Sabah hated sadness and overcame it

Never have I seen an artist who hates sadness, always tries to overcome it and defeats it like the late icon Sabah. Because of her friendship with my father, Badih Serbey, which spawned decades, I was able to see how Sabah dealt with every sadness and every stab, wiping her tears and evicting her pain with her laughter and love of life.

During the Lebanese war, my family and Sabah were staying in the same hotel in Cairo, the Sheraton. One night, we were all invited to a dinner party. We agreed that we would all be ready and meet in the hotel lobby at nine o’clock. Two hours before the appointed time, Sabah faced a private family problem and I heard her crying when my father intervened to solve the problem. I thought that she would not be with us because her psychological state would not allow for it. However, at the appointed time, while we were in the hotel lobby, the elevator door opened and Sabah came out of it with all her elegance, wearing white. She then turned to my father and said: "See? I am always on time with Al-Mawed"

On the tenth anniversary of Sabahouha's passing, I tell her: "I miss you and so does your loyal audience that followed you through your incredible career for more than seventy years where you were a symbol for entertainment as we love it."

(1) Badih Serbey, Anwar Mansy & Sabah reading Al-Mawed Magazine in the 1950s

(2) May Serbey Chehab and Sabah during a photoshoot at the end of the 1990s

By May Serbey Chehab, from the book "Boulevard of Stars"