Al-Atlal (Arabic: الأطلال, "The Ruins") is a poem written by the Egyptian poet Ibrahim Nagi, which later became a famous song sung by Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum in 1966.
[1] The songs text was adapted by Umm Kulthum and its melody composed by the Egyptian composer Riad Al Sunbati[2] two years after her first song composed by Mohamed Abdel Wahab, “Inta Omri” (إنت عمري, "You are My Life").
It has been first published in 1944 within a compilation known as the Layali al-Qahira (Cairo Nights) and is inspired by the qasida, a pre-Islamic Arabic form of poetry.
[2] Sunbati is one of the most prominent composers in modern Arab music in general and regarding to Umm Kulthum in specific.
[3] The songs became popular in the late 1960s when Umm Kulthum began to sing it, and since the Six Day War between Israel and several Arab countries, several prominent critics considered the song as the Arab Song par excellence.