EGYPT: A necklace and a voice

It was the story of a necklace threaded with 1,800 pearls that got me searching for an old cassette tape. The necklace belonged to Umm Kulthum, a daughter from a poor Nile Delta village who became Egypt's favorite diva until her death in 1975. Her voice was big and strong, yet nuanced, attuned to the whims of love and broken love and all the human rhythms in-between. She sang poetry and verse. Wearing sunglasses and coiffed hair, her hands rising amid the orchestra, Kulthum could put you in a place and gently bring you back.

She was loved throughout the Arab world; millions attended her funeral. Her necklace of nine rows of pearls will be auctioned by Christie's in April, according to the Associated Press. I remember the first time I heard her voice on a scratchy car radio in Cairo. It was years ago. I was rushing for a plane. Her phrasing soothed me. I didn't understand the words, but the voice was pure, transcending language and time.

— Jeffrey Fleishman in Cairo

Photo: Umm Kulthum / Credit: Arabfilm.com