The Mu’tazila Lebanese artist, Najah Salam, died on Thursday, at the age of 92, and her body is scheduled to be held on Friday, following the funeral prayer at the Khashoggi Mosque in the capital, Beirut, according to media reports.
The late artist was born in one of the neighborhoods of the Lebanese capital, and her grandfather was the Sharia judge, Sheikh Abdul Rahman Salam, while her father, Mohieddin Salam, was one of the most prominent composers and oud players, through whom she mastered the principles of singing.
She began her singing journey through school concerts, before accompanying her father to Cairo in 1948, where she met many of Egypt’s great artists, such as Umm Kulthum, Farid Al-Atrash, and the famous composer Zakaria Ahmed.
In 1949, Salam recorded her first songs for a company, known as “Hawul Ya Ghannam” and “Song, O Hurt of My Heart.”
At the beginning of 1950, she returned to Lebanon to record some songs for the Lebanese Radio.
The late artist was known for performing patriotic songs and religious supplications. During the 1956 war in Egypt, Salam became famous for the song “Oh, the most precious name in existence, O Egypt,” in addition to singing the poem “I am the Nile, a graveyard for invaders,” by the well-known poet Mahmoud Hassan Ismail.
In 1974, she was honored in Cairo by granting her Egyptian citizenship.
