It was a monument of imagination

This novel was published in French under the very concise title "Mother," which is the well-known name for Umm Kulthum in France, similar to "Thuma" in the Arab world. It was then translated into English and Italian under the title "I Loved You for Your Voice," while the Lebanese poet the late Bassam Hajar translated it with the title "He Was a Monument of Imagination," taken from the poem "Al-Atlal," one of Umm Kulthum's few songs not composed by Ahmed Rami, who can be considered her personal poet, having written 137 songs out of 383 songs she performed in her artistic career. Salim Nasib, of Lebanese origin, who has lived and worked in Paris since 1969 as a correspondent for Le Monde, drew inspiration for most of his works from the romantic history of historical figures through his favorite theme "Love." But here, love is chaste "and apparently one-sided," as the novel deals with the love of Rami for the Arab singing lady. The author, through Rami—who appears to be in a state of mystical love—tries to revive the literary and artistic life and reconstruct Egypt's history from 1924 until 1975, the year of Umm Kulthum's death.