Those who lived with the Saudi media in the sixties of the twentieth century must have heard the name of Musallam Al-Barazi, who wrote the words of the most famous works that glorified the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, its cities, and its late King Faisal bin Abdulaziz, may God rest his soul. At the time, the Kingdom was facing major security challenges and was exposed to malicious media campaigns from the media agencies of some Arab countries with radical policies. At the same time, these devices were desperate to woo Arab listeners by broadcasting enthusiastic patriotic songs with the highest propaganda sound, while the Saudi media lacked this type of songs.
From here, Al-Barazi worked to fill this deficiency, so he wrote many texts that the Syrian composer Mohsen Muhammad composed for the most part, in his belief in the correctness of Al-Faisal’s wise policies and the correct directions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the Arab and Islamic worlds. Thus, the man immortalized his name in the history of Saudi Arabia as one of the loyal Arabs who sided with it in a difficult Arab time, and he did everything in his power to harness his pen, literature and poetry in order to highlight the voice of truth, and with it the image of the blessed renaissance in the Saudi country and the wisdom of its leaders.
fecal family
Muslim Sabri Al-Barazi was born in the city of Damascus in 1934, the son of an ancient Syrian Kurdish family, the Al-Barazi family. And the Al-Barazi family, in fact, are many clans that live in northern Syria and southern Turkey and extend to Iraqi Kurdistan, but some of them live in Damascus in the Rukn al-Din neighborhood, and another part live in the city of Hama in the al-Mashareqa neighborhood, and their numbers have been increasing steadily since the second decade of the nineteenth century, when a leader invited them The Syrian army at the time called “Muhammad Agha al-Bakir al-Barazi” to volunteer in its army.
Not only did the Al-Barazi family provide Syria with military leaders, but it also presented prominent political figures, perhaps the most famous of which is the lawyer and academic Dr. Mohsen Al-Barazi, who assumed the presidency of the Syrian government in 1949 during the reign of President Hosni Al-Zaim, before he was executed by firing squad in the same year following a coup led by the army commander. Sami El Hennawy. In 1941, Muhsin al-Barazi held the position of Minister of Education in the first government of Khaled al-Azm, and between 1943 and 1946 he was an assistant, legal advisor, and writer of letters to the President of the Republic at the time, Shukri al-Quwatli.
Among other well-known Brazilian personalities is the independent politician Hosni Al-Barazi, who headed the Syrian government during World War II, and participated in the establishment of the Arab Girl Society against Ottoman rule and the National Bloc opposed to the French mandate, and he assumed the interior portfolio at the time of the Great Syrian Revolution, then the acquaintance portfolio during the era of Syrian President Muhammad Ali Al-Abed, as he was the governor of the Alexandretta District in the 1930s, the governor of Damascus in early 1942, and the governor of Aleppo during the era of the coup military governments. Among Hosni Al-Barazi’s contributions is that he participated in writing Syria’s first republican constitution in 1928 and its second constitution in 1950, and he founded and headed “Al-Nas” newspaper, which was known for its pro-American and anti-Soviet positions, which was closed in the mid-1950s and its owner was sentenced to death, which made him flee to Turkey and from there to Lebanon, where he died in 1975.
In the field of literature and poetry, the Al-Barazi family also presented well-known personalities such as the poet Ghalib Al-Barazi (d.: 1987) known for his poem “The Tree” in which he sang about the beauty of the Syrian land and the beauty of his hometown (the city of Hama) and the human connection to the soil of his homeland, and he was the one who won the London Radio Award Poetry in 1945 for his poem "Remember Me". There is the well-educated poet and delicate musician Youssef Al-Barazi, who wrote beautiful poems expressive in the Kurdish language, sixty of which were composed by well-known Kurdish artists.
With regard to the origin of the name (Al-Barazi Fath Al-Baa), it was said that they were the most prominent among the tribes that responded to Salah Al-Din Al-Ayyubi to fight with him against the Crusaders.
invited him to visit Saudi Arabia
In 1948, when Muslim al-Barazi was no more than fifteen years old, his sense of patriotism prompted him to leave his preparatory studies in a Damascus school in order to join the Salvation Army, which was founded and led by the Syrian officer Fawzi al-Qawuqji (d.: 1977) to fight the Jews in Palestine. In the fifties of the twentieth century, his name began to shine in the fields of media, art, and lyrical poetry, due to the fact that a group of great singers from Egypt and Syria (such as: Najat Al Saghira, Faiza Ahmed, Souad Muhammad, Rafik Shukri, Najib Al-Sarraj, Fahd Ballan, Fadwa Obaid, and Maha Al-Jabri) sang his poems. However, he was not in agreement with the military who ruled his country during that era, just as he was not in agreement with the Abdel Nasser regime that ruled his country between 1958-1962, as evidenced by the fact that he rejoiced greatly over the fall of the Syrian-Egyptian unity state and the return of freedoms and democratic life to Syria. However, his joy did not last long because of the military coup on March 8, 1963, which brought the Baath Party to power. While he was in despair from his country's volatile political situation, he received an invitation to visit the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which he immediately accepted as a solution to get out of his broken psychological state.
Separate him from the media
Al-Ayoubi also told us in his article that during the era of Minister Dr. Muhammad Abdo Yamani, who took over the media portfolio between 1975-1983, Al-Barazi was dismissed from work, and his contract was not renewed due to a misunderstanding that occurred between Al-Barazi and his direct boss, but the man remained residing in Riyadh and cooperating with television. The Saudi in the field of monitoring programs for a small sum, until he moved to the side of his Lord on the twenty-third of June 2011, alone, without a wife or children, and he had nothing from the wreckage of the world. His last years were marked by the onslaught of diseases, despite the fact that he was moderate in his eating, drinking and sleeping regime, according to what was narrated by his sister, “Masara”, who is about twenty years younger than him, and who did not marry in order to take care of her brother in their small shared apartment, so she was like a sister, mother and caring friend. for him. And what she mentioned about her brother Muslim is that he lived all his life without owning real estate or even a car, and that he would only leave his apartment for a very necessary matter, and he could not travel because he did not have a passport, and that one of the people he used to communicate with and love most was the creative Syrian composer Muhammad Mohsen, who composed most of his poems and songs for him, the Syrian poet Mounir al-Ahmad (son of the great poet Badawi al-Jabal), and the great Syrian director and producer Khaldoun al-Maleh.
An elegant poet
Al-Barazi, who was distinguished by the beauty of calligraphy, and was known for his love of reading the Qur’an and citing its verses, was also an elegant man in his dress and appearance, and he chose his clothes carefully, which made the former Saudi Minister of Information Ibrahim Al-Anqari once describe him as a delicate and elegant poet.
Throughout his work in Saudi Arabia, and despite all the circumstances he went through, Al-Barazi remained loyal and loving to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, glorifying its history, proud of its march, and proud of its kings, so he composed many sung poems that reflected this sincerity and love.
Saudi songs inspiration
The Saudi Ministry of Information provided him with the opportunity to roam around the various regions of Saudi Arabia to witness with his own eyes their conditions and the renaissance and development they are experiencing, contrary to what was being promoted by the counter-media. Based on his observations, he composed descriptive and ghazal poems about Taif (the song “If I commissioned you, tell me where is the path of Taif” composed and sung by Wadih Al-Safi and the song “Pomegranate Al-Taif” sung by Fahd Ballan) and about Al-Qassim (the song “Hanna from Al-Qassim Hanna” composed and sung Muharram Fouad, and the song “Sabah Al-Shouq Ya Buraida” sung by Fadwa Obaid), and on Jabal Radwa (the song “Ghazal Radwa” sung by Fahd Balan), and on Jeddah (the song “Pass me in Jeddah” and sung by Muhammad Abdo in its beginnings, composed by Muhammad Mohsen), and on the authority of Arous Al Shamal Hail (the song “Hail after my neighborhood / Dar Al Hawa Al Munshoud” sung by Talal Maddah, composed by Tariq Abdel Hakim), and on Abha (the song “I have not seen a better look than your look, O Abha” composed by the artist Omar Kadars and sung by Wadih Al Safi). Then Al-Barazi embodied the pinnacle of his descriptive sense and his poetic prowess in the poem “Come on, my quarter, come on” about the eastern region, where he wrote a wonderful and precise lyrical text in which he excelled in describing the eastern region, enumerating its bounties and passing through its features and coming to mention most of its cities one after the other by name, so he mentioned Dammam and Dhahran And Al-Khabar (We resolved and raised the edifice from Dammam and Dhahran.. And in Al-Khabar he received a civilization that was strengthened by faith), and he mentioned Seihat and Ras Tanura (from Seihat to Ras Tanura, you see goodness in one form, jealous of another), and he mentioned Al-Qatif (and the water-courses, the greenery and the pleasant atmosphere in the country of Al-Qatif). And he mentioned Dareen in his saying (I am in the house of the family, and I am not in Dareen .. and my eyes of joy and longing are not in Dareen), and he concluded with Al-Hofuf by saying (Come to Al-Hofuf, let's see what is in it / its farms and a spring or seven watering it / they say Ain Hilweh who He describes it/ I say all poetry is what fulfills it).
But before he wrote all these songs, Al-Barazi’s genius in the field of patriotic lyric poetry was manifested through a nasheed that has long been repeated in the tongues of people in Saudi Arabia, old and young. / God strengthens our separation”, which he organized on the occasion of the opening of Radio Riyadh, and the great musician Tariq Abdel Hakim composed it, and performed it with the group.
Then he followed it with another anthem about King Faisal, which also won approval and admiration, and it is the anthem “May God bless you, Abu Abdullah / Sir Bina Sir / Ya Abu Kabir, Ya Abu Abdullah”, which was composed and performed by the great Lebanese singer Wadih Al-Safi. After these two successful hymns, he presented a third hymn about Al-Faisal, titled “Faisal is the separating border / between truth and falsehood / victory of truth and the highest of the nation / and defeating falsehood with the highest determination.” .
An employee at Jeddah Radio
As for the person behind this invitation, he is Jamil Al-Hujailan, the first Minister of Information in Saudi Arabia. Al-Hujailan, as is known, was familiar with the situation in Syria and knew the smallest details about it and its families and men, as he was born, raised, and received his regular education there because of his belonging to the Aqilat who left their homes in Najd to the Levant to trade and guard the commercial convoys. Thus, Al-Barazi arrived in Jeddah in 1964, when he was a young man in his thirties full of vitality and giving. After a short period of time, he joined the Saudi Ministry of Information as an employee in the Music and Singing Department of Radio Jeddah throughout the period of Al-Hujailan’s holding of the media portfolio. During the reign of the last successor, Ibrahim Al-Anqari, Al-Barazi was transferred to work on Radio Riyadh. Dr. Zuhair Al-Ayoubi, the former director of Riyadh Radio, who worked with Al-Barazi and knew him closely, says in an article published in “Al-Jazeera Al-Thaqafia” (7/31/2011) that our friend, after he settled in Riyadh, worked as a supervisor for the radio’s music and singing department and as a member He is on the arbitration committee for the validity of works or not and is assigned to evaluate radio productions, and that by virtue of his job he made a great effort in establishing an integrated radio band led by the Syrian musician Saeed Qatlan. He also contributed to the selection and recruitment of a number of the most brilliant Arab musicians from Syria, Egypt and Jordan to support the Radio Music Ensemble in its early founding. This is not to mention his special fingerprints and his elaborate method in implementing and recording a number of Saudi songs for local singers such as Abdulaziz Al-Rashed, Saad Ibrahim and Abdel-Qader Halawani in the studios of Radio Riyadh, in cooperation with the spiritual father of the Saudi song, musician Tariq Abdel-Hakim and the famous Egyptian violinist Ahmed Al-Hafnawi.
Reading in the history of the Kingdom
Al-Barazi read a lot about the history of Saudi Arabia and its unification at the hands of its unifier King Abdulaziz, so he loved this history and the heroics and sacrifices it included. And when the occasion of the Saudi National Day came, he wanted to celebrate it like others, so he wrote the poem “Abu Turki and Noura’s Brother,” which was composed by Mohsen Muhammad and sung by the group. And in it he said: “Abu Turki and Noura’s brother/ On the religion of guidance and its light/ He built and unified our island/ Religion supported our Arabism/ And all the people are Abu Turki/ And all the people are the brother of his light.”
Among his other patriotic anthems that reflected his clear political stances in support of King Faisal's approach and anti-leftist, communist and revolutionary tendencies, the anthem "Islamic Islamic / Neither Eastern nor Western / from Mecca declared by Faisal Islamic Islamic", and the anthem "From six hundred million / From every clan and color”, both of which were composed by Muhammad Mohsen and performed by the group.
As for the last national anthem he presented to Saudi Arabia, it was the anthem “Security and Safety” from the group’s performance, in which he praised the achievements of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd bin Abdulaziz and his crown prince, Prince / King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, by saying: “Justice is the basis of the king here, which is the balance / and the cheetah.” And Abdullah, we have safety and security.”
It is worth noting that Al-Barazi did not forget the issue of Palestine, for which he abandoned his studies when he was a young man. He composed several poems for it, one of which was entitled “To Palestine.” Its beginning says: “I am honest if I say I will return / to beloved Palestine / as long as God’s religion lasts.” Commander/ I will return to the stolen land.” And when this poem was composed, Riyadh Radio chose the first beginning of it to be a distinctive melody for its daily program “With the Fedayeen,” which was written by Dr. Ahmed Abdel Halim Al Rousan.
The writer Ali Faqandash quoted the Saudi journalist, Abd al-Rahman Yaghmour, in an article he wrote in Okaz newspaper (7/20/2011) as saying about al-Barazi: “He was one of the best-mannered people in the media… I do not remember him engaging in a quarrel with anyone.” Along with his colleague, the late Lebanese artist Rashid Alama, on Radio Jeddah, he was one of the most dealers with the utmost taste, politeness, love of work and dedication to it.
As for the well-known Saudi journalist, and the broadcaster accompanying King Faisal d. Badr Karim summed up his opinion of Al-Barazi by saying: “This creator is a beautiful man in every way, as I did not hear throughout our career on Radio Jeddah about his quarrels with anyone or that he fabricated any impediments in working with an official or a colleague. Rather, he is a man.” He knows nothing but work, and always thinking about presenting what is distinguished, and who I can not forget is that some time before his departure, may God have mercy on him, I saw him and was in the company of my colleague Dr. Ayed Al-Raddadi, and he was not that elegant that he lived throughout his life due to age until his back, may God have mercy on him, was crooked from what he did the years.”
And the musician Sami Ihsan was quoted as saying about Al-Barazi: “His specialization in descriptive songs made him a distinguished mark, unlike other fellow professors who went into this field. What I see is that Muslim, may God have mercy on him, had a beautiful descriptive sense, so how beautiful is what he wrote about our various cities.
Written by: Dr. Abdullah Al-Madani abu_taymour@
