The story of Abdel Halim Hafez, one of the most beautiful and iconic voices in all of Arabic and Egyptian music. The Origins of Abdel Halim Hafez Abdel Halim Hafez (pseudonym of Abdel Halim Ali Shabana) was born on June 21, 1929, in El Halawat, in the Shaqia Governorate, 80 km north of Cairo.

He was the fourth child of Ali Ismail Shabanah. His mother died a few days after giving birth, and his father also died a few months later, fueling rumors that Abdel Halim himself was a bad luck charmer.

After their father’s death, he and his siblings found themselves living in an orphanage in abject poverty, only to be adopted several years later by uncles who lived in Cairo. From the age of 14, he was noted for his incredible ability to reinterpret Mohammed Abdel Wahab’s songs in various bars and clubs.

His chance came in 1953, when he replaced Karim Mahmoud in a radio show, achieving his first real national successes. The most beautiful voice in Egypt His voice was in fact heard by Mohammed Abdel Wahab himself, with whom he began one of the best collaborations ever in Arab music, so much so that together they produced his famous Ahwak, still today one of the most famous and re-interpreted in the entire Arab world.

From that moment on, he began an unparalleled rise to fame in the hearts and ears of all Egyptians and lovers of Arabic music. His fame spread throughout the Arab world and beyond, to the point that he became a personal friend of several heads of state, including Gamal Abdel Nasser and King Hassan II of Morocco.

However, it must be said that he always had an incredible reputation for fairness toward others, regardless of their origins or wealth, so much so that in 1969 he built a public hospital open to all. Death and Legacy Unfortunately, Abdel Halim Hafez suffered throughout his life from Schistosomiasis, a chronic disease that led to cirrhosis of the liver, which resulted in his death on March 30, 1977.

Despite his short career, Abdel Halim Hafez is still remembered today as one of the greatest Egyptian and Arab voices of all time, so much so that his music is still loved and celebrated as if it had just been released; a timeless story that also carries the memory of an extraordinary and perhaps unrepeatable Egypt that enchanted the world between the 1950s and 1970s. Abdel Halim Hafez will be one of the protagonists of the ‘Guide’ to Egypt by Medio Oriente e Dintorni, to be released on 25 January, playing a central role in the section on the 1950s.

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