The musician of generations passed away, and he had four unfinished tunes in his bag.

Every year during the month of Ramadan, the musician of generations, the title that my late father, Mohamed Badie Serbie, gave to the musician Mohamed Abdel Wahab, and his wife, Mrs. Nahla, were keen to invite my father and his family, and some friends to breakfast on the Night of Power. On the night of the twenty-seventh of Ramadan, 4/11/1991, I was with my family eating breakfast at the musician’s house in Zamalek, Cairo.

After dinner, while we were drinking tea, I told my father that I had a small recording device in my bag and several questions I wanted to ask the musician. He said to me, “It’s not the right time, maybe in another session.” The musician turned to us and asked my father, “What are you saying, Badih?” He replied, “May wants to ask you several journalistic questions, but I told her it’s not the right time.” The musician said, “On the contrary, come here, May, and see what you want to ask me.” I was happy, took out the recording device, and we sat in a corner of the living room.

My first question was about the melodies and whether he was composing new songs. He replied that he was always working and that a melody might come to his mind at any time. He was working on four melodies and none of them were completed yet. He did not know when they would be completed because he did not consider the melody complete until he recorded it and people heard it. Before that, the melody remained under preparation.

My second question was about who will sing these tunes, he said that he hasn't decided yet but he has a lot of beautiful voices in mind like Najat Al Saghira, Warda, Hany Shaker, Mohamed Tharwat, Mohamed El Helw, all of them have beautiful voices.

The questions multiplied and the musician answered without any hassle. When I finished the questions, a big cake was waiting for Mrs. Nahla. We gathered around her and sang, “A Sweet Year, My Beautiful Girl, A Sweet Year, My Beautiful Girl.” It is worth mentioning that the musician Mohamed Abdel Wahab composed the song “A Sweet Year, My Beautiful Girl” for the singer Sabah, with lyrics by the late poet Mohamed Ali Fattouh in the movie “Fatent Al-Jamaheer” that was shown in 1964. At the time, my father had visited the musician Mohamed Abdel Wahab with the late star Sabah at his home and they got his approval to compose the song “A Sweet Year” for Sabah to sing. When the conversation ended, the musician said to me, “I am looking forward to reading the interview and seeing your cleverness in writing.”

The day after I spoke with the musician of generations, I traveled with my family to London, and a few days later he fell to the ground in his home after slipping on the living room carpet, and then he died in his home.

My interview with him was the last press interview he gave and he passed away before reading it, so when I published it I preferred it to be as I wrote it when he was alive, and I put an introduction in which I said: This interview was going to be published in this issue normally, and I did not imagine that its titles would change at the last moment, and be replaced by an exciting and sad title at the same time, which is that it was the last press interview Mohamed Abdel Wahab gave before his passing. On the 32nd anniversary of his passing, I remember him with all love and appreciation for the masterpieces he gave to art and made millions happy. May God have mercy on the musician of generations.

By May Serbey Chehab, from the Book "Boulevard of Stars: The Golden Age of Arab Entertainment".