The Star of the East
The Diva of Arabic Song
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She granted more interviews during which she spoke about her life, repeatedly identifying
herself as a villager, a fallahah or peasant, who shared a cultural background and essential
values with the majority of the Egyptian populace. Her interviews were full of stories of
her family, her neighbors, and the familial qualities of village life.
She cultivated the position of spokeswoman for various causes. She advocated
governmental support of Arabic music and musicians, she endowed a charitable
foundation and, most importantly, after the Egyptian defeat in the 1967 war, she began a
series of domestic and international concerts for Egypt. She travelled throughout Egypt
and the Arab world, collecting contributions and donating the proceeds of her
performances to the government of Egypt. These concerts were much publicized and took
on the character of state visits. Umm Kulthum was entertained by heads of state, she
toured cultural monuments, and, in interviews, repeated her views concerning the
importance of support for indigenous Arab culture. More than a musician, she became
'the voice and face of Egypt'."
*(Excerpt from Virginia Louise Danielson's Shaping tradition in Arabic song: The
career and repertory of Umm Kulthum.)
Umm Kolthoum: Chronicle of her Life
Umm Kolthoum was born in a small rural village to a poor family. Her background typified that of the mashayikh
and did not differ substantially from that of many
of her contemporaries. Her father, al-Shaykh Ibrahim al-Sayyid al-Beltagy (d. 1932), was the imam of the local
mosque, and her mother, Fatima al-Melgji (d. 1947), was a housewife.
Her date of birth is not known for certain, but the most reliable suggestion is May 4, 1904, according to a the
Daqahliyah provincial birth records for Tammay al-Zahayrah village.
Umm Kolthoum's father augmented his meager income from the mosque by singing religious songs for weddings
and other celebrations in his own and neighboring villages. Upon meeting him in 1917, Zakariya Ahmad remarked
that he was "an extremely devout and pious man" and so he seemed to many others who saw him later in Cairo.
Umm Kolthoum's mother cared for the children: Umm Kolthoum, her sister, Sayyidah, about ten years older, and
her brother, Khalid, who was one year older.
Umm Kolthoum was her last child. She described her mother as a good woman who lived simply and taught her
children the importance of truth, humility and trust in God.
The family lived in the village of Tammay al-Zahayrah near the city of al-Sinbillawayn in the Delta province of
Daqahliyah (See Map 1). The village consisted of 278 dwellings that housed 1,665 people, or about 6 people per
hearth. As Umm Kolthoum later described it,
"It was a humble village. The highest building in it did not exceed two stories. The greatest display of wealth was
the umdah's carriage pulled by one horse! . . And there was only one street in the whole village wide enough for
the umdah's carriage . . . I sang in the neighboring villages, all of which were small. I thought that the
city of al-Sinbillawayn was the biggest city in the world and I used to listen to news about it the same way one
would listen now to news about New York or London or Paris."
The family house was a small one made of mud brick; they owned no other property.
When she was about five years old, Umm Kolthoum entered the kuttab, or Qur'an school, in her village that her
older brother Khalid attended. Upon the death of the shaykh their teacher, the children were sent to the school in
the neighboring village of izbat al-Hawwal, several kilometers away. Umm Kolthoum remained a
student there for three years.
In the rural school, Umm Kolthoum memorized sections of the Qur'an and also may have acquired rudimentary
skills in reading and writing.
Umm Kolthoum learned to sing from her father. She overheard him teaching songs to her brother, who was
supposed to accompany his father at the celebrations for which al-Shaykh Ibrahim sang. Umm Kolthoum learned
the songs by rote. When al-Shaykh Ibrahim discovered what she had learned and heard the unusual
strength of her voice, he asked her to join the lessons. Umm Kolthoum began performing in her own village at the
house of the umdah on an occasion when Khalid felt ill.
Because of her youth and exceptionally strong voice, the child became an attraction for the group and eventually
its premiere singer. As their opportunities increased, the family traveled farther and farther afield, often on foot.
Umm Kolthoum later reflected that it seemed to her they walked the entire Delta before they ever set foot in
Cairo. They were able to charge increasingly large fees, rising to LE.10 ($50) per evening by 1920.
A number of people encouraged Umm Kolthoum and her father to consider going to Cairo to further her career in
the center of the entertainment business. Her family was reluctant to do this, saying they did not know the city and
had no close relatives nor any assurance of work there. The subject of Cairo remained under
discussion for several years.