Editing Sayed Darwish (section)

==Early life==

Sayed Darwish was born in Alexandria on 17 March 1892. During his childhood his family could not afford to pay for his education, so he was sent to a religious school where he mastered the recitation of the [[Quran]], studying under [[Muhammad Salamah]]. After graduating from the religious school and gaining the title ''[[Sheikh]]'' Sayyed Darwish, he studied for two years at [[Al-Azhar University|al-Azhar]], one of the most renowned religious universities in the world. He left his studies to devote his life to music composition and singing, then entered a music school where his music teacher admired his talents and encouraged Darwish to press onward in the music field.

Darwish at that time was also trained to be a munshid (cantor). He worked as a bricklayer in order to support his family, and it so happened that the manager of a theatrical troupe, the ''Syrian Attalah Brothers'', overheard him singing for his fellows and hired him on the spot. While touring in Syria, he had the opportunity to gain a musical education, short of finding success. He returned to Egypt before the start of the [[World War I|Great War]], and won limited recognition by singing in the cafés and on various stages while he learned repertoire of the great composers of the 19th century, to which he added ''ʾadwār'' (musical modes) and ''muwashshaḥāt'' (Arabic poetic-form compositions) of his own. In spite of the cleverness of his compositions, he wasn't to find public acclaim, disadvantaged by his mediocre stage presence in comparison with such stars of his time as [[Saleh Abdel Hai|Sâlih 'Abd al-Hayy]] or Zakî Murâd.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.egyptmemory.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10001&storeId=10001&productId=12640&langId=-1 |title=Product: Sayed Darwish |accessdate=2013-08-17 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20130817074035/http://www.egyptmemory.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10001&storeId=10001&productId=12640&langId=-1 |archivedate=17 August 2013 }}</ref>