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 The eldest child in Haddad's family was a girl named Nouhad (meaning "sigh" or "splendour"), who would later grow up to be Fairuz, one of the most famous singers of the Middle East and a legend in her own time
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From her early childhood, Fairuz displayed natural flair for singing. Many a winter night, in the neighborhood gatherings she would surprise everyone by suddenly bursting out into a song. The father put aside some of his meager income for his children's education, so Fairuz was able to attend school, where her voice was immediately recognised as having a unique quality that could transmute ordinary national hymns into something beguiling. Fairuz had a keen artistic sensibility and a memory so sharp that she was able to learn by heart in two hours four pages of poetry or five of notation.
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Her first song was composed by Halim Al-Rumi,
with words by Michael Awadh, and went : I left my heart to follow you but
ended up burning far away from your love. The second one in an atmosphere
of magic and beauty was in a Egyptian dialect. Al-Rumi, so excited about
the talent he had discovered, introduced Fairuz to Assi Rahbani, a
policeman by profession and an aspiring composer who was already aware of
the talented new voice and was anxious to me her. |
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The young singer was known to her listeners as Yola or as Fatat Al Jabal (mountain girl). Al-Rumi suggested she take the "stage name" Fairuz (which means "turquoise") because her voice reminded him of a precious stone |
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One day Fairuz, in passing, told Assi that she did not like the way he paid attention to a certain girl in the station. This innocent remark did not go unnoticed. She still kept to herself and persisted in her obstinate rejection of the idea of marriage. But on a certain spring day in 1953, while they practicing together at the edge of a pond, Assi Repeated an earlier offer of marriage. This time Fairuz said yes. |
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