Sabah was her screen name. The legendary Lebanese singer who also often acted and sang in Egyptian films, was an institution in the Arab world. Not on the same level as Um Kalthoum: she was of a different style. Good Arab and Middle East entertainers transcend national borders and religion and sect (as do some very bad ones too). She was one of the good ones. Many people did not even know or care what religion she was born into. Those were the days when religion and sect were kept confined to places of worship in the Middle East, except in Saudi Arabia.
She had quite an appetite for life, apparently including love. She was married numerous times, to Lebanese, to Egyptian celebrities, and others. And at least one brief marriage to an Arab oil potentate from the Gulf, actually from my hometown: probably a mix of passion and money involved. God knows how many others.
I saw her perform in Paris years ago. At a dock restaurant on the banks of the Seine, not far from La tour Eiffel. She was in her seventies then, but outlasted some of us who could not stay up that late. A bundle of energy and joie de vivre………..
Cheers
Mohammed Haider Ghuloum