From Beirut’s Hamra district, long considered a backdrop to his work and a hub of Lebanon’s cultural life, Ziad Rahbani began his final journey on Monday morning.
The body of the Lebanese composer, who died on Saturday at the age of 69, was transferred from Al-Khoury Hospital in Hamra to his final resting place in Mhaydseh, a village near Bikfaya – a historic mountain town north-east of Beirut.
Mourners gathered outside the hospital at dawn and applauded as the ambulance carrying his casket departed at 9am Beirut time, with many scattering flower petals in tribute.
This brief gathering is expected to be the only public farewell, in accordance with the family’s wishes. There was no formal procession through the streets. Instead, those who assembled at the hospital either walked alongside the vehicle or followed it in silence as it headed toward the Church of the Dormition of the Virgin in Bikfaya, where the funeral ceremony will take place.
There, Rahbani’s mother and collaborator Fairuz will receive the casket in a private setting. The church will begin receiving visitors at 11am, with the funeral mass scheduled for 4pm.
Rahbani died following a long illness – his health had deteriorated in recent months and, according to Lebanon’s Culture Minister Ghassan Salame, plans for further treatment were eventually halted.
“We dreaded this day, as we knew his health was deteriorating and his desire for treatment was diminishing,” he said. “Plans to treat him in Lebanon or abroad had become obsolete, as Ziad no longer had the capacity to imagine the necessary treatment and surgeries. May God have mercy on artist Rahbani. We will mourn him by singing his immortal songs.”
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Lebanese artist Ziad Rahbani performs during a concert at al-Manara theatre, in Cairo on November 30, 2018. AFP -
Rahbani performs during the Beirut Holidays 2019 Festival at the waterfront in the Lebanese capital on July 19, 2019. AFP -
Rahbani performs during a concert at the Ehdeniyat International Festival in Ehden town in Lebanon on July 30, 2015. Reuters -
Ziad Rahbani -
Ziad Rahbani, the Lebanese composer, playwright, pianist and political activist, has died, aged 69. AFP -
Born in 1956 in Antelias, near Beirut, Ziad Rahbani was the eldest son of renowned singer Fairouz and composer Assi Rahbani. AFP -
His mother Fairouz performed some of his compositions at her concerts, blending Lebanese folklore with western syncopation and phrasing. AFP -
Rahbani, left, performing with his mother Fairouz at Beirut's Piccadilly Theatre in 1975, in the musical Mais El Rim. AFP -
From a young age, Rahbani showed signs of prodigious talent, composing his first musical work at the age of 17. AFP -
Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun said Rahbani was 'not just an artist, but a complete intellectual and cultural phenomenon'. AFP -
Rahbani, right, in July 2001, at a rehearsal with Armenian conductor Karen Durgaryan in Beiteddine, in the Chouf region of Lebanon, for concerts by Fairouz at the annual festival. AFP -
Rahbani at an anti-government protest organised by Lebanon's communist party, in Beirut in December 2018. AP
Rahbani, widely regarded as one of the most original and creative voices to emerge from Lebanon in the past five decades, has been mourned across the Arab world. His death sparked an outpouring of grief from political figures and fellow artists alike.
“Ziad Rahbani’s music is a voice carved from Lebanon’s soul,” Lebanese composer and musicologist Toufic Maatouk told The National. “He called it 'oriental jazz', but it was more a fusion of Arabic melodies, funk and jazz that sounded unmistakably Lebanese. Each note carried Beirut’s chaos, warmth and wit. Ziad's artistry wasn’t imitation, it was invention, born from home.”
Singer Elissa was among the many artists who paid tribute online. “Ziad Rahbani was no ordinary artist and certainly no ordinary person,” she wrote on X. “His musical and artistic genius is one of a kind, never to be repeated. With his loss, Lebanon has lost a part of itself, and a large piece of its collective memory. Fairuz, our ambassador to the whole world, is first and foremost Ziad’s mother today. May God grant her strength and patience.”
Najwa Karam praised his influence across generations: “A great genius has departed from Lebanon ahead of his time and like no one else. He planted a laugh full of depth. His theatre and his music were the essence of a battle between the golden past and a visionary future,” she said on X. "A son of freedom who feared nothing. May God have mercy on you and may your soul rest in heaven.”
Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun also issued a statement of condolence. “Ziad Rahbani was not just an artist; he was an integrated intellectual and cultural figure,” he said. “Moreover, he was a living conscience, a rebellious voice against injustice, and an honest mirror for those who suffered and were marginalised. He wrote about people's pain and played on the strings of truth, without ambiguity.
“Ziad's many distinguished works will remain alive in the memory of the Lebanese and Arabs, inspiring future generations and reminding them that art can be an act of resistance, and that words can be a stance. May Ziad Rahbani rest in peace, and may his music and plays, vibrant with memory and life, remain a beacon of freedom and a call for human dignity.”
