Khālid Abū al-Naṣr al-Yāfī

Biography

Khalid Abu al-Nasr al-Yafi was a composer and violinist whose career connected Beirut and Aleppo.

Saqr Abu Fakhr’s historical account places his birth in Beirut in 1911 and his move to Aleppo before eighteen. There he trained Zakia Hamdan and Najah Salam, later settling in Beirut. This account situates him within a shared musical network between the two cities. Nur al-Huda’s recollections offer a view of his teaching. In an autobiographical article reproduced by El Watan from al-Kawakib, she remembers a relative introducing her as a child and taking singing and music lessons each Sunday. Learning numerous songs deepened her commitment to music. The magazine date is reported by the modern article; its original page has not been inspected here. For Zakia Hamdan he composed the qasidas Khuliqti jamila and Salima. Sulayman Bakhti describes his interest in European music and its combination with Arabic melody. Leading the Lebanese Radio ensemble, he pursued literary Arabic singing, reduced repetition, dance songs and harmonic arrangement. His published repertoire extends to Nur al-Huda and Fairuz, while accounts differ over the duration of his artistic partnership with Zakia.