Whenever Sabah Fakhri sings his romantic traditional Aleppine songs at concerts, there would be one woman who would walk up to the stage to give the 75-year-old singer a flower as a gesture of love and respect. Fakhri, in turn, would clip the flower onto his chest where it would rest until he leaves the stage just before dawn — when Fakhri usually closes the concert.
Fakhri's move and his gentleness towards whoever presents him with the flower, inspires the women in the audience to sing and dance till the end of the party. The women applaud Fakhri for his respect of love and beauty, while men do likewise, recognising in him the romantic gentleman who could capture women's hearts with his lyrics and voice.
It was no different at the crooner's concert in Dubai last week. Fatin Azzam, a veteran TV presenter and a media expert, walked up to the stage with a red flower in her hand. She approached Fakhri, who bent down to take the flower from her. Azzam kissed Fakhri thrice on both cheeks before returning to her seat, her elegant black gown swaying to Fakhri's music.
Just then, Fakhri started singing one of his famous songs: "Ask the beautiful woman in her black elegant gown, does she know what she has done to the religious man when she appeared in front of his mosque?" the song asks, inspiring the hundreds of men and women in the audience to stand up, whistle and clap.
Uninterrupted, Fakhri clipped Azzam's flower to the pocket of his shiny silver suit and continued his song. Azzam, meanwhile, sat down with tears in her eyes.
One man in the audience then asked loudly: "Was the 700-year-old song written specially for Fatin?" No one replied, but there was the feeling that every woman wearing an elegant black gown felt strongly that the song was meant exclusively for her — that woman lives in the consciousness of every Arab woman who has listened to this song.
Spontaneous
Azzam told a group of friends at her table that night that she had prepared herself for Fakhri's concert since the event was announced. She swore she had no idea what song he was going to sing when she had approached him with that single red flower. Her move towards the stage, she insisted, was merely a spontaneous reaction to Fakhri's great voice and songs.
The audience, of all age groups, shared Azzam's enthrallment by Fakhri's songs. Most would not dare miss this annual appointment with the crooner. Every year, since Fakhri's concert in Dubai became an annual event four years ago, the same faces are apeckled around the venue.
Azzam is of Lebanese descent, but as for many non-Syrian Arabs, Fakhri for her is the singer of all Arabs — regardless of borders.
She wondered aloud what kind of music people could have enjoyed without this great singer. "I wish him a long life — to please his audiences and convey his art to the young Arab generations."
Fakhri has never disappointed his audience in the past, and this year was no exception. He sang non-stop for nearly four hours, and every time his eyes glimpsed Azzam, Fakhri held his hand up to his chest — pointing to the flower placed close to his heart, and nodding his head — he will continue singing because of it.
The Syrian crooner entered the Guinness Book of World Records in 1968 — for singing non-stop for 10 hours on a stage in Caracas, Venezuela. Today, 40 years later, it is clear no other Arab singer could have claimed the title: They knew that there is no voice as strong as his, and, more importantly, what audience would be able to sit and listen to a singer other than Sabah Fakhri for 10 hours?
The organiser of the event used the concert to award Syrian artists for their role in promoting drama over the past 10 years. The awardees were Mona Wasif, Talhat Hamdi, Khalid Taja, Samir Al Masri, Nadin Salama, Dina Haroun, Naji Tomeh and Abed Fahd.
Fakhri was also awarded. He told the audience no award is more important to him than the love of the people he sees in the audience. Azzam blushed.
