The legend of the Arabic song Asmahan, is the soul whose earthly experience was not long, but whose voice remained a long-term memory. That voice which was and still is able to express what we hide in our hearts and the messages we carry in our minds has remained in order to remind us of the beauty, depth, and sophistication of the Arabic song.
Amal Fahd al-Atrash, Princess of Tarab, was born at sea and died by drowning. She was the only daughter who stayed alive in a family geographically dispersed in more than one country. Her family belongs to the Al-Atrash clan in Syria, among whom were men who played an important role in political life; such as Sultan Pasha Al-Atrash, the leader of the Syrian revolution against the French occupation. The family moved from Turkey to live in Syria, and during this journey, Asmahan was born on a ship in the Mediterranean.
The family settled in Jabal Al-Druze (Mount Al-Druze) in Syria until the outbreak of the Great Syrian Revolution and the prince joined the revolution. Her mother, Princess Alia Munther, was forced to leave Jabal al-Druze in Syria and travel with her children to Egypt. After the happy life that the family had in Jabal al-Druze, they suffered from misery and poverty in Egypt, which prompted the mother to work in monasteries and sing at private wedding parties to support and educate her three children. [1]
Asmahan had no beginning, as she was created with a great voice; and its echo was deeply influential since her early childhood. She used to sing at home and at school, imitating Umm Kulthum and repeating the songs of Abdel Wahab and her brother Farid al-Atrash.
One day, her brother Farid received in their home the composer Dawood Hosni, one of the greatest musicians in Egypt, who overheard Asmahan’s voice while singing in her room. He insisted on seeing her immediately and asked her to sing again. He was impressed by the performance and said: “I was training a girl who was similar to you in beauty and voice, but she passed away before becoming famous, so I like to call you by her name Asmahan. [2]
Also read: Thuraya Al-Hafez.
Asmahan sang with her brother Farid in Mary Mansour’s Hall on Emad El Din Street, where she had previously experienced this with her mother at wedding parties and on local radio.
After that, she abandoned her musical career when she got married to her cousin, Prince Hassan Al-Atrash, who requested that when she moved to Syria. It did not take long for the Princess of Tarab to return to her musical career when she got divorced from her cousin, and then returned to Cairo.
The beauty of Asmahan and her great voice allowed her to enter the world of cinema. Her first movie was ‘Intisar Al-Shabab’ in 1941 with her brother Farid Al-Atrash, in which she sang “Eidy Fi Eidek Tssir” and many other songs.
After that, in 1944, she acted in her second and last movie, ‘Gharam W Intikam’, in which she recorded a collection of her most beautiful and most popular songs, such as: ‘Layali El-ons Fi Vienna’, in which she expressed, with the warmth of her voice, the magic of the moments that we enjoy in heaven when she sang ‘Loved ones are on both sides, What else remains for this to be the Heaven?’ She also sang ‘Emataa hataerif (When will you know?)’, ‘Ana Eli Estahel (I am the one who deserves)’, etc. Unfortunately, this film that presented us with Asmahan’s most beautiful songs marked the end of her life.
She recorded the song ‘Mahlaha Eishat El Falah’ in the movie ‘Yawm Saeid’, which was composed by Mohamed Abdel Wahab, who later recorded it with his voice. She also recorded the song ‘If Only Al Buraq Had an Eye’ in the movie ‘Laila Bint Al Sahraa’. Asmahan has sung with Mohamed Abdel Wahab in the operetta ‘Majnoun Laila’. She also sang many songs from Muhammad Al-Qasabji’s melodies, which are ‘Ya Toyor’, ‘Isqiniha’, ‘Kalema Ya Nur Al-Ain’, etc. [3]
Although her artistic career was not long, she remained present in the minds of the generations that came after her, as a television series on Asmahan’s life by Nabil Al-Maleh and directed by Tunisian director Shawki Al-Majri. The Syrian actress Sulaf Fawakherji played the role of Asmahan, Ahmed Shaker Abdel Latif as the role of Farid Al-Atrash, and Ward ALKhal as their mother. Some opinions were strongly opposed to the series, as it was considered to distort the biography of Asmahan and her image in the minds of her fans, and some of them considered the series to be close to the truth. [4]
There were some rumors about her work as a spy, but it is likely that she refused to continue performing the tasks assigned to her and retracted. It was also said that she loved extravagance, and she loved doing good as well.
Asmahan did not want to sing to earn money, but rather she sang for her sake, her mother’s sake, and the ones she loved. With her art, she was able to reach the feelings hidden in our chests, and her voice remained a legacy of the Arabic song.
♀️ Uplifting Syrian Women Initiative aims at sustainable peace building in Syria through targeting women and providing them with free online courses, workshops, discussion sessions and trainings, with a view to achieving the goals of Gender Equality, Quality Education and Decent Work and Economic Growth, which all fall into the interest of society as a whole and serve the purpose of rebuilding it.
References:
[1] ERTU
[2] Marefa
[3] Arageek