Name	Hafez
Birth date	1325/1326 C.E.
Death date	1389/1390 C.E.
Venerated in	Islam
Birth place	Iran
Death place	Iran
Titles	Spiritual Poet, Mystic
Major shrine	''Tomb of Hafez'', Shiraz, Iran
Influences	Ibn Arabi, Khwaju, Sanai, Qur'an, Anvari, Nizami, Sa'di, Khaqani, Attar
Influenced	Subsequent Persian lyric poetry, Goethe
Tradition	Mystic poetry (Ghazal, Irfan)
Major works	''Divan-e-Hafez'' }}

Khwāja Shamsu d-Dīn Muḥammad Hāfez-e Shīrāzī (), known by his pen name Hāfez (1325/1326 – 1389/1390), was a Persian lyric poet. His collected works composed of series of Persian poetry (''Divan'') are to be found in the homes of most Iranians, who learn his poems by heart and use them as proverbs and sayings to this day. His life and poems have been the subject of much analysis, commentary and interpretation, influencing post-Fourteenth Century Persian writing more than any other author.

Themes of his ''ghazals'' are the beloved, faith, and exposing hypocrisy. His influence in the lives of Iranians can be found in "Hafez readings" (''fāl-e hāfez'', ), frequent use of his poems in Persian traditional music, visual art and Persian calligraphy. His tomb in Shiraz is a masterpiece of Iranian architecture and visited often. Adaptations, imitations and translations of Hafez' poems exist in all major languages.

Life

Born in Shiraz, Iran. Despite his profound effect on Persian life and culture and his enduring popularity and influence, few details of his life are known. Accounts of his early life rely upon traditional anecdotes. Early ''tazkiras'' (biographical sketches) mentioning Hafez are generally considered unreliable. The preface of his Divān, in which his early life is discussed, was written by an unknown contemporary of Hafez whose name may have been Moḥammad Golandām. Two of the most highly regarded modern editions of Hafez's Divān are compiled by Moḥammad Qazvini and Qāsem Ḡani (495 ''ghazals'') and by Parviz Natil Khanlari (486 ''ghazals'').

Modern scholars generally agree that Hafez was born either in 1315 or 1317; following an account by Jami 1390 is considered the year in which he died. Hafez was supported by patronage from several successive local regimes: Shah Abu Ishaq, who came to power while Hafez was in his teens; Timur Lang (Tamerlane) at the end of his life; and even the strict ruler Shah Mubariz ud-Din Muhammad (Mubariz Muzaffar). Though his work flourished most under the twenty-seven year reign of Jalal ud-Din Shah Shuja (Shah Shuja), it is claimed Hāfez briefly fell out of favor with Shah Shuja for mocking inferior poets (Shah Shuja wrote poetry himself and may have taken the comments personally), forcing Hāfez to flee from Shiraz to Isfahan and Yazd, although no historical evidence of this is available. His mausoleum, Hāfezieh, is located in the Musalla Gardens of Shiraz.

Legends of Hafez

Many semi-miraculous mythical tales were woven around Hāfez after his death.

It is said that by listening to his father's recitations Hāfez had accomplished the task of learning the Qur'an by heart at an early age (that is in fact the meaning of the word ''Hafez''). At the same time Hāfez is said to have known by heart, the works of Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, Saadi, Farid ud-Din and Nizami.

According to one tradition, before meeting his patron, Hajji Zayn al-Attar, Hāfez had been working in a bakery, delivering bread to a wealthy quarter of the town. There he first saw Shakh-e Nabat, a woman of great beauty, to whom some of his poems are addressed. Ravished by her beauty, but knowing that his love for her would not be requited, he allegedly held his first mystic vigil in his desire to realize this union. During this he encountered a being of surpassing beauty who identified himself as an angel, and his further attempts at union became mystic; a pursuit of spiritual union with the divine. The obvious Western parallel is that of Dante and Beatrice.

At age 60 he is said to have begun a ''Chilla-nashini'', a 40-day-and-night vigil by sitting in a circle which he had drawn for himself. On the 40th day, he once again met with Zayn al-Attar on what is known to be their fortieth anniversary and was offered a cup of wine. It was there where he is said to have attained "Cosmic Consciousness". Hāfez hints at this episode in one of his verses where he advises the reader to attain "clarity of wine" by letting it "sit for 40 days".

Although Hafez almost never traveled out of Shiraz, in one famous tale Tamerlane (Timur) angrily summoned Hāfez to account for one of his verses:

:اگر آن ترک شیرازی بدست‌آرد دل مارا :به خال هندویش بخشم سمرقند و بخارا را :If that Shirazi Turk would take my heart in hand :I would remit Samarkand and Bukhārā for his/her Hindu mole.

:Samarkand was Timur's capital and Bokhara was his kingdom's finest city. "With the blows of my lustrous sword," Timur complained, "I have subjugated most of the habitable globe... to embellish Samarkand and Bokhara, the seats of my government; and you would sell them for the black mole of some boy in Shiraz!" Hāfez, so the tale goes, bowed deeply and replied, "Alas, O Prince, it is this prodigality which is the cause of the misery in which you find me".

:So surprised and pleased was Timur with this response that he dismissed Hafez with handsome gifts.

Works and influence

Hafez was well acclaimed throughout the Islamic world during his lifetime, with other Persian poets imitating his work, and offers of patronage from Baghdad and India. Today, he is the most popular poet in Iran; even libraries without the Qur’an contain his Diwan. and in the words of Hāfez scholar Iraj Bashiri.... "there remains little hope from there (i.e.: Iran) for an authenticated diwan".

Though Hāfez’s poetry is influenced by Islam, he is widely respected by Hindus, Christians and others. The Indian sage of Iranian descent Meher Baba, who syncretized elements of Sufism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism and Christian mysticism, recited Hāfez's poetry until his dying day. October 12 is celebrated as Hafez Day in Iran.

Interpretation

The question of whether his work is to be interpreted literally, mystically or both, has been a source of concern and contention to western scholars. On the one hand, some of his early readers such as William Jones saw in him a conventional lyricist similar to European love poets such as Petrarch. Others such as Wilberforce Clarke saw him as purely a poet of didactic, ecstatic mysticism in the manner of Rumi, a view which modern scholarship has come to reject. This confusion stems from the fact that, early in Persian literary history, the poetic vocabulary was usurped by mystics who believed that the ineffable could be better expressed in poetry than in prose. In composing poems of mystic content, they imbued every word and image with mystical undertones, thereby causing mysticism and lyricism to essentially converge into a single tradition. As a result, no fourteenth century Persian poet could write a lyrical poem without having a flavor of mysticism forced on it by the poetic vocabulary itself. While some poets, such as Ubayd Zakani, attempted to distance themselves from this fused mystical-lyrical tradition by writing satires, Hafiz embraced the fusion and thrived on it. W.M. Thackston has said of this that Hafiz "sang a rare blend of human and mystic love so balanced...that it is impossible to separate one from the other."

For this reason among others, the history of the translation of Hāfez has been a complicated one, and few translations into western languages have been wholly successful.

One of the figurative gestures for which he is most famous (and which is among the most difficult to translate) is ''īhām'' or artful punning. Thus a word such as ''gowhar'' which could mean both "essence, truth" and "pearl" would take on ''both'' meanings at once as in a phrase such as "a pearl/essential truth which was outside the shell of superficial existence".

Hafez often took advantage of the aforementioned lack of distinction between lyrical, mystical and panegyric writing by using highly intellectualized, elaborate metaphors and images so as to suggest multiple possible meanings. This may be illustrated via a couplet from the beginning of one of Hafez' poems.

{{bquote|Last night, from the cypress branch, the nightingale sang, In Old Persian tones, the lesson of spiritual stations.}}

The cypress tree is a symbol both of the beloved and of a regal presence. The nightingale and birdsong evoke the traditional setting for human love. The "lessons of spiritual stations" suggest, obviously, a mystical undertone as well. (Though the word for "spiritual" could also be translated as "intrinsically meaningful.") Therefore, the words could signify at once a prince addressing his devoted followers, a lover courting a beloved and the reception of spiritual wisdom.

The Tomb of Hafez

Twenty years after his death, a tomb (the ''Hafezieh'') was erected to honor Hafez in the Musalla Gardens in Shiraz. The current Mausolem was designed by André Godard, French archeologist and architect, in the late 1930s. Inside, Hafez's alabaster tombstone bore one of his poems inscribed upon it.

See also

List of Persian poets and authors

Persian literature

Persian mysticism

References

Peter Avery, ''The Collected Lyrics of Hafiz of Shiraz'', 603 p. (Archetype, Cambridge, UK, 2007). ISBN 1901383091 Note: This translation is based on ''Divān-e Hāfez'', Volume 1, ''The Lyrics (Ghazals)'', edited by Parviz Natel-Khanlari (Tehran, Iran, 1362 AH/1983-4).

E.G. Browne. ''Literary History of Persia''. (Four volumes, 2,256 pages, and twenty-five years in the writing). 1998. ISBN 0-7007-0406-X

Will Durant, ''The Reformation''. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1957

Erkinov A. “Manuscripts of the works by classical Persian authors (Hāfiz, Jāmī, Bīdil): Quantitative Analysis of 17th-19th c. Central Asian Copies”. ''Iran: Questions et connaissances. Actes du IVe Congrès Européen des études iraniennes organisé par la Societas Iranologica Europaea'', Paris, 6-10 Septembre 1999. vol. II: Périodes médiévale et moderne. [Cahiers de Studia Iranica. 26], M.Szuppe (ed.). Association pour l`avancement des études iraniennes-Peeters Press. Paris-Leiden, 2002, pp. 213–228.

Hafez. ''The Green Sea of Heaven: Fifty ghazals from the Diwan of Hafiz.'' Trans. Elizabeth T. Gray, Jr. White Cloud Press, 1995 ISBN 1-883991-06-4

Hafez. ''The Angels Knocking on the Tavern Door: Thirty Poems of Hafez.'' Trans. Robert Bly and Leonard Lewisohn. HarperCollins, 2008, p. 69. ISBN 978-0-06-113883-6

Hafiz, ''Divan-i-Hafiz'', translated by Henry Wiberforce-Clarke, Ibex Publishers, Inc., 2007. ISBN 0-936347-80-5

Jan Rypka, ''History of Iranian Literature''. Reidel Publishing Company. 1968 . ISBN 90-277-0143-1

Notes

External links

Facebook Page for Hafez Selected poetry and images.

; English translations of Poetry by Hafez

Hafez in English from ''Poems Found in Translation'' website

Poems by Hafez from Blackcat Poems website

''Hafez Divan'' in Persian and English

Life and Poetry of Hafez from "Hafiz on Love" website

Hafez Poems translated G. Bell

Selection of Love Poems by Hafez

; Persian texts and resources

Divan'' with readings in Persian

Fall-e Hafez An online Flash application of his poems.

Programs on Hafez's life and poetry'

; English language resources

Hafiz, Shams al-Din Muhammad A Biography by Prof. Iraj Bashiri, University of Minnesota

Encyclopædia Iranica''">Comprehensive set of scholarly entries about Hafez, on the ''Encyclopædia Iranica'' (Columbia University).

; German translationss and compositions

Viktor Ullmann "The Songbook of Hafis / Das Liederbuch des Hafis" ARBOS - Company for Music and Theatre">Viktor Ullmann "The Songbook of Hafis / Das Liederbuch des Hafis" ARBOS - Company for Music and Theatre

Category:Persian poets Category:Iranian poets Category:Sufi poets Category:Mystic poets Category:Medieval writers Category:People from Shiraz Category:14th-century births Category:14th-century deaths

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name	Abdel Halim Hafez
background	solo_singer
birth name	Abdel Halim Ali Shabana
born	June 21, 1929Ash Sharqiyah GovernorateEgypt
died	March 30, 1977King's College Hospital, LondonUnited Kingdom (aged )
origin	Ash Sharqiyah Governorate
genre	EgyptianOperaArabic
occupation(s)	Singer, actor musician producer
associated acts	Umm KulthumFairuzMohamed Abdel Wahab
years active	1952–1977
label	EMI Arabia
website	7alim.com }}

Abdel Halim Ali Shabana (Arabic: عبدالحليم علي شبانة) commonly known as Abdel Halim Hafez () (June 21, 1929 – March 30, 1977), is among the most popular Egyptian and Arab singers and performers. In addition to singing, Halim was also an actor, conductor, business man, music teacher and movie producer. He is considered to be one of the Great Four of Arabic music (along with Umm Kulthum, Mohammed Abdel Wahab, and Farid Al Attrach). His name is sometimes written as '' 'Abd el-Halim Hafez''. He is known as ''el-Andaleeb el-Asmar'' (The Great Dark Skinned Nightingale, ). He is also known as a icon in modern Arabic music. His music is still played daily throughout the Arab world.

Early life

Born in El-Halawat, in Ash Sharqiyah Governorate, 80 kilometres (50 miles) north of Cairo, Egypt as Abdel Halim Ali Shabana, he was the fourth child of Sheikh Ali Ismail Shabana. He had two brothers, Ismail and Mohammed, and one sister, Aliah. His mother died from complications after giving birth to him and his father died five months later leaving Abdel Halim and his siblings orphaned at a young age. He lived in a poor orphanage for a period of time. Later, He was raised by his aunt and uncle in Cairo. In these years Abdel Halim was extremely poor.

Abdel Halim's one-of-a-kind musical abilities first became apparent while he was in primary school and his older brother Ismail Shabana was his first music teacher. 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

Musical career

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 1952. Abdel Halim's performance was heard by Hafez Abd El Wahab, supervisor of musical programming for Egyptian national radio. Abdel Halim took 'Hafez', Abdel Wahab's first name, as his stage-surname in recognition of his patronage.

In his starting years, Abdel Halim was rejected by people for his new way of singing and performing, however he still persisted on his new way of singing and performing and later people started to love him. Then, he became a favorite singer among all generations.

Abdel Halim's collaborated with composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab to produce very popular love songs such as ''Ahwak'' ("I love you"),'' Nebtedi Minen el Hekaya'' ("If we were to tell the story"), and ''Fatet Ganbina''( "She came between us"). Hafez also worked with Egyptian poet Mohammed Hamza on songs including ''Zay el Hawa'' ("It feels like love"), ''Sawah'' ("The Wanderer"), ''Hawel Teftekerni'' ("Try to remember me"), ''Aye Damiet Hozn'' ("Any tear of sadness"), and ''Mawood''("Promised/ You're used to").

During his career Hafez was very popular and performed in sold-out arenas and stadiums.

He would encourage and help many new young artists and actors to become very successful.

Despite the popularity, Halim never released an studio album in his life as he was purely a live singer. He also played many different instruments very well including the oboe, drums, piano, oud, clarinet and guitar. He was involved in all aspects of the creation of his songs. Halim brought many new instruments to the Arab World.

Halim was known for his deep passion when singing, and his highly unique, powerful and rare voice. He always sang from true and honest feelings deep inside. Halim did performances in almost every country in the eastern world and did many performances outside of the Arab world including several concerts in Europe.

Halim earned the names "King of Arabic music" "The voice of the people" "The son of the revolution" and "King of emotions and feelings".

Personal life

At the age of 11 Abdel Halim contracted Bilharzia — a rare parasitic water-borne disease — and was extremely periodically and painfully afflicted by it for most of his career. Despite this, he remained positive and never stopped creating and performing his songs. Nevertheless, he also was always there for his country despite the illness. Some artists and commentators accused Abdel Halim of using his disease to gain sympathy from female fans. These false accusations ended when Halim died.

Abdel Halim never married, although rumors persist that he was secretly married to actress Soad Hosny for six years. This has never been proofed by anyone. People who were close to both singers declined this rumor.

Hafez is said to have fallen in love only once, in his youth, with a young woman whose parents refused to allow them to marry. After four years, her parents finally approved, but the girl died of a chronic disease before the wedding. Abdel Halim never recovered from her loss, and dedicated many of his saddest songs to her memory, including ''Fi Youm, Fi Shahr, Fi Sana'' (''In a Day, a Month, a Year'') and the poignant ''Qariat el-Fingan'' (''The Fortune-teller'').

Halim often gave money and food to charity, and to the poor directly, all through his life. Halim frequently went to orphanages and hospitals all over the Middle East to donate money, teach music, and help the people there. In 1969 Halim built a hospital in Egypt to help people. He made the poor, the rich, and presidents all alike in the Arab world.

Abdel Halim established strong friendships with many contemporary presidents and kings of the Eastern world, including Gamel Abdul Nasser of Egypt, and King Hussan from Morocco. He also had very close friendships with most Egyptian poets.

Death

Abdel Halim died on March 30, 1977, a few months short of his 48th birthday, while undergoing treatment for Bilharzia in King's College Hospital, London. His death brought sadness and shock waves to the entire Arab world as a result, His funeral (in Cairo) was attended by millions of people – more than any funeral in Middle East history other than that of President Gamal Abdel Nasser He had many more dreams and goals that he wanted to achieve and surpass and could have, but his early death stopped him. Also some people committed suicide once they heard Halim has died. He is buried in Al Rifa'i Mosque in Cairo.

Legacy

Abdel Halim Hafez's song ''Khosara'' received notice in the Western world in 1999 when producer Timbaland used elements from it for Jay-Z's recording "Big Pimpin'". Two complete bars from "Khosara" were rerecorded, not sampled, and used without permission from the song's producer and copyright holder, Magdi el-Amroussi. Jay-Z's use of a rerecording, rather than a sample, may allow Jay-Z to avoid paying royalties for the use of the song.

Over 300 of his songs were recorded and he starred in sixteen classic films, including ''"Dalilah"'', which was the Middle East's first color motion picture.

Along with Mohammed Abdel Wahab and Magdi el-Amroussi, Abdel Halim was one of the main founders of the famous Egyptian recording company Soutelphan, which continues to operate to this day as a subsidiary of EMI Arabia. The company was founded in 1961.

A feature film about his life, "Haleem", was released in 2006, starring Ahmad Zaki in the title role, produced by the Good News Group.< In the same year a soap opera "Al-andaleeb hikayt shaab" was produced in Egypt with Shadi Shamel starring as Abdel Halim. Shamel won the lead role in a televised competition.

Abdel Halim is considered to be the most revolutionary entertainer in the eastern world. In 2000, 23 years after his death, Halim was voted the greatest Arab artist of the millennium. Abdel Halim's music is still very popular across the Arab World. Halim's patriotic songs were the main and most frequent songs sung by the crowds during the Egyptian Revolution of 2011. His albums and CDs have sold more copies since his death than any other Arab artist ever. He is widely considered to be the greatest male singer in Arab music history. He is considered to be one of the most influential people in the Arab world. His way of singing, the popularity of his songs and his behavior made him a role model for almost every modern Arab singer. Halim is still remembered in the hearts of many people, even years after his death.

The two composers Mohammed Abdel Wahab and Mohammed Al-Mougy both said "Halim is the smartest person I ever knew". Mohammed Al-Mougy also added "Halim is very original in all of his work".

Filmography

Release Date !! Role !! Co-stars !! Director!!Notes
''Lahn El Wafa'' (The Song of Truth)	March 1, 1955	Galal	Shadia	Ibrahim Amara	Abdel Halim Hafez co-directed
''Ayyamna al-Holwa'' (Our Beautiful Days)	March 1, 1955	Ali	Faten Hamama, Omar Sharif, Ahmed Ramzy	Helmy Halim
''Ayam We Layali'' (Days and Nights)	September 8, 1955		Eman	Henry Barakat
''Mawed Gharam'' (Promised Love)	January 3, 1956	Samir	Faten Hamama	Henry Barakat
''Dalila''	October 20, 1956	Ahmed	Shadia	Mohamad Karim	This was the Arab world's first movie in Cinemascope
''Banat El Yom'' (The Girls of Today)	November 10, 1957	Khaled	Magda, Amal Farid	Henry Barakat	Hafez performed the popular love song "Ahwak" for the first time in this film
''Fata Ahlami'' (The Man Of My Dreams)	March 7, 1957		Amal Farid	Helmi Rafleh
''Alwisada El Khalia'' (The Empty Pillow)	December 20, 1957	Salah	Abdel Halim Hafez, Lubna Abed El Aziz	Salah Abu Yousef
''Share' El Hob'' (Love Street)	March 5, 1958			Ez El Deen Zol Faqar
''Hekayit Hob'' (A Love Story)	January 12, 1959	Ahmed Sami	Mariam Fakher El Deen	Helmy Halim
''El Banat Wel Seif'' (Girls and Summer)	September 5, 1960		Suad Husni, Zizi El Badrawi	Salah Abu Yousef, Ez El Deen Zol Faqar, Fateen Abed El Wahhab	This movie consisted of 3 stories. Abdel Halim Hafez acted in one of these.
''Yom Men Omri'' (A Day of My Life)	February 8, 1961	Salah	Zubaida Tharwat	Atef Salem
''El Khataya'' (The Sins)	November 12, 1962	Hussien	Madiha Yousri, Hasan Yousef, Nadia Lutfi	Hassan El Imam	Featured the songs Wehyat Alby, Maghroor, Last Adry, Olly Haga,and El Helwa
''Maabodat El Gamahir'' (The Beloved Diva)	January 13, 1963	Ibrahim Farid	Shadia	Helmy Halim	Featured the songs Haga Ghareeba, Balash Etaab, Last Kalby, Gabbar, and Ahebek
''Abi Foq El Shagara'' (My Father Atop a Tree)	February 17, 1969	Adel	Nadia Lutfi, Mervat Amin	Hussein Kamal	Featured the songs Ady El Belag, El Hawa Hawaya, Ahdan El Habayeb, Ya Khali El Alb, and Gana El Hawa. Hafez also produced this movie and was the last film in which he appeared. This movie is still the longest running motion picture in movie theaters in the Arab world to date.

References

External links

Abdel Halim Hafez Photos

7alim.com - Contains many songs, videos and lyrics for Abdel Halim Hafez.

Abdel Halim Hafez at Findagrave.com. The truth of Halim in this website.

Abdel Halim Hafez at krwetatnt.net

Abdel Halim Hafez performs Ahwak

Category:1929 births Category:1977 deaths Category:Egyptian film actors Category:Egyptian actors Category:Egyptian singers

ar:عبد الحليم حافظ ca:Abdel Halim Hafez de:Abdel Halim Hafez es:Abdel Halim Hafez fr:Abdel Halim Hafez it:Abd el-Halim Hafez he:עבד אל-חלים חאפז arz:عبد الحليم حافظ nl:Abdel Halim Hafez ru:Хафез Абдель Халим ckb:عەبدولحەلیم حافز fi:Abdulhalim Hafiz tr:Abdel Halim Hafez wa:Abdel Halim Hafez

Background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
Name	Hafez Nazeri
Born	1979
Origin	Tehran, Iran
Instrument	Setar, Tanbour, Daf
Genre	Persian music
Occupation	Composer
Years active	Since 1988 }}

Hafez Nazeri (حافظ ناظری) is an Iranian composer of Kurdish descent. He is the son of musician Shahram Nazeri.

Hafez began voice lessons at the age of three, and went on to place first in many voice competitions. At seven, he began focusing his studies on Tanbour and Setar which he had been playing since he was three. He then became intrigued by the Daf, a percussion instrument he taught himself to play. In the process, he created a unique technique that is now emulated by many of Iran’s young Daf players.

By the age of nine, Hafez had already begun to perform alongside his father in many music festivals in Europe and the Middle East. Hafez is considered to have extended the technique of Setar-playing and has received praise from musicians and craftsmen alike. At the age of sixteen he performed, among others, at the Sfinks Festival in Belgium, the Festa del Popolo in Italy, the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris and the Beiteddine Festival in Lebanon and many, many more.

In 2000, Hafez assembled a talented group of young performers to form the Rumi Ensemble. Together they performed Hafez’s original compositions in a series of landmark concerts in twenty Iranian cities. These musical innovations not only reached younger audiences, they also had an impact on the musical scene in Iran and beyond. With 140,000 in attendance, The Rumi Ensemble’s concerts in Tehran, set a record for the entire Middle East,

Selected pieces from this tour have been performed by the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra in London’s Royal Albert Hall, and at music festivals including the Sodra Teatern in Stockholm, the De Bijloke in Ghent, Belgium, as well as at the Fez Festival in Morocco, and the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris.

At the age of 20, in a search for new artistic ground, Hafez went to New York to study western classical music. In 2005, he received a Diploma in Composition and Conducting from the Mannes College of Music. Later in the year, Hafez, along with new members of his Rumi Ensemble launched “In the Path of Rumi," a highly successful North American tour which performed record-breaking sold-out concerts, to positive reviews. The venues, included Los Angeles’ Kodak Theatre - the most highly attended Persian classical music concert outside of Iran – the Atlanta Symphony Hall and traveled to San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Boston. Hafez’s international appeal led to several invitations to speak at various media outlets, including radio stations such as KPBS, KPFK, KPFA, UC Berkeley Radio and NPR in the United States.

Broadcast interviews include a 9-minute on CNN’s ''Live From with Kyra Phillips'' (March 29, 2006), BBC World Service’s program, ''The Ticket'' with Mark Coles (4/26/06), a live appearance on the Fox Channel (March 10, 2006), and an exclusive on ''ABC News'', following a recent New York performance.

Hafez is also the recipient of a UCLA creativity award for most distinguished young composer. The Irvine City Hall Award of Distinction in Kurdish music was given to Hafez Nazeri for his contributions in spreading Rumi’s spiritual message of peace through the language of music. The United Nations Association also recognized Hafez’s contributions and his innovation in undertaking the “In the Path of Rumi” tour.

February 25, 2006 was named “Hafez Nazeri Day” in San Diego County by the Mayor and the Chairman of San Diego’s Board of Supervisors. Soon after, he received a recognition award from the United States Congress and was invited to lecture at Emory University, and Harvard University, where he was recognized for his pioneering efforts and innovation in Persian music.

In 2007, the Rumi Symphony Project, which is Hafez’s most passionate and ambitious undertaking to date, culminated in a major work to celebrate the 800th anniversary of Rumi’s birth. The project was premiered in Los Angeles where it received nine standing ovations.

Released works

The Passion of Rumi 2008, with Shahram Nazeri and Rumi Ensemble, Live recording from Tehran 2000.

Mythical Chant 2004, also called Naghmeha-ye Sassani (meaning Songs from Sassanid era,) with Shahram Nazeri and Feyz Bashipour. He has just played the Dohol (an Iranian folk percussion) and the Daf in this album.

98's Concert 1998, with Shahram Nazeri and Kamkars Ensemble, the anniversary of Hafez' Birthday, live from Shiraz. He has just played the Setar in this album.

Mystified 90's, with Shahram Nazeri and Kaykhosro Pournazeri (Shams Ensemble). He has just played the Daf in this album.

References

External links

http://nazerismusic.com/EN/main.asp?status=hafez

http://www.myspace.com/hafeznazeri

http://www.kereshmeh.com/view_artist.php?id=nazeri_hafez

Category:Iranian composers Category:1979 births Category:Living people

name	Hafez al-Assad حافظ الأسد
birth date	October 06, 1930
birth place	Qardaha, French Mandate of Syria
death date	June 10, 2000
death place	Damascus, Syria
office	President of Syria
term start	22 February 1971
term end	10 June 2000
primeminister	Abdul Rahman KleifawiMahmoud al-AyyubiMuhammad Ali al-HalabiAbdul Rauf al-KasmMahmoud ZuabiMuhammad Mustafa Mero
predecessor	Ahmad al-Khatib
successor	Halim Khaddam (Acting)
office2	Prime Minister of Syria
term start2	21 November 1970
term end2	3 April 1971
president2	Ahmad al-Khatib
predecessor2	Nureddin al-Atassi
successor2	Abdul Rahman Kleifawi
Office3	Minister of Defense
Term start3	1966
Term end3	1972
Predecessor3	Muhammad Umran
Successor3	Mustafa Tlass
party	Ba'ath Party (NPF)
spouse	Aniseh (''née'' Makhluf)
religion	Alawi }}

Hafez al-Assad ( '''', 6 October 1930 – 10 June 2000) was the President of Syria for three decades. Assad's rule was praised for consolidating the power of the central government after decades of coups and counter-coups, such as Operation Wappen in 1957 conducted by the Eisenhower administration and preceding covert failures, and continued foreign meddling thereafter. His rule brought modern changes, including the 1973 constitution which guaranteed women's equal status in society. Assad attempted to industrialize the country, and it was opened up to foreign markets. He invested in infrastructure, education, medicine, and urban construction. Literacy was increased, oil was discovered, and the economy expanded.

He also drew criticism for repression of his own people, in particular for ordering the Hama massacre of 1982, which has been described as "the single deadliest act by any Arab government against its own people in the modern Middle East". Human Rights groups have detailed thousands of extrajudicial executions he committed against opponents of his regime.

He was succeeded by his son, current president Bashar al-Assad, in 2000.

Early life

Hafez ibn 'Ali ibn Sulayman al-Assad was born into a poor family, in the town of Qardaha in the Latakia province of western Syria (then a French Mandate) into a minority Alawite family. He was the first member of the Assad family to attend high school, Jules Jammal High School in Lattakia. He joined the Ba'ath Party in 1946 at the age of 16.

Air Force career

Assad attended Homs Military Academy in 1952. In 1955, Assad graduated and was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Syrian Air Force, making him one of the first Alawis to join the air force. He became a combat and acrobatics display pilot, flying the Gloster Meteor jet fighter as well as other types. He shot down a British plane during the Suez Operation. While at the Academy, he met Mustafa Tlass. In 1957, he was sent for additional training in the Soviet Union. While stationed in Cairo, he developed a pan-Arab ideology and came to believe that the U.A.R. concentrated too much power in the hands of Gamal Abdel Nasser. Assad was then assigned to a post in rural Egypt away from political activity. At the breakup of the union in 1961, Assad was briefly imprisoned by the Egyptian authorities.

Political career

From 1961 to 1963 he worked at the Ministry of Sea Transportation while focusing on Ba'ath Party political activities. Assad and others planned the 1963 coup d'état, which took the Ba'ath Party to power. Following the coup, Assad returned to the Air Force in the rank of major. Syria was officially ruled by Amin Hafiz, a Sunni Muslim, but was in practice dominated by young Alawite Ba'athists.

The following year, 1964, Assad jumped several ranks to become a general and was appointed to the Ba'ath Party's regional command. The following year, he became Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force. This military power allowed Assad, operating in conjunction with Salah Jadid, to overthrow the government of Amin Hafiz in 1966.

In 1966, the Ba'ath launched a coup d'état within the government and cleared the other parties from the government. Assad became Minister of Defence and wielded considerable influence over government policy. However, there was tension between the dominant radical wing of the Ba'ath Party, which promoted an aggressive foreign policy and rapid social reform, and Assad's more pragmatic, military-based faction. After being discredited by the failure of the Syrian military in the Six-Day War in 1967, and enraged by the aborted Syrian intervention in the Jordanian-Palestinian Black September war, the government faced conflict within its ranks. By the time President Nureddin al-Atassi and the de facto leader, deputy secretary general of the Ba'ath Party Salah Jadid, realized the threat and ordered Assad and Tlass be stripped of all party and government power, it was too late. Assad swiftly launched a bloodless intra-party coup, the Corrective Revolution of 1970. The party was purged, Atassi and Jadid jailed, and Assad loyalists installed in key posts throughout the government.

Presidency

Al-Assad inherited a dictatorial government shaped by years of unstable military rule that was organized along one-party lines after the Ba'athist coup. He increased repression, operating a vast web of police informers and agents. He became the object of a state-sponsored cult of personality, which depicted him as a wise, just, and strong leader of Syria and of the Arab world in general.

The government of al-Assad initially achieved some popularity for bringing stability to the country, which had experienced dozens of attempted coups since 1948. He also implemented many social reforms and infrastructure projects, such as the Thawra (Revolution) dam on the Euphrates River. It was built with Soviet assistance, and still supplies much of Syria's electricity. Public schooling and other reforms were extended to larger segments of the population, and a rise in living standards occurred. The government's secularism meant that many members of religious minorities, such as the Alawites, Druze, and Christians, supported Assad, fearing a return to historic persecution under a Sunni Islamist successor government to Assad.

Assad continued previous Ba'ath policies by overseeing massive increases in Syria's military strength (again with Soviet support) and by maintaining a strong Arab nationalist position. School curricula and the state-controlled media gave much attention to the glorious past of Syria and the Arabs, and portrayed al-Assad's government as the lone uncorrupted champion of the Arab nation against Western imperialism and aggression. This propaganda aimed to legitimize the government, but also to unify the diverse and fractured Syrian society, and instill a sense of national pride among the populace. In 1979, a chain of assassinations took place in the artillery school in Aleppo. After almost a year, a member from the group believed to be behind the assassinations was injured and taken into custody by the Syrian intelligence system. He was identified as a member of the Muslim Brotherhood party. The party's goals were to eliminate all persons who had strong ties with the government or Ba'ath party, focusing on Ba'athists who were educated and had a good reputation within the government, or army high ranking members who were members of Assad's family or Alawites. It took Syrian intelligence a long time to penetrate the Muslim Brotherhood and diminish its power. In February 1982, Assad ordered the Syrian army to bombard the town of Hama in order to quell a revolt by the Muslim Brotherhood. In what became known as the Hama massacre, an estimated 17,000 to 40,000 people were killed, including about 1,000 soldiers.

In 1983, Assad suffered a heart attack and was confined to hospital. He named a six-man governing council to run the country in his absence, among them long-time Defense Minister Mustafa Tlass; Hafez-al Assad believed that they were less likely to try to seize power. Despite this, rumors spread that Assad was dead or nearly so, and indeed his condition was serious. In 1984, his brother Rifaat al-Assad attempted to use the security forces under his control to seize power. His ''Defence Company'' troops of some 50,000 men, complete with tanks and helicopters, began putting up roadblocks throughout Damascus, and tensions between Hafez loyalists and Rifaat supporters came close to all-out war. The stand-off was not ended until Hafez, still ill, rose from his bed to reassume power and speak to the nation. He transferred command of the ''Defence Company'' and, without formal accusations, shortly after Rifaat were exiled to France.

Foreign policy

Iraq

Even though Iraq was ruled by another branch of the Ba'ath Party, Assad's relations with Saddam Hussein were extremely strained. Hostile rhetoric was intense, and until Saddam's fall in 2003, Iraq was listed in Syrian passports as one of the two countries no Syrian citizen could visit (the other being Israel). But with the exception of a few border guard skirmishes and mutual support for cross-border raids by opposition groups, no heavy fighting broke out until 1991, when Syria joined the US-led UN coalition to expel Iraq's military forces from Kuwait during the Persian Gulf War. In that war, Assad contributed Syrian ground troops to the battlefront.

Israel

To a large extent, Al-Assad's foreign policy was shaped by Syria's attitude toward Israel. During his presidency, Syria played a major role in the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. The war is presented by the Syrian government as a victory, as Syria regained some territory that had been occupied in 1967 through peace negotiations headed by Henry Kissinger. The Syrian government refused to recognize the State of Israel and referred to it as the "Zionist Entity." Only in the mid-1990s did Hafez moderate his country's policy towards Israel, as he realized the loss of Soviet support meant a different balance of power in the Middle East. Pressed by the United States, he engaged in negotiations on the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, but these talks failed. Al-Assad believed that what constituted Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza, were an integral part of "Southern Syria."

Lebanon

Syria deployed troops to Lebanon in 1976, officially in response to a request from the Lebanese government(by conspiracy) for Syrian military intervention during the Lebanese Civil War. It is alleged that the Syrian presence in Lebanon began earlier with its involvement in as-Saiqa, a Palestinian militia composed primarily of Syrians. The Arab League agreed to send a peacekeeping force mostly formed by Syrian troops. The initial goals were to save the Lebanese government from being overrun by the Left and the Palestinian militancy. Critics allege that this turned into an occupation by 1982, which is not disputed within the Lebanese community. The Syrian presence ended in 2005, due to UN resolution 1559, after the Rafiq Hariri assassination and the March 14 protests.

Palestinians

The hostile attitude to Israel meant vocal support for the Palestinians, but that did not translate into friendly relations with their organizations. Hafez al-Assad was always wary of independent Palestinian organizations, as he aimed to bring the Palestinian issue under Syrian control in order to use it as a political tool. He soon developed an implacable animosity towards Yassir Arafat's PLO, against which Syria fought bloody battles in Lebanon. As Arafat moved the PLO in a more moderate direction, seeking compromise with Israel, al-Assad feared regional isolation, and he resented the PLO underground's operations in Palestinian refugee camps in Syria. Arafat was depicted by Syria as a rogue madman and an American marionette, and after accusing him of supporting the Hama revolt, al-Assad backed the 1983 Abu Musa rebellion inside Arafat's Fatah-movement. A number of unsuccessful Syrian attempts to kill Arafat were also made.

Turkey

The attitude of Hafez al-Assad towards Turkey was quite hostile while he was in power. During his rule, Syria–Turkey relations underwent some serious political crisis. He did not recognize the annexation of Hatay by Turkey, and all official maps continued to show the territory as part of Syria. Furthermore, Syria has supported the Kurdish separatist organization PKK, which aimed an armed struggle against Turkey for the creation of an independent Kurdistan, and allowed the PKK to recruit Syrian Kurds to fight against Turkey. He was blamed by Turkey for sheltering the PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan. However, this changed after Syria decided to force him out of the country in 1998 when Turkey threatened to invade Syria. After 1998, Syria started to crack down on remaining PKK networks and forged better ties with Turkey.

Death and succession

Assad had originally groomed his son, Basil al-Assad as his successor, but Basil died in a car accident in 1994. Assad then put a second son, Bashar, in intensive military and political training, with Bashar becoming a staff colonel in the military of Syria. Despite some concerns of unrest within the government, the succession ultimately went smoothly, and Bashar holds office today. Hafez al-Assad died on June 10, 2000 of pulmonary fibrosis, though some suggest that he died of blood cancer. He was 69. Hafez al-Assad is buried together with Basil in a mausoleum in his hometown of Qardaha.

See also

Assad family

References

Further reading

Hitti Philip K. (2002). ''History of Syria Including Lebanon and Palestine, Vol. 2'' (ISBN 1-931956-61-8)

Firzli, Nicola Y. (1973). ''Al-Baath wa-Lubnân'' [Arabic only] ("The Baath and Lebanon"), Beirut: Dar-al-Tali'a Books.

Firzli, Nicola Y. (1981). ''The Iraq-Iran Conflict''. Paris: EMA. ISBN 2-86584-002-6

Friedman, Thomas (1990, British edition). ''From Beirut to Jerusalem''. HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 0-00-653070-2 (pp. 76–105)

Sallam, Qasim (1980). ''Al-Baath wal Watan Al-Arabi'' [Arabic, with French translation] ("The Baath and the Arab Homeland"). Paris: EMA. ISBN 2-86584-003-4

Seale, Patrick (1988). ''Asad: The Struggle for the Middle East''. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-06976-5

External links

President Hafez Al-Assad CV

President Hafez Al-Assad Speeches & Interviews

President Hafez Al-Assad Pictures

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Category:1930 births Category:2000 deaths Category:Air force generals Category:Syrian Air Force Category:People from Latakia Governorate Category:Syrian Alawites Category:Syrian ministers of defense Category:Ba'ath Party (Syria) politicians Category:Presidents of Syria Category:Prime Ministers of Syria Category:Arab nationalist heads of state Category:Leaders who took power by coup Category:Cold War leaders Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction Category:Assad family

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Omar Khorshid (Arabic: ‏عمر خورشيد‎) (Born in 1945 in Cairo, Egypt; died 29. May 1981). Movie star and famed guitarist of the Middle east, he composed the music for thirteen films. In 1971 won the Premier Prix at the Film Festival of Tachkand for his music for the film ''Tbnati El Aziza''. Khorshid is renowned as one of the greatest guitarist of the Arab world and has accompanied all it’s leading singers including Umm Kulthum, Abdel Wahab, and Abdul Halim Hafez.

The Freak of Araby is an album by Sir Richard Bishop, released on May 26, 2009, on the Drag City record label. It includes covers of several songs written by Omar Khorshid.

The late Omar Khorshid remains an iconic legend of the Arab world, though he’s received criminally little international acclaim. Born in Cairo in 1945, the glittering age of Egypt's cultural reinvention, Khorshid was soon to become one of its luminaries and most well-known, if short-lived, voices. He is regarded as the greatest guitarist the Arab world has ever known. By the mid 60s Khorshid was established with his group Le Petit Chats, an Egyptian beat group modeled after the prevailing influence of Elvis and the Beatles. It was at this time that one of the reigning figures of contemporary Arabic music, Abdel Halim Hafez, asked Omar Khorshid to join his orchestra. With Baligh Hamdi composing, Hafez with Khorshid in place would create some of the most innovative modern sounds in the Arabic musical canon.

Time with the Hafez orchestra offered Khorshid instant fame, and it wasn’t long before he was asked to play with the queen of Arab music, the voice of Egypt herself -Oum Kalthoum. Over the next few years Khorshid became a well-established and integral part of the Arab musical landscape. He was featured heavily in live concerts, national TV and radio and studio recordings, playing for the leading artists of the day. The guitar had now become an essential ingredient in the Oriental orchestra.

Khorshid began recording albums under his own name for the prestigious Lebanese record labels Voice Of The Orient and Voice Of Lebanon. Working with visionary engineer Nabil Moumtaz at Polysound studios in Beirut, Khorshid would take his music into some of the most progressive musical terrain of its time. The tracks included here in this retrospective are from the prolific span of Khorshid’s career in Beirut from 1973 to 1977. The venerable Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish best encapsulated this time in Lebanon: “unfortunately, it was paradise”.

Khorshid’s prolific instrumental music enjoyed recognition that transcended class and status during the brief period he shone. It’s a testament to his immense talent and some of the finest guitar music the world has ever heard.

Category:1945 births Category:1981 deaths Category:People from Cairo Category:Egyptian actors Category:Egyptian guitarists