There is an earthquake occurring across the Arab world, and his name is Mohammed Assaf. “Your voice is measured by a golden balance,” Arab Idol judge Ragheb Alameh declared last weekend, while Nancy Ajram praised his “high artisanship” after Mohammed sings the song “Why all this?” by the late legendary Egyptian singer and songwriter Mohammed Abdul Wahab.
We’ve posted the lyrics to the song below. But to fully grasp why Mohammed Assaf is causing such an unprecedented reaction from judges and audiences alike requires an understanding of the nuanced complexities in the fabric of Arabic melodies (see Maqam). This nuanced fabric runs through Arabic culture and tradition and is often lost or otherwise unrecognized or unappreciated by the western observer. Assaf’s extraordinary talent and expertise have the ability to bridge the chasm between our cultures. But Mohammed Assaf is not only an artist, his allure is multi dimensional.
Below is a translated transcript of the judges’ comments last Friday night, beginning at 5 minutes in the video. Listen to the praise from Arab Idol judge Ragheb Alameh and Assaf’s response when Alameh reads aloud a section of a Palestinian prisoner’s letter, a letter that has gone viral throughout the Arab world.
And listen carefully to the words of judge Hassan El Shafei when he tells Assaf he has a “huge responsibility towards the whole Arab world.” He means Mohammed Assaf has it all. Talent, brilliance, beauty, creativity, with the soul of the Arab world, a Palestinian soul.
Ragheb Alameh: Mohammed Assaf ….Ya Mohammed Assaf… so many things are running through my mind while I am listening to you, I swear to God, I don’t know what to say to you. You made me reach a point where my thoughts are running around each other; I don’t know what to say to you. The only thing I will say to you and I am responsible for it, is that your voice is measured by a golden balance. The centrality of it, the tarab, the quality, the mastery.
But I want to go someplace else…..I want to tell two things; today I received this letter do you know from whom? From a prisoner in the Israeli prisons, Palestinian sentenced for 27 years, I want everybody to know what Arab Idol is doing to people and what you the contestants are doing to people…
Recently, we fought an open-ended hunger strike that lasted nearly a month, and one of the most important demands was the restoration of Arab satellite TV channels, including MBC. Do know the price of watching has cost us tons of human flesh and dozens of chronic diseases?
Assaf: Allow me Mr. Ragheb to salute all our prisoners in the Israeli prisons, and to tell them that your cause is our cause, and we are all with you, and May god give you freedom.
Ragheb: the second thing, (the two people who appear at 7:24 are Assaf’s father and sister). Today on my way here, I got a phone call from the Palestinian president Abu Aazen, he praised all the contestants and you of course, I told him that Mohammed is in our hearts, and today Mohammed is not only a Palestinian artist, he is the son of all the Arab world, because all through the arab world, there is a consensus on the beauty of your voice and your talent, I wanted to assure the president , and thank him for his nice words about us and you (the contestants) and the MBC, last thing I want to salute Salma and Barwas (the Moroccan and Kurdish contestants who were voted out last week), they are sitting here cheering for you and were gesturing to me that they had goose bumps from your singing.. like we has goose bumps also…Bravo…Bravo…Bravo…
Nancy Ajram: I want to say something…Mohammad Assaf…I want to say that you are a real artist, first, you sang today for Abdul Wahab, second, the mawwal you sang with high artisanship, you went through several maqams, specially the Sikah maqam which is considered one of the most difficult maqams. You sang it perfectly, it’s a very difficuly Arabic maqam , and the one who sings it must have great singing ability…..you..Stardom is waiting for you ya Mohammed… impatiently [she used the phrase on fire]..bravo bravo bravo.
Hassan El Shafei: There is no doubt that you are an amazing voice like usual, we say that to you every time, always. When a singer sings a song from another artist, either he adds to it something new, or he repeats what the original singer did. What you did and I always like about your singing, is that you sing your own unique way, it’s like I am hearing the song for the first time, your way is totally different. I love that you have your own character in it. What I love about you is that you don’t mimic the original singer, you show respect for the song and its melody, but you add your own thing, and I salute for this always, that you want to be different even when you are singing an existing popular song, you add something new and original, I salute you.
Second, you have to understand that today you are carrying a huge responsibility for the whole Arab world; you are not just a beautiful voice that people like and vote for. You have become a hope to a lot of people. Put this in your mind, a lot of people look at you, and they see hope, and how they also could succeed. Always remember that you are role model, it’s a huge responsibility, so take care of it…and good job.
Ahlam Ali Al Shamsi: Should I be brief?
Hassan: Please!
Ahlam: Mohammed Assaf, I want to repeat what I said to you last week, Remember?
The presenter: Yeah Messi and Ronaldo
Ahlam: This is the first time I prepare my comments before I came, four days ago I saw an ad for Ronaldo, where he shoots a soccer ball and it goes around the globe and comes back to him..
Hassan: Magic..Just like him ( points at Mohammed) I mean seriously..the singing he sings.
Ahlam: your voice will go around the Arab world and will reach everybody, it’s already have reached beyond the Arab world, you have reached high levels… I always say that Mohammed Assaf is the most important voice I have heard in the last 10 years….good job!
Here are the lyrics to ” Why all this?” The mawwal is where Assaf demonstrates his mastery of the Arabic maqams. He takes one sentence and just runs with it, he picks certain words, repeats them, and goes back to another phrase. This is classic Arabic music at it’s finest, a palm to the soul. ( specially at 3:30)
( The song is in the masculine form)
Why all this?… when I saw his eyes
My heart longed for him…. And I was absorbed with him
My heart longed for him…. And I was absorbed with him
Why all this? Why why?
The one who bewildered me ….The one who changed me…. The one who left me like this
He slept and left me awake…. He remembers me? or I am not remembered
My mornings are filled with worries and woe… because I think about him
My mornings are filled with worries and woe… because I think about him
He made forget to sleep the nights….He made me spend the nights talking to myself about him
(Beginning of Mawwal)
He made forget to sleep the nights….He made me spend the nights talking to myself about him
(End of Mawwal)
Why all this?… when I saw his eyes
My heart longed for him…. And I was absorbed with him
Why all this? Why why?
In prisoner Hussam Shaheen’s words :
We Palestinians have the depth and a national umbrella through the talented young Mohammed Assaf; the Palestinian voice whose throats warbles gracefully like the shores of Gaza of Hashem, the full bloom of the mountains of Carmel and Galilee, and the sweetness of soulful hymns in the streets and alleys of old Jerusalem.
“His voice has reached to the ends of the Arab world and beyond.”
Ahlam is such a decent man. He’s an inspiration.
No question he has one of those God given talents. I am curious about his background. Does he come from the upper classes? His teeth are perfect. For most homo sapiens such choppers requires huge amounts of money, though there are rare individuals that come by them naturally.
Mohammad Assaf, you made me cry. You made be proud. You made Palestine proud. You make all of us Arabs – Christians, Moslems, and Jews – truly proud.
I usually write about Palestine-Israel but today I want to comment about being an Arab. What this episode of Arab Idol and others before it show me is that Arabs are a proud nation and we will return to be a great nation. The Internet, satellite TV, mobile cell phones, and social media will be the tools that will bring back the pan-Arab pride and feeling of unity and oneness, destroying along its way all the divisive powers including unelected leaders, dictators, and religious extremism.
Listening to the singers singing in different dialects and to the judges talking with Lebanese, Egyptian, and Emarati accents, only proves to me that technology will unify us, will free us, will usher in democracy across the Arab world.
What Arab Idol shows and proves (to me at least) is that we are more united as Arabs than people think, more proud and caring of Palestine than our illegitimate rulers want us to believe for their sake.
The Arab Nation will rise again. We are a nation of greatness, not a nation of extremists as I believe less than 2% of us are extremists of one type or another. The Arab Nation will reclaim its place as a nation of peace, of culture, of compassion, and of justice for all its citizens – Christians, Moslems, and Jews – where we all can live and be proud since that is what we all aspire to.
Today, I am proud to be an Arab, a Palestinian Arab. Thank you Mohammad Assaf for what you have given to me, to Palestine, and to the Arab Nation!
It would be great to hear him sing “Unadikum.”
Mohammad Assaf deserves to win. He could do big things for Palestine, and essentially put it on the map. Assaf was born a star. Assaf will go far, I just know it.