This page is about the beauty of Arab culture... The poetry, the music, the social scene, the hospitality, the customs and traditions. Click here to check out some of my photos from Lebanon.

I start with some links about legends in arab music:

Fairouz - Our Ambassador to The Stars: I am only beginning to understand and appreciate the beauty and depth of the music of Fairuz. This is a great article from one of the sites about the middle-east that I most respect: Al-Mashriq

Umm Kulthum:The voice and face of Egypt. The Star of the East. The Diva of Arabic Song. An article from Al-Mashriq.

Marcel Khalifeh: Makes me proud of being half-Lebanese. I Love Marcel khalifeh like no other musician and composer... Songs like "Oummi" (My mother), "Yawmiyaat Jorh Falasteeni", and "Rita", "Minfalfish El Jareedi", "Ya Ali", "Ya Bahriyyeh" are so beautiful...  Click here to read what Mahmoud Darwish (famous Palestinian poet many of whose poems Marcel tunrs into songs) wrote about him. and below is the translation of some of his most beautiful songs:

Oummi (My Mother) - One of the most beautiful songs ever written. A song that brings you to a river of tears.

Ya Ali (Hey Ali)

Ya Hadiya el-Aisi (Hey Singer of Long Journeys)

Ansaar (Ansaar Concentration Camp)

Ya Bahriyyi (Men of The Sea)

Ard El Janoob (Land of The South)

Oumi Tla3i 3al Baal (Wake up and come to my mind)

Yawmiyyaat Jorh Falasteeni (mp3 - Daily Diaries of A Palestinian Wound)

Ziad Rahbani: Ziad is a genius... He is a sarcastic, Lebanese social refromer and critic, an artist, a musician, and an actor. His songs use plain, simple Lebanese lyrics, but touch upon deep social issues, both Lebanese and outside the border. His style is amazing... At the facade, a combination of sarcasm, cynicism, caricature, and mockery, which I think, are a mask Ziad puts on. I believe that he is a very deep thinker and a very sensitive artist and human being. His music is one of a kind... He weds middle-eastern music with Western Jazz and Samba to create an eclectic music that makes Ziad Rahbani stand in a class of his own. Ziad is part of my national Pride. He makes me proud of being Lebanese. What's ironic is that i never listened to Ziad while growing up in Lebanon. I started to appreacite him when I moved to the USA. Ya Nour 'Inayyah, Aishee Wa7da Balak, Ataba, Bi Saraha, and many more are most beautiful songs.... Great tunes and beautiful, simple lyrics...

Mahmood Darweesh, George Wassouf, Abdel-Wahab, Abdel Haleem, and more are coming soon.

Poetry

Three Palestinian Poems

The Fortune Teller - By Nizaar Qabbani (Syrian Poet)

Jerusalem - by Nizaar Qabbani (Lebasnese Poet)

Dead Are My People - Poem by Gibran Khalil Gibran (Lebanese Emigrant Poet/Writer)

My Countrymen - Poem by Gibran Khalil Gibran

The Fortune Teller - Poem by Nizaar Qabbani

Literature

Amin Rihani - Article on the "the Father of Arab-American literature"