A'bd al Halim Hafith

He is widely considered to be one of the four 'greats' of Egyptian and Arabic music.

At the age of 11 he joined the Arabic Music Institute in Cairo and became known for singing the songs of Mohammed Abdel Wahab. He graduated from the Higher Theatrical Music Institute as an oboe player.

While singing in clubs in Cairo, Abdel Halim was drafted as a last-minute substitute when singer Karem Mahmoud was unable to sing a scheduled live radio performance in honor of the first anniversary of the 1952 Revolution, on June 18, 1953. Abdel Halim's performance was enormously popular with the live audience, and was heard by Hafez Abd El Wahab, supervisor of musical programming for Egyptian national radio, who decided to support the then unknown singer.

His most famous songs include Ahwak, Khosara, Gana El Hawa , Sawah, Zay el Hawa, and El Massih , among the 260 songs that he recorded. His last, and perhaps most famous song, Qariat el-Fingan , featured lyrics by Nizar Qabbani and music by Mohammed Al-Mougy. He starred in sixteen films, including Dalilah, which was Egypt's first colored motion picture.