dina Sarayra 7/12/2021

Arab Culture

You won’t need an Arabic learning app for this one: music.

So if you are interested in Arabic, you will definitely love its music. In fact, Arabic culture itself celebrates music through the voices of many talented singers. In the Arab world, there is great festival called Baalbeck International Festival that brings together these voices. This festival is as old as six decades. You could say that it is quite prestigious due to its age.

Even if you haven’t been there before, you will surely hear a lot of the music that is will be playing.

Arabic Music and Arab Songs

Songs in Arabic rely a lot on the skill of the singer. That’s why, when you hear an Arabic singer, you will absolutely be shocked. One famous Lebanese singer is Fairuz. Some people take it as far as learning Arabic through her music.

Arabic listening practice is easy through music because all you are doing is listening.

Who is Fairuz?

This woman is a legend in the Arab world. Her life started quite the opposite. She lived in a poor home in Beirut, Lebanon. Of course, she wasn’t living alone. A number of families were living together in this one house.

The Beginning of Her Voice

Her voice started coming out early in her childhood. The story goes that she would listen to music as she is sitting on the ledge of the window. The music, however, would be playing from the neighbour’s home as they couldn’t afford a radio. With all her daily chores, she would sing as much as she can. One day, just at the age of 14, an important man named Mohammed Flayfil caught her singing. He was a renowned musician at the time.

How It Down After That

You will always hear stories of how parents stood in the way of their children. This is especially true when leaving school. This is exactly what Fairuz’s father did. He was against the idea of her leaving school for the sake singing, especially at such a young age.

However, with persistence from family members, she managed to make it into the Lebanese radio station.

Fairuz means turquoise and is her stage name. Her real name is Nuhud Wadi’ Haddad. According to Halem Al Roumi, which is the man behind making Fairuz who she is today, he called her Fairuz because her voice was a rare gem.

The Significance of Her Music

Besides her voice, Fairuz represent Lebanon and the Arab world in general. She sang songs that made people want to wake up in the morning. The term “Fairuziat” means “songs of Fairuz”. It Is quite a modern term. These are songs which people listened to in the morning. They are calm and soothing. They are comforting to any listener.

She based a lot of her music on real poetry written by great poets such as Gibran Khalil Gibran and Said Aql.

Her Family and Personal Life

She met her husband during the time of her career. Assi Rahbi was also a singer. He even wrote a song for to sing. It made a huge difference in her career. Their marriage gave them four children.

However, she stopped singing a long time ago. She also doesn’t appear in public except on very rare occasions.

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