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.
Ya zalemni
Oum Kalthoum Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
يا ظالمني يا هجرني وقلبي من رضاك محروم
تلوعني وتكويني تحيرني وتضنيني
ولما أشكي تخاصمني وتغضب لما أقولك يوم
يا ظالمني
حرام تهجر وتتجنى وتنسى كل ما جرى لي
واقضي العمر وأتمنى يصادف يوم وتصفى لي
صبرت سنين على صدك وقاسيت الضنى ف بعدك
وتهجرني وتنساني وتتركني لأشجاني
ولما اشكي تخاصمني وتغضب لما اقول لك يوم
يا ظالمني
أطاوع في هواك قلبي وانسى الكل علشانك
وادوق المر في حبي بكاس صدك وهجرانك
ويزداد الجوى بي يبان الدمع في عنيه
ويكثر في هواك اللوم
وابات ابكي على حالي وتفرح في عذالي
ولما اشكي تخاصمني وتغضب لما أقول لك يوم
يا ظالمني
حكيت لك من سبب نوحي ونار الوجد في دموعي
وبان للناس ضنى روحي وتعذيبي وتلويعي
رحمني اللي فرح في وبعد اللوم رأف
وقلبك ما رحمني يوم
بقى العازل يدوق كاسي وقلبك يا ضنين قاسي
ولما اشكي تخاصمني وتغضب لما اقول لك
يا ظالمني
In "Ya Zalemni," Oum Kalthoum, the legendary Egyptian singer, sings about an unrequited love that has left her heartbroken and deprived. The song is a plea to the lover who has abandoned her to show her mercy and understand her pain. She describes how her lover's actions haunt her, confuse her, and make her suffer. She tries to forget him, but her heart remains hard-wired to him. She talks about how she has waited for years for his return and how she has endured the pain of his absence.
As the song progresses, the singer becomes more and more despondent, expressing her desperation and deep emotional unrest. She talks about how she continues to love him, despite his cruel treatment of her. She compares her love to a bitter cup that she drinks every day, hoping he will change his ways and come back to her. She describes how her tears flow freely when she thinks of him and how she feels abandoned and alone.
In the end, the singer accepts her fate, realizing that her lover is never coming back. She talks about how she has moved on, but she still longs for him to show her some kindness and mercy.
Overall, "Ya Zalemni" is a poignant and moving song that captures the pain and sorrow of unrequited love. It is a testament to Oum Kalthoum's incredible talent as a singer and her ability to convey deep emotions through music.
Line by Line Meaning
يا ظالمني يا هجرني وقلبي من رضاك محروم
Oh, you who wronged me, abandoned me and deprived my heart from your approval.
تلوعني وتكويني تحيرني وتضنيني
You torment me, confuse me, and oppress me.
ولما أشكي تخاصمني وتغضب لما أقولك يوم
And when I complain, you argue with me and get angry when I speak to you.
حرام تهجر وتتجنى وتنسى كل ما جرى لي
It's not fair to abandon, reject, and forget everything that has happened to me.
واقضي العمر وأتمنى يصادف يوم وتصفى لي
And I spend my life hoping for a day when you will forgive me.
صبرت سنين على صدك وقاسيت الضنى ف بعدك
I have endured for years your rejection and suffered greatly after you left.
عشان تعطف علي يوم
I hoped you would have mercy on me one day.
تهجرني وتنساني وتتركني لأشجاني
You abandon me, forget me, and leave me to my sorrows.
أطاوع في هواك قلبي وانسى الكل علشانك
I try to follow my heart and forget everyone else because of you.
وادوق المر في حبي بكاس صدك وهجرانك
I taste bitterness in my love for you, drinking from the cup of your rejection and abandonment.
ويزداد الجوى بي يبان الدمع في عنيه
My passion increases and tears flow from my eyes.
ويكثر في هواك اللوم
And the blame for all of this is placed on my love for you.
وابات أبكي على حالي وتفرح في عذالي
I spend my nights crying over my own fate while you take pleasure in my misery.
حكيت لك من سبب نوحي ونار الوجد في دموعي
I told you about the reason for my anguish and the fire of longing in my tears.
وبان للناس ضنى روحي وتعذيبي وتلويعي
And my soul's distress, my torment and my suffering were made apparent to the people.
رحمني اللي فرح في وبعد اللوم رأف
God has pity on me, who feels joy in my affliction and shows mercy after the blame.
وقلبك ما رحمني يوم
But your heart never showed me mercy.
بقى العازل يدوق كاسي وقلبك يا ضنين قاسي
I am left alone to taste my cup of bitterness while your heart remains cold and unfeeling.
ولما أشكي تخاصمني وتغضب لما أقول لك يا ظالمني
And when I complain, you argue with me and get angry when I speak to you, oh you who wronged me.
Contributed by Elijah Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@anaanawi8319
سحر الالحان لرياض السنباطي وعذوبه صوت الست ينقلك من عالم الواقع المليء بالصخب والضجيج الى عالم السكون وصفاء الذهن حيث يجتمع الفؤاد والروح في بحر الحب الخالد
@user-ue4wb9nd3p
صوت شجي ينقلك الى هواء عليل فيه نسمات من لهوء البارد تتراقص بين طيات اللحن والغناء فتعوم في دنيا لم يكن بها هموم ولا وجع فتعيش في ملكوت المغنى
@bxbdxhhhd
اوااه على كلام م ش اله
@You-yy9ex
ايام كان الملحن يلحن من إحساسه... والكاتب يكتب من صميم قلبه. والمطرب يغني بكل ذرات مشاعره... تخرج هكذا تحفه نادره وخياليه... أحمد من العراق
@user-ig4ny6wl7s
عندما يجتمع السنباطي وأحمد رامي وأم كلثوم يتكون هرم من اهرامات مصر العظيمة اللحن والكلمات والصوت والإحساس..فن راقي لن يتكرر في عالم السلطنة والطرب رحمهم الله جميعا
@semsemghaly
بالله عليكم كثرة الإعلا نات المتتالىه بتقطع علينا. شغفنا لانصاتناوتمتعنا الشا غف للاستمتاع والراحه النفسيه .بارك الله فيكم حبا يبنا فى الله.........
@Tallooly
ثلاثة اهرام من معجزات الله ف كونه خصوصا السنباطي ذا مو طبيعي ابدا ابدا
@user-wu9qh8qx7i
لو تشابهت الأذواق لبارت السلع.....
@bxbdxhhhd
وقل ربي اغفر وارحم وانت خير الراحمين.
@bxbdxhhhd
@@Talloolyاسمه رياض يعني جنات و خبرات و فن و.و.و.و.و