اخبار السعودية – وطن نيوز
عاجل اخبار السعودية – اخبار اليوم السعودية
W6nnews.com ==== وطن === تاريخ النشر – 2026-04-06 00:02:00
The Yemeni researcher Muhammad Hussein Al-Omari, in his research on the history of Yemeni singing, points out that Yemen has known singing and musical instruments since pre-Christian civilizations, citing many inscriptions of the oud instrument that were discovered in more than one Yemeni site, and what Al-Masoudi (d. 956 AD) mentioned in “Muruj Al-Dhahab”, that singing in Yemen goes back to the era of Ad, and what the British orientalist “Henry Farmer” concluded that the Arabs were in the kingdoms of the southern Arabian Peninsula. They reached the lofty levels that the Semites had reached before them in the field of music. The researcher goes on to confirm that Arabic music began to flourish and grow in three regions: Syria, Iraq, and Western Arabia… coming from the south of the Arabian Peninsula, and that the sources that chronicle Arabic music are not without mentioning Yemen and the role of its people in making it. What the researcher also mentioned is that the first people to sing before Islam and after the emergence of Islam were from Yemen and Hadhramaut, pointing to “Al-Isfahani” and “Tuwais,” who was the first to introduce rhythm to Arabic singing. According to the researcher Al-Omari, the musical figures of the Umayyad and Abbasid eras, such as “Ishaq Al-Mawsili” and “Zaryab,” followed the path of the Yemeni Tuwais and took from him, developed and popularized him, then transferred him to Andalusia, and the Muwashahat appeared, “which are originally from Yemen, as the roots of the words of the Muwashah, its compositions, and its doctrines resemble the Yemeni original. This was seen by many researchers, such as Al-Rifai in his book, “Al-Humayni, the missing link in the extension of “Arabic Al-Muwashah Al-Andalusi,” and before him the historian Muhammad Abdo Ghanem, according to him. “This was a prelude to documenting the biography of one of the most prominent figures in Yemeni singing in its various and diverse forms, a pioneer of its renewal, a unique contributor to its spread beyond the borders of his country and its consolidation on the Arab scene, a chronicler of its long history extending from ancient times to the present day, and the owner of an exciting artistic experience that lasted over six decades, during which he succeeded in being one of the masters of renewal.” Al-Ghani, and among those who contributed to enriching and developing the Yemeni song and presenting its abundant and diverse heritage and folklore in a genius style of creativity and beauty through his school, his own authentic vision, and his deep passion for reviving and guarding the heritage. The reference here is to the Yemeni singer, composer, critic, and music historian, “Muhammad Murshid Naji,” known as “Al-Murshidi,” about whom his compatriot Ahmed Al-Aghbari said in the Arab Music Magazine (2/28/2022): What It means that he did not join a music institute, nor did he complete his formal education, but he was able to overcome the harshness of his living conditions, develop his talent, and advance his vision through his continuous reading and contact with intellectual and national symbols and figures until his artistic project crystallized. His start was from a national awareness that was necessary for him from an early age, and from a strong conviction in the role of art in uplifting society, and from a genuine passion for the Yemeni singing heritage and a broad knowledge. On the issues of Arabic music. There is no doubt that the environment in which he grew up played an important role in his brilliance and genius without academic study. Aden, where he was born and raised and his awareness was completed, was not at that time like the rest of the Yemeni cities. It was different, prosperous, and far ahead of others in terms of modernity, civility, openness, cultural and political pluralism, and intellectual and political clamor. Al-Morshedi was born on November 6, 1929 in the Sheikh Othman District. In Aden, he belongs to a poor family of modest circumstances and means, consisting of an Adenian father and a Somali Arab mother descended from the Darood tribe. He enrolled to study at Al-Kuttab in Harat Al-Qahm, and he recited the Holy Qur’an at the hands of the jurist Ahmed Al-Jabali at an early age, so his father threw him a big party according to the custom of his society at that time. Then he joined one of the government primary schools, completing his primary education, after which he joined the middle school in Crater, but without continuing there, as he left it and joined the Catholic Mission School or what was known as “Al-Badri School,” where he was busy playing football until he became an athlete star with fans and fans who called him “Al-Morshedy.” It seemed that going back and forth to that school, which was about 20 kilometers away from his home, exhausted his strength, so he decided to leave it and join instead the book of “Sayyid Saleh Hassan Turki” to teach the English language, where he continued his education for a happy time, studying under the latter, who was a songwriter, singer, and violinist. One day, while he was in his studies, news spread that the Indian Army Hospital needed nurses born in Aden and that training courses would be held for those accepted. Our friend applied for the job and was accepted and appointed as a translator between the doctor and the patient. The beginning of his preoccupation with art was at home, where he was influenced when he was young by his father, who loved singing and was good at it and performed it every day. When he joined his primary school, he started singing for his classmates, and he was encouraged and his talent was noticed. His teacher, Ahmed Hassan Abdel Latif, encouraged him to perform local songs and national anthems, and even visited him at his parents’ house to listen to him. This, in turn, motivated the young man, Al-Murshedi, to overcome his shyness and stand on stages to sing at wedding parties, after he learned to play an oud that one of his relatives bought for him in a record period of time. Gradually, his name spread and he became famous. Then the fame he gained in a short period of time led him to join the “Adeniya Musical Symposium” (an artistic club founded in 1949 by Khalil Muhammad Khalil and others to be an extension of the cultural, literary and lyrical development in Aden), at the invitation of the Yemeni poet Ahmed Hassan Hanbala. He began performing in front of the club members what he had memorized of the heritage of Yemeni songs and some Egyptian songs, which impressed the listeners and they encouraged him. Then he began to interact with great local artists and benefit from them to develop his experience. One day in 1951, the late poet Muhammad Saeed Jarada heard him and was surprised by his beautiful voice. He suggested that he compose and sing one of his poems, so he wrote him a poem entitled “Pause,” so Al-Morshedi took it, composed it, and sang it. It was the first and most successful of his songs. From here began his artistic career that would continue over the next six decades, full of giving and presenting various types of Yemeni singing, such as Hadhrami, Yafi’i, Lahija, Adeniya, and Tihami, and contributing to removing the Sana’ani color from its narrow scope. His lyrical and melodic creativity was evident in a large number of works that he performed from his melodies and the words of great old and new poets, including: “You captured my heart,” “The Great Meeting,” “The Time of Youth,” and “O You Who Robbed Sleep.” “My eyes”, “Fragrances and roses”, “I am from my sight”, “Great status”, “She caught the eyes of the oryx”, “Akhdar Jahish”, “Between you and me”, “It was a long time ago, friend”, “A prayer of the heart”, “Longing filled me”, “Oh, who denied love”, “A look from her eyeballs”, “Don’t be ashamed”, “I still love you”, “Oh star, oh Saher”, “The uncle”, “You abandoned me and drove me away,” “Your youth is Nada Rayan,” “A deer from two suns,” “I bid farewell to your love,” “I can’t believe it,” “My beloved came to me,” “Oh son of people, I loved you,” “Oh I ask about the love of the beloved,” “Why, my boy,” “O port of Tawahi, your love is in the hearts,” “Oh Abha, you and I are in love and hum,” and others. It can be said that Al-Morshedi’s successes were strengthened and consolidated. Thanks to three factors, the first of which is the diversification of his lyrical and melodic works, so he was accepted by various components of Yemeni society in the north and south of the country and in the diaspora, and the second is his reliance on spreading on Radio Aden, since its founding in 1954, which recorded his songs for 8 shillings per song, so his voice reached every home, and the third is his keenness since the mid-sixties to participate in sessions, musical events and social parties held in the Gulf states and the peninsula. Arabic, so his fame and art spread outside the Yemeni geography, especially after he presented his melodies to well-known Arab artists such as the Saudi artist Muhammad Abdo (the song Dhanani Al-Shouq) and the Syrian artist Fahd Ballan (the song Yanjem Ya Saher). However, the respect and appreciation he received among his fans, while some of it came from the originality and diversity of his works and his velvety voice, some of it was due to his keenness to stay away from low-key singing, the art of sociability and entertainment, and not to surrender to the tastes of the public among drug-goers (as evidenced by his saying once that he did not like to be classified as a singer or a singer who entertains and tickles the emotions, but rather as an educated artist), and a third part came from his role in the political movement phase. and cultural issues against the British colonizers in South Yemen in the 1950s and 1960s. The sources I reviewed indicate that his convictions were mixed with the issues of his country and his citizens, so he took up arms in his early youth to confront the British, before using the weapon of passionate political and patriotic song against them. Innovation in Singing After his stardom became established, Al-Murshidi turned to innovation and development, whether at the level of singing or melody, or in melodic dealing with classical poetry, benefiting deeply from traditional genres and popular scales in Yemen, according to critic Jaber. Ali Ahmed, in his book “The Present of Singing in Yemen,” wrote that Al-Murshidi is one of the pioneers of singing renewal in Yemen, and that he surpassed others in some aspects. He presented works distinguished by their rhythmic diversity, was able to lengthen the musical phrase, and succeeded in transcending the melodic structures of traditional singing and mixing traditional elements with modern elements, with a clear tendency to give priority to modern elements. This was confirmed by the writer Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Maqaleh in his introduction to the book that Al-Murshidi published in 1983 under the title “Old Yemeni Singing and Its Celebrities,” when he wrote: “His renewal, like his singing, was acceptable and linked to the basic components that make singing a direct expression of human sorrows and dreams, their land, and the natural field of his country.” At the same time, Al-Murshidi worked to guard and document the Yemeni singing heritage, through research and study. And the issuance of books such as: the book “Our Popular Songs” in 1959, the book “Old Yemeni Singing and Its Celebrities” in 1983, the book “Pages of Memories” in 2000, and the book “Songs and Stories” in 2001. This research effort constitutes evidence of the man’s interest in improving himself, his culture, and his country’s artistic heritage, or as Dr. Al-Maqaleh said: He is “the only artist in Aden who seeks to develop… His artistic and literary culture, and the only one occupied by the interests of combining art and culture. Then, in 1997, he was elected as a member of the House of Representatives. In addition, he was honored on many occasions inside and outside Yemen. For example, he received the First Class Medal of Arts from the Yemeni President in 1982, and the November 30 Medal in 1997. He was honored by the Omani Ministry of Heritage and Culture in 2001. In the same year, he was honored in Bahrain as one of the pioneers of Arabic song. In 2002, he won the Integrated Song Award at the Abha Festival in Saudi Arabia. He was honored in 2003 in Paris by the Arab World Institute, and in the same year he received the Writers’ Union Shield. And Yemeni writers. In 2004, he won the Omar Al-Jawi Award for Creativity, and the Yemeni Ministry of Culture honored him on the occasion of choosing Sana’a as the capital of Arab culture. In 2008, he received a special honor at the Festival and Forum of Arab Pioneers and Creators in Damascus, in appreciation and gratitude for his active musical role over half a century. On February 7, 2013, Al-Morshedi departed to his resting place, after his health deteriorated during his last years, and the failure of treatment for his illness. In the arteries of the heart at the expense of the state in Syria and India, as well as his treatment at his own expense in Jordan.
