Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN) — The walls of the apartment of the late Egyptian singer Abdel Halim Hafez still bear the fragrance of the beautiful past, where one of the most important stars of Arab singing lived, known as the Dark Nightingale (watch the video clip above).
Despite the passage of 45 years since his death, the memory of Abdel Halim is still engraved in the memory of his fans, whether those who contemplated him or from subsequent generations, as his romantic songs were associated with stories of love between lovers, from “Ahwak” to “Ala Qad al-Shawq”, and many of his immortal songs.
During his recent visit to Egypt, Qatari travel blogger Abdel Aziz Al-Ajeel explored the Al-Andaleb Al-Asmar apartment, on the seventh floor of the “Zahraa Al-Jazira” building, which is located in the center of the Zamalek neighborhood in the capital, Cairo, in front of the fish park.
After a long break from Egypt, the Qatari travel blogger wanted to take a different experience in the country, outside the scope of traditional tourism, to get to know its cultural richness, he said in an interview with CNN in Arabic.
Al-Ajeel refers to the huge number of phrases and messages left by fans as if they were inscriptions adorning the walls of the outer corridor of the apartment, in which Abdel Halim lived, which caught the attention of the Qatari blogger, as it is from the fingertips of the current generation, despite the passage of nearly half a century since the departure of the brown Nightingale.
As soon as he entered the apartment door, Al-Ajeel was fascinated by the luxury of the decor, influenced by the French style, pointing out that the apartment remained as it was in the middle of the last century.
Al-Ajeel remembers the moment he entered that he sensed the important personalities that were meeting between these walls, including poets, artists and composers.
Al-Ajeel has always found it difficult to imagine what life would look like during the era of Abdel Halim in two colors other than black and white, similar to Abdel Halim’s films in the golden age of Egyptian cinema.
So while exploring the Nightingale’s apartment, Al-Ajil tried to see what was around him stripped of colour, as in black and white films.
Al-Ajeel describes his visit to the apartment as a dream that came true, as he remembers the feelings of joy that overwhelmed him, noting how similar the place is to the romantic and elegant personality of the Egyptian artist, as he put it.
The Qatari blogger was keen to document the corners of the apartment, which still retains all its minute details, in addition to the very special purposes of the late singer, such as the types of perfumes he used, and the oud from which his timeless creations emerged.
Among the details that aroused Al-Ajeel’s interest, was the impression of Abdel Halim’s prominent head on the back of his bed, which indicates the length of his stay in this position during the period of his illness, a period that broke the hearts of all his fans in the Arab world at the time, according to Al-Ajeel.
Al-Ajeel was keen to share the video clip that he documented during his tour of Abdel Halim Hafez’s apartment through his account on “Instagram”, commenting: “Nightingale’s brown apartment.. a dream and come true for me.. I felt his apartment resembled him.. romantic, elegant, warm.”
The video clip received wide responses from Al-Ajil’s followers, who expressed their admiration and feelings of love for the late Brown Nightingale.