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.
Madam Teheb
Oum Kalthoum Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
دا اللى يحب يبان فى عينيه
تصد عنى وتهجرنى واكلمك تهرب منى
وان غبت يوم تسأل عنى
واعرف هواك ساعة لقاك من طول جفاك
واللى يحب يبان فى عينيه
مدام تحب بتنكر ليه
لو كنت عايز تراضينى
وتصالح النوم على عينى
كنت اشتكيلك تواسينى
وتشوف عنيا راضيه الاسيه
تعطف عليا
واللى يحب يبان فى عنيه
مدام تحب بتنكر ليه
لكن فؤادك يهوانى
واعرف هواك من وجدانى
هو انت تقدر تسلانى
وانا بين يديك اشكى اليك
واشوف عينيك
واللى يحب يبان فى عينيه
مدام تحب بتنكر ليه
The song "Madam Teheb" by Oum Kalthoum is a timeless classic about the pain of unrequited love. In the opening lines of the song, the singer acknowledges that the person they love tries to hide their feelings, but true love cannot be concealed. The singer then describes the ways in which this person has hurt them - by turning away from them, abandoning them, and avoiding conversation when they try to reach out. Despite this behavior, the singer knows that if they ever disappeared, this person would miss them and realize how much they truly love them.
In the second stanza, the singer addresses the object of their affection directly and asks them to make amends. They plead with them to show compassion and concern, to lighten the load that their heart bears. They express their desire for comfort and to be consoled by this person. Finally, the singer acknowledges that this person has the power to ease their pain, if only they would be willing to open their heart and listen to their woes.
The overall message of the song is that love cannot be hidden or ignored forever - eventually, the truth will be revealed, and those who truly love will continue to love, despite the pain and suffering that comes along with it.
Line by Line Meaning
مدام تحب بتنكر ليه
Why do you pretend not to love me?
دا اللى يحب يبان فى عينيه
Love is evident in the eyes.
تصد عنى وتهجرنى واكلمك تهرب منى
You ignore me, abandon me, and run away from me when I speak to you.
وان غبت يوم تسأل عنى
If I disappear one day, you will ask about me.
واعرف هواك ساعة لقاك من طول جفاك
I know your feelings only when I see you after a long period of ignoring me.
لو كنت عايز تراضينى
If you wanted to make peace with me,
وتصالح النوم على عينى
And put my mind at ease,
كنت اشتكيلك تواسينى
I would have complained to you and you would have comforted me.
وتشوف عنيا راضيه الاسيه
And you would have seen my eyes content and at peace.
تعطف عليا
Show compassion for me.
لكن فؤادك يهوانى
But your heart despises me.
واعرف هواك من وجدانى
I know your feelings from the depths of my soul.
هو انت تقدر تسلانى
You are capable of comforting me.
وانا بين يديك اشكى اليك
And I come to you, complaining of my troubles.
واشوف عينيك
And I look into your eyes.
Contributed by Connor V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@jamalalazzawi
لا يروق لي يوم دون سماع هذه الاغنية .... اعتبرها مفتاح لأمل يومي القادم ... أبدع القصبجي وتألقت هبة الله ( ام كلثوم) .. انها لغز الحياة
@cemilaalc6059
👍🌺🌹
@labeebsabbar4181
احسنت على ادب الكلام
@ngidrissi
فكرة جميلة سأحاول استخدامها لبداية يوم يكون تحت رمز النغم والطرب الأصيل
@hanisongs7910
الله على التعليق !
@catamandow1
انا اوافقك تماما , هذه الاغنيه جميله وساحره وفيها شئ غريب يجعلك تدمن على سماعها بأستمرار
@kamalhizam5644
حرااام والله ..القصبجي مظلوم واغانيه مظلومه ....لحن سهل ممتنع ..يتغلغل في النفس بسهوله ...ابداااع
@mh-ih7it
الوحيد اللي كان نفسي يلحنلها اكتر من كده
@miladummkulthum374
ايوة فعلا
@mohamedabdalhamed6638
Ok CNN. Been an app. Been so @@miladummkulthum374 لا هخسرر