As Guests of Fairuz and the Rahbanis

... It is only natural that, as guests of Fairuz and the Rahbanis, we should look not for what fills and quenches our bodies, but for what refreshes our souls, forever thirsty for beauty — repeating the saying of the Nazarene: "Man does not live by bread alone!"

And what stirs us, as we listen long and gaze toward a cozy corner from which Fairuz's songs pour forth — now rippling and limpid, now throbbing and aching — what stirs us is not rapture alone, but rapture perfumed with breezes from paradise, though we do not know how they blow upon us, or from where.

And while we are all in the flood of enchantment, our eyes search for Fairuz herself — and we find her worn out in her kitchen, either making the salad or threading the meat onto the skewers... And when we summon her to us, insisting that she perfume our delight with her sweet presence, she sets about turning our attention to a musical passage here and another there, where the notes blend and embrace... It is tenderness for Assi!

And whenever, in the rounds of our artistic debate, we pointed to the broad glory won by the popular festival at Baalbek, and the argument flared over what the newspapers had said of it... and all eyes turned toward Fairuz for her to say her word — her eyes met yours, a mother's eyes, from sheer worry over the health of her little boy Ziad; or with her innocent, childlike smile she told you the latest joke that had passed his lips...

The most wonderful thing of all, we agreed unanimously, is that Fairuz still lives in her modest world. The pride of fame has not scorched her with its fire, nor has it touched the sanctity of her motherhood — and from this come her particular color and her pure, unequaled beauty... Had the heel of her shoe risen one single carat higher... who knows? Fairuz might have been one of those women in whom vanity and conceit have disfigured so much of a splendid, genuine essence...

True! Fairuz's gift of voice is a grace from heaven — but no one denies the merit of the Rahbanis: her husband Assi and his brother Mansour tended the good sapling with care and vigil, and from her inspiration its spring burst forth and overflowed in gushing bounty, and the trinity was completed in a harmony than which none could be more wonderful or more perfect!

In the shops today is a new batch of Fairuz's songs — the grandest of them, perhaps, the sketch "We Are Returning," in which the two Rahbanis gave proof of a sincere patriotism beyond all reproach. And in their cabinet is an abundant store, rich in substance of head and heart, such as the two sketches "Neighbors of the Sea" and "The Harvest" — here Mansour soared in verse and melody, and what a soaring! — reaching an artistic height no one before him has attained. From this new production we also heard the sketches "The Sieve," "The Old Love," "We Heard," "Ain al-Rumman," and "Lamia's Carriage," and a bouquet of tender, sentimental tangos, and much else besides —

This artistic treasure in the Rahbanis' keeping was recorded in the last days of the "Near East Station," with the intention of using it to launch a stunning artistic offensive; but political events forced the station to shut down, and so the two Rahbanis kept recorded copies of most of their production — now choice, tempting fare for the Arab radio stations and the commercial recording companies alike.

We come, then, to the firm verdict that the Rahbanis, by way of Fairuz, have beyond all doubt worked a revolution in song — one that has not merely swept through the Lebanese popular color, but has reached out to every other Arab color, treating it with renewal and rebirth...

We hope, accordingly, that the Lebanese government's appreciation of their services will not stop at the limit of "decorations," and we draw the attention of those responsible to the need to profit from their production and to ease its diffusion over the Arab radio stations — as a service to them... and to Lebanon!