Oum Kalthoum was born in Tamay ez-Zahayra village in El Senbellawein, Dakahlia Governorate, Egypt. Her birth date is controversial, either 31 December 1898, 31 December 1904 or 4 May, 1904. She died 3 February, 1975.
At a young age, she showed exceptional singing talent. Her father, an Imam, taught her to recite the Qur'an, and she is said to have memorised the entire book. When she was twelve years old, her father disguised her as a young boy and entered her in a small performing troupe that he directed. At the age of sixteen she was noticed by Abol Ela Mohamed, a modestly famous singer, and by the famous oudist Zakariyya Ahmad, who invited her to Cairo. She waited until 1923 before accepting the invitation. She was invited on several occasions to the house of Amin Beh Al Mahdy, who taught her how to play the oud. She developed a very close relationship with Rawyeha Al Mahdy, daughter of Amin, and became her closest friend. Kalthoum even attended Rawheya's daughter's wedding, although she has always tried to avoid public appearances. Amin Al Mahdy introduced her to the cultural circles in Cairo.
At this point in her career, she was introduced to the famous poet Ahmad Rami, who wrote 137 songs for her. Rami also introduced her to French literature, which he greatly admired from his studies at the Sorbonne, Paris, and eventually became her chief mentor in Arabic literature and literary analysis. Furthermore, she was introduced to the renowned lute virtuoso and composer Mohamed El Qasabgi. El Qasabgi introduced Kalthoum to the Arabic Theatre Palace, where she would experience her first real public success. In 1932 her fame increased to the point where she embarked upon a large tour of the Middle East, touring such cities as Damascus, Baghdad, Beirut, and Tripoli, Lebanon.
By 1948 her fame had come to the attention of Gamal Abdel Nasser, who would later become the president of Egypt. At one point the Egyptian musicians guild of which she became a member (and eventually president) rejected her because she had sung for the then-deposed king, Farouk of Egypt. It was his favour that made the musicians' guild accept her back into the fold. In addition, Kalthoum had been a dedicated Egyptian patriot since the time of King Farouk.
Her songs deal mostly with the universal themes of love, longing and loss. A typical concert consisted of the performance of two or three songs over a period of three to six hours. In the late 1960s, due to her age, she began to shorten her performances to two songs over a period of two and a half to three hours. The duration of her songs in performance was not fixed, but varied based on the level of emotional interaction between the singer and her audience. A typical improvisatory technique of hers was to repeat a single phrase or sentence of a song's lyrics over and over, subtly altering the emotive emphasis and intensity each time to bring her audiences into a euphoric and ecstatic state. Thus, while the official recorded length of a song such as "Enta omri" (You Are My Life) is approximately sixty minutes, a live performance could extend to many hours, as the singer and her audience fed off each other's emotional energy. This intense, highly personalised creative relationship was undoubtedly one of the reasons for Kalthoum's tremendous success as an artist.
In 1967 Kalthoum was diagnosed with a severe case of nephritis. She gave her last concert at the Palace of the Nile in 1973. Tests at that time indicated that her illness was incurable. She moved to the United States, where she benefited for some time from the advanced medical technology, but in 1975, upon re-entering her home country, she required hospitalisation due to declining health. She died in a Cairo hospital on 3rd February 1975.
Her funeral was attended by over four million mourners – one of the largest gatherings in history – and descended into pandemonium when the crowd seized control of her coffin and carried it to a mosque that they considered her favourite, before later releasing the coffin for burial.
Aghadan Alkak
Oum Kalthoum Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
يالشوقي وإحتراقي في إنتظار الموعد
آه كم أخشى غدي هذا وأرجوه إقترابا
كنت أستدنيه لكن هبته لما أهابا
وأهلت فرحة القرب به حين استجابا
هكذا أحتمل العمر نعيماً وعذابا
مهجة حرة وقلباً مسه الشوق فذابا
أغداً ألقاك
أنت يا جنة حبي واشتياقي وجنوني
أنت يا قبلة روحي وانطلاقي وشجوني
أغداً تشرق أضواؤك في ليل عيوني
آه من فرحة أحلامي ومن خوف ظنوني
كم أناديك وفي لحني حنين ودعاء
آه رجائي أنا كم عذبني طول الرجاء
أنا لو لا أنت لم أحفل بمن راح وجاء
أناأحيا لغد آن بأحلام اللقاء
فأت أو لا تأتي أو فإفعل بقلبي ما تشاء
أغداً ألقاك
هذه الدنيا كتاب أنت فيه الفكر
هذه الدنيا ليال أنت فيها العمر
هذه الدنيا عيون أنت فيها البصر
هذه الدنيا سماء أنت فيها القمر
فإرحم القلب الذي يصبو إليك
فغداً تملكه بين يديك
وغداً تأتلف الجنة أنهاراً وظلاّ
وغداً ننسى فلا نأسى على ماضٍ تولّى
وغداً نسهو فلا نعرف للغيب محلا
وغداً للحاضر الزاهر نحيا ليس إلا
قد يكون الغيب حلواً . إنما الحاضر أحلى
The lyrics to Oum Kalthoum's song Aghadan Alkak convey a sense of longing and anticipation for a lover or beloved. The singer expresses fear and hope for the future, waiting eagerly for the promised meeting. The first stanza describes the singer's heart filled with fear for the future and passion for the meeting to come. The second stanza describes the lover as the source of the singer's happiness, desire, and madness. The third and final stanza speaks of the transience of life and the importance of cherishing the present moment.
The song's emotional power lies in its arrangement of language and melody. Oum Kalthoum's signature vocal style, with its long, flowing lines and expressive vocal techniques, paired with the repetitive and mournful melody, conjure a mood of bittersweet longing and deep emotion.
Line by Line Meaning
أغداً ألقاك يا خوف فؤادي من غدٍ
Tomorrow, I will see you, my source of anxiety and anticipation.
يالشوقي وإحتراقي في إنتظار الموعد
Oh, how I long for you and burn with desire while waiting for our meeting.
آه كم أخشى غدي هذا وأرجوه إقترابا
How I fear and hope for the arrival of tomorrow.
كنت أستدنيه لكن هبته لما أهابا
I used to beg for its arrival, but now it comes too fast when I'm scared.
وأهلت فرحة القرب به حين استجابا
And when it comes, it brings the joy of closeness to you, for which I prayed.
هكذا أحتمل العمر نعيماً وعذابا
This is how I endure life, with its pleasures and pains alike.
مهجة حرة وقلباً مسه الشوق فذابا
A free spirit and a heart melted by desire.
أنت يا جنة حبي واشتياقي وجنوني
You are my paradise, my longing, and my madness.
أنت يا قبلة روحي وانطلاقي وشجوني
You are the direction of my soul, my liberation, and my sorrows.
أغداً تشرق أضواؤك في ليل عيوني
Tomorrow, your light will shine in the darkness of my eyes.
آه من فرحة أحلامي ومن خوف ظنوني
Oh, the joy of my dreams and the fear of my doubts.
كم أناديك وفي لحني حنين ودعاء
How I call for you with my melodies of longing and prayer.
آه رجائي أنا كم عذبني طول الرجاء
Oh, my hope, how it tortured me with its prolonged waiting.
أنا لو لا أنت لم أحفل بمن راح وجاء
If it weren't for you, I would not have cared about those who come and go.
أناأحيا لغد آن بأحلام اللقاء
I live for tomorrow, the day we'll meet in my dreams.
فأت أو لا تأتي أو فإفعل بقلبي ما تشاء
So come or don't come, or do whatever you want with my heart.
هذه الدنيا كتاب أنت فيه الفكر
This world is a book in which you are my thought.
هذه الدنيا ليال أنت فيها العمر
This world is nights in which you are my life.
هذه الدنيا عيون أنت فيها البصر
This world is eyes in which you are my sight.
هذه الدنيا سماء أنت فيها القمر
This world is a sky in which you are my moon.
فإرحم القلب الذي يصبو إليك
So have mercy on the heart that aspires to you.
فغداً تملكه بين يديك
For tomorrow, you will own it in your hands.
وغداً تأتلف الجنة أنهاراً وظلاّ
And tomorrow, paradise will embrace us with rivers and shades.
وغداً ننسى فلا نأسى على ماضٍ تولّى
And tomorrow, we'll forget and not grieve for the past that has passed.
وغداً نسهو فلا نعرف للغيب محلا
And tomorrow, we'll be oblivious and unaware of the unknown.
وغداً للحاضر الزاهر نحيا ليس إلا
And tomorrow, we'll live only for the bright present.
قد يكون الغيب حلواً . إنما الحاضر أحلى
The unknown may be sweet, but the present is sweeter.
Contributed by Jason C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@user-yi7qs2qi3l
أغدا ألقاك ؟ يا خوف فؤادى من غدي
يالشوقى واحتراقى فى انتظار الموعد
آه كم أخشى غدي هذا وأرجوه إقترابا
كنت أستدنيه لكن هبتهُ لما أهابَ
وأهلت فرحة القرب به حين إستجابَ
هكذا أحتمل العمر نعيماً وعذابا
مهجة حرى وقلباً مسه الشوق فذابَ
أغداً ألقاك؟
*
أنت يا جنة حبى واشتياقى وجنونى
أنت يا قبلة روحى وإنطلاقى وشجونى
أغداً تشرق أضواؤك فى ليل عيونى ؟
آه من فرحة أحلامى ومن خوف ظنونى
كم أناديك وفى لحنى حنينُ ودعاء
يا رجائى أنا كم عذبنى طول الرجاء
أنا لولا أنت أنت لم أحفل بمن راح وجاء
أنا أحيا بغدى ألآن بأحلام اللقاء
فأتِ أو لا تأتِ أو فافعل بقلبى ما تشاء
هكذا أحتمل العمر نعيماً وعذابا
مهجة حرى وقلباً مسه الشوق فذابَ
أغداً ألقاك؟
*
هذه الدنيا كتاب أنت فيه الفِكَرُ
هذه الدنيا ليالٍ أنت فيها العمر
هذه الدنيا عيون أنت فيها البصر
هذه الدنيا سماء أنت فيها القمر
فارحم القلب الذى يصبو إليك
فغداً تملكه بين يديك
وغداً تأتلق الجنة أنهارا وظلا
وغدا ننسى فلا نأسى على ماضٍ تولى
وغداً نسموا فلا نعرف للغيب محلا
وغداً للحاضر الزاهر نحيا ليس إلا
قد يكون الغيب حلوا
إنما الحاضر أحلى
هكذا أحتمل العمر نعيماً وعذابا
مهجة حرى وقلباً مسه الشوق فذابَ
@Jafar_88
وغداً تأتلق الجنة أنهاراً وظلاّ
وغداً ننسى فلا نأسى على ماضٍ تولّى
وغداً نزهو فلا نعرف للغيب محلا
وغداً للحاضر الزاهر نحيا ليس إلا
قد يكون الغيب حلواً .. إنما الحاضر أحلى
@user-di8yf6cn5m
من يستمع لهذه الرائعة ب ٢٠٢٤
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Me too -- Missed Egypt very much!
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