Sayed Darwish

Sayed Darwish (Arabic:سيد درويش) was an Egyptian singer and composer who was considered the father of Egyptian popular music. He was born in Alexandria on March 17 1892. He put the music to the Egyptian national anthem, the words of which were adapted from a famous speech by Mustafa Kamel.

Darwish died in Alexandria on September 10 1923 aged 31 years old. On the day of his death was the day the great national Egyptian leader Saad Zaghloul coming back from exile, the Egyptians sand Darwish's new song Bilady Bilady Bilady, which became the national anthem in 1979. Zaghloul liked the song very much and asked who made it but Darwish died the same day.

Egyptians consider Sayed Darwish to be among their greatest musicians and their single greatest composer. In addition to the songs mentioned above, he composed Shed el hezam ("Pull the Belt"), Malo'ouna, Ana Haweit, Kom Ya Masry, and Salma Ya Salama.

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