"Naglaa Fathi was named by the Nightingale after the Lebanese Najla" | Part Two
Naglaa Fathi, the Nightingale named her after the Lebanese Naglaa | Part Two
In the velvet society of Beirut, the brown nightingale Abdel Halim Hafez was drawn to a girl named Najla. She looked very similar to his beloved Didi, who had passed away, leaving deep sadness in his heart. Najla was beautiful, elegant and calm. She was different from all the girls Abdel Halim knew in Beirut. She was a woman of few words, smiled shyly, was withdrawn and rarely appeared at social events.
Halim even thought she was arrogant because whenever he tried to talk to her, she would cut his words short. Abdel Halim loved Naglaa and she loved him, but she was afraid to approach and enter Abdel Halim's life, as his life was different from hers. Days passed until she said to him: We are like the East and the West that never meet. It is difficult for me to live your life and it is difficult for you to live mine, but let our love remain just a memory that makes us happy. Abdel Halim Hafez was not in a position that allowed him to make a decision, as his illness was an obstacle that all his dreams of marriage collided with. Halim traveled to Cairo, and there he named the new star Fatima Al-Zahraa after Naglaa, so she took the name Naglaa Fathi.
After several months, Abdel Halim arrived in Lebanon to choose the filming locations for the movie (My Father is Up in the Tree). When he asked about Naglaa, he learned that she would be getting married in a few hours, so he sent a large bouquet of flowers to her wedding party at the Bristol Hotel with a greeting card with his name on it. And the love story ended, which did not have a happy ending. The Nightingale died eight years later, and Naglaa died several years ago in Beirut and was buried there.
Al-Mawed's lens captured this photo of the nightingale in Beirut, which he visited frequently, to the point that in his final years he rented an apartment in the Raouche area, which was adjacent to the Carlton Hotel.
This image has been converted from the original medium format film, resulting in a sharp and detailed image.
By May Serbey Chehab, from the Book "Boulevard of Stars: The Golden Age of Arab Entertainment".