Samira Said and the son of the Nile
Al-Mawed magazine took this photo of the star Samira Said in November 1980 on the banks of the Nile in Cairo. The photo was published on the cover of Al-Mawed with the title: "Samira Said is always placed by chance in front of Baligh Hamdi." The first time Samira Said met Baligh Hamdi was in the royal palace in Morocco, and Baligh was with Abdel Halim Hafez, who was giving a concert.
Then the second meeting was in Abu Dhabi, where Baligh was with his wife, the artist Warda, to film a singing program directed by Ibrahim Baghdadi. After Warda filmed episodes of the program with Baligh, and during the Eid holiday, Warda traveled to Cairo because she was committed to performing singing concerts, and Baligh stayed in Abu Dhabi to complete the episodes of his program, which was called (New in New), and among his guests were Laila Murad, Suzanne Attia, Mohamed Tharwat, and Samira Saeed, for whom Baligh composed 27 melodies, which she recorded and filmed in the program. During this period, Warda and Baligh’s relationship deteriorated after Warda fell ill and was admitted to the hospital, and Baligh did not travel to Cairo to be by her side, but she would watch pictures of him recording melodies with Samira Saeed, or with her on her birthday.
Warda and Baligh got divorced and rumors linked Samira Said to Baligh Hamdi. But as the days passed, this rumor was proven false. However, Baligh Hamdi, who predicted that Samira would become a great artist when he first met her in Morocco, gave her beautiful tunes, including “We Taught Him Love.” He also gave her “Ibn Al-Nil,” the pseudonym he used to sign the songs he wrote. He gave her the song “Betalaf,” which Baligh wrote upon the death of the brown nightingale Abdel Halim Hafez and Warda sang before Samira. There are many songs that were the result of cooperation between Samira and Baligh, and it might be a beautiful idea for Samira Said to collect all these songs in an album and re-present them with a new vision, so that new generations can hear these masterpieces.
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".
By May Serbey Chehab, from the Book "Boulevard of Stars: The Golden Age of Arab Entertainment".