Umm Kulthum or Fairuz?
The newspaper Al-Rai posed a question worthy of discussion in its arts section: “Planet of the East or Neighbor of the Moon... Who is first?” in an attempt to compare two of the greatest voices known to Arabic singing.
The question appears beautiful, but Umm Kulthum and Fairuz are not two steps on the same ladder; rather, they are two distinct artistic schools that met at the summit but took different paths to reach it.
Umm Kulthum was a school in her own right; a school of great Arabic musical ecstasy, poetry, long melodies, improvisation, and the exceptional ability to hold the stage and the audience spellbound and emotionally engaged for hours.
Fairuz, too, was a school in her own right; she had her own world, a voice unlike any other, and songs that enter the memory quietly, blending poetry, music, imagery, place, and nostalgia.
Umm Kulthum, by contrast, was not a captive of the night or the evening gathering; she sang for the morning, light, life, and the farmer, as well as for love, homeland, festivals, and humanity.
In our collective consciousness, there is “O good morning, O you who are with us,” just as there is “O Eid night, you have comforted us.”
In our collective consciousness, there is Fairuz singing “Mecca” and “Flower of Cities,” just as there is Umm Kulthum singing for the homeland, humanity, and the land.
Thus, the issue is not that one sings for the morning and the other for the evening, nor that one is for musical ecstasy and the other for tranquility; both managed to traverse different emotional and thematic spaces when the melody and poetry so willed.
The first has an audience that awaits the moment of musical ecstasy, while the second has an audience that finds itself in a musical phrase, a word, or a melody.
But in both cases, the audience seeks the same thing: feeling.
A great artist is not merely one who possesses the highest voice, but one who can make their voice live in the hearts of people.
Umm Kulthum does not need to descend from her position for Fairuz to rise, nor does Fairuz need to take a step back for Umm Kulthum to remain at the summit.
Rather, their coexistence is what created a significant part of the glory of Arabic singing in the twentieth century.
Each of them gave her audience a space for ecstasy, love, melancholy, pain, joy, and nostalgia, and each left a mark that is difficult to replicate.
So, if there must be an answer to Al-Rai’s poll, my answer is:
I do not choose one over the other; because when I choose Umm Kulthum, I cannot deny Fairuz, and when I choose Fairuz, I cannot ignore Umm Kulthum.
They are not competitors for the summit... They are among the summits that shaped the history of Arabic singing.
