Introduction
The Empire is crumbling, and a rogue prince with a price on his head is left with no choice but to flee with his pregnant wife and kids on a ship across the Mediterranean where , amidst the crashing waves, his wife gives birth to a baby girl whom they name "Hope." It sounds like the beginning to what could be a suspenseful and/or terribly cliche film, so it's hard to believe that this is really the story of one of the first modern Arab celebrities, the Syrian Druze princess turned Egyptian diva, Asmahan. The life of Asmahan at times has been likened to that of Édith Piaf or Princess Diana, and indeed, her life events contain the intrigue of both of these figures combined. The story of Asmahan is among the most interesting biographies of modern history, and has in many ways come to transcend the music of Asmahan itself, despite the fact that she is the voice of some of the most celebrated and cherished recordings in Arabic music history. Asmahan rivaled the iconic Om Kalthoum in fame during her career, and she performed some of the most difficult songs composed in Arabic. Her concerts and recordings were and continue to be adored by millions, and her stunning face with her bright green eyes remains one of the immortal images of Arab music history. The life of Asmahan captivates the masses for all these reasons, but also tells us much about the times she lived in, an extremely formative period for the Modern Arab World.
Biographical Information and CareerAsmahan's youth was directly impacted by the turmoil that affected the region at large, i.e., the fall of the Ottoman Empire. Born Amal al-Atrash, her father was Fahed al-Atrash, a Druze leader from Sweida of the Arab Druze Mountains in modern day Syria serving at that time as Governor of Demirci (western Turkey) in the Ottoman Empire. By 1917, the Empire was crumbling at the hands of the Allies, Britain and France, as World War I dragged on, and fearing for his and his family's safety, Fahed al-Atrash boarded a ship from Izmir to Beirut along with his pregnant wife and children. On that ship the wife of Fahed al-Atrash gave birth to baby Amal in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.
These dramatic and inauspicious beginnings did not foretell the fame and fortune that Amal would soon amass. Soon after their flight, Fahed al-Atrash and his wife Aaliyah Menzer separated, and she left for Cairo with her young children. To support her family, Aaliyah sang and played oud at private parties, and this musical talent was imparted to her children, particularly Amal and her brother Farid, the famous singer and oud player known to the world as Farid al-Atrache (see picture at right for Asmahan with her brother Farid).
Asmahan recorded her first album at the age of sixteen, and was singing at venues such as the prestigious Cairo opera house from the very beginning of her career, working with major composers such as Farid Ghosn, Daoud Hosni, Zakaria Ahmed and Mohamed El Qasabji. However, soon after, she was brought back home to her family's native Sweida in Syria after her cousin, the prince Hassan al-Atrash, asked for her hand in marriage. She had one daughter with Hassan and spent four years as a Druze princess in Sweida, however, this Druze mountain lifestyle did not suit Asmahan who had grown up living in the bustling modern city of Cairo, and thus, she and Hassan divorced and she returned to Egypt. There, Asmahan amassed greater and greater fame, rivaling Om Kalthoum in popularity and starring in two films during the 1940s entitled
Victory of Youth (انتضار الشباب) and
Passion and Revenge (غرام وانتقام).
Asmahan's love life was subject to public scrutiny, which did not prevent her in any way whatsoever from engaging in what was considered scandalous behavior by Egyptian moral standards. Asmahan was linked to many men throughout her career, and she was briefly married to multiple men working in show business, with none of her relationships lasting very long. She was also linked to the journalist Mohamed al'Taba'i. Many Egyptians were outraged and offended by this behavior, which would normally not be allowed due to societal and family pressures, however, they were at the same time drawn to it, and Asmahan's position as a celebrity and indeed powerful woman free of the domination of her family allowed her to occupy the space of the independent working woman of today, the first of her kind in modern Egyptian society.
During World War II, Asmahan became politically involved with the Allies, and was enlisted by the French to serve as an envoy to her people, asking that the Druze side with the Free French and allow them to move freely in Syria, which had come into the hands of the Vichy government after Germany took over France during the War. The Allies were successful in Syria in part due to the cooperation of the Druze, and Asmahan was thanked personally by Charles de Gaulle for her efforts.
This should have been the peak of a long musical and, who knows, political career as princess, singer and movie star, but tragedy befell Asmahan in July of 1944 when her car carrying her and a female friend plunged into the Nile after her driver, who survived, by leaping from the vehicle, lost control. Of course, conspiracy theories abounded. Some said she was assassinated by the British after possibly betraying them and working as a double agent; others said she was killed by the German Gestapo. Certainly either of the two was capable of such an act. Still others blamed her rival Om Kalthoum, or her many former lovers who can have sought revenge. This is added to the fact that Asmahan was known to have had an irrational fear of water from a young age based on an alleged Gypsy prediction. However, the truth was never fully known.
Despite her career being cut short when she was just 36 years old, Asmahan left behind a modest volume of songs. Here is a sampling of songs available on the site:
Is'iniha أسقينيها
Ahwa أهوى
Imta Hataaref إمتى حتعرف translation availableIntisar al Shabab انتصار الشباب
Ayuha al Naim أيها النائم
Ana Illi Estahel أنا اللي أستاهل
Al-Leel الليل
Dakhelt Fi Marra Jenina دخلت في مرة جنينة translation availableRigaet Lak رجعت لكAleek Salat Allah عليك صلاة الله
Kan Lee Amal كان لي أمل
Layali al Uns ليالي الأنس translation availableYa Bida El Ward (يا بدع الورد)Ya Dierti يا ديرتيYa Toyour يا طيور translation availableYa Habibi Taala يا حبيبي تعالtranslation availableAsmahan also starred in two films, the second of which was not released before her death in 1944,
1941: Intisar al Shabab انتصار الشباب
1944: Gharam wa Intiqam غرام وانتقام
Her Music and Impact
Taken apart from her intriguing private and public life and her breathtaking good looks, Asmahan's singing in and of itself was enough to make her an important feature of Egypt's modern cultural history. Asmahan possessed extraordinary vocal abilities and exceptional range, utilizing both Arab and European singing techniques (i.e. singing both from her chest and nose as did Om Kalthoum in addition to using an opera-style head voice, similar to the old Italian singers and Lebanese singer Fairuz), making her especially versatile, as can be seen if one compares "
I Once Entered a Garden (دخلت في مرة جنينة)" and "
Oh Birds (يا طيور)", which are in fact two technically very different parts of the same composition.
However, Asmahan is most noteworthy for her unique social role in the young modern Egyptian society and her continued role in the imagined history of the region, because Asmahan, more than any other celebrity, was directly affected by the tumultuous events of the modern Arab World's becoming, and was at often times, at odds with a society that sought to define her every-changing female role. Sherifa Zuhur comments at length on Asmahan's place in Arab society in her 1988 book Asmahan's Secrets (
click here to read the introduction). The world of Asmahan's family was turned upside-down by the fall of the Ottoman Empire, which marked the beginning of a new era in the modern Arab states. As an immigrant in a truly foreign country (the notion of Syria and Egypt being sister Arab nations had not yet been established) in Cairo, Asmahan was able to take on a liberated alternate persona that allowed her to be a shocking, yet ultimately socially acceptable diva figure in Egyptian society. Asmahan was quite possibly the Arab World's first sex symbol, creating a new kind of entertainment in the new social space of the night clubs and opera houses of British Mandate Cairo. Yet, she was not immune to the effect of patriarchy and traditional rule of the family over the individual. Her return to Sweida, her marriage to her cousin as a teenager, and her eventual pregnancy were all very much contrary to the life that Asmahan seemed to imagine for herself, as she much preferred her celebrity life in Cairo.
Moreover, her political involvement during World War II reflects the uncomfortable and difficult choice with which so many Arab notables of the times were faced; which side to join in a war of outsiders. The French and British had colonized the Middle East and dismantled the Ottoman Empire, which itself was seen as a colonizer by Arabs; yet, in the end many Arabs sided with the Allies during World War II when faced with the possibility of the Third Reich taking over. The details of Asmahan's life are confusing, much like history of the countries of Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Palestine in which she operated. Asmahan's story gives us a sense of the kind of change and upheaval that was taking place in the Arab World of the first half of the 20th century.
And thus, the legend of Asmahan is still being used to legitimize historical narratives of the time. As recently as 2008, a mini-series entiteld Asmahan was launched in Syria starring Syria's most enchanting TV star Sulaf Fawakherji (see right) depicting the events of Asmahan's life, casting it with a very Arab nationalist tone. Perhaps because she died so young, when the Arab nations themselves were in their very infancies, the legend of Asmahan remains one of the juiciest bits of Arab celebrity gossip sixty years after her death, and her music continues to play on Arab radio to this day.
