Do You Know About Lebanon’s First-Ever Beauty Queen From 1935?

No one will ever top the iconic Georgina Rizk as the most popular and beloved Miss Lebanon winner, who made history after she was crowned Miss Universe back in 1971. But that had us thinking…who was Lebanon’s first-ever beauty queen? We did some digging, and this is what we found.

The first beauty pageant (unrelated to Miss Lebanon, by the way) took place in 1935 and was held at the historic Al Kassouf Hotel in Dhour El Choueir. The panel of judges included: President Camille Chamoun, Gabriel Trad, and prominent poets from that time.

Jamila Haddad Al Khalil was crowned the country’s first-ever beauty queen in 1935.

Born to a Turkish mother and Lebanese father, Jamila was only 17 years old when she participated and was crowned queen. She married twice – first to Abu Reda Hasbi, then Saadallah Al-Khalil.

She was so beautiful that there was a poem-turned-song dedicated to her.

It is said that young poet Bechara Al-Khoury, more popularly known as Al-Akhtal Al-Saghir, wrote a poem in her honor, titled “Al-Saba Wal-Jamal”. The poem was then turned into a song, sung and composed by none other than Egyptian singer Mohammad Abdel Wahab for the 1941 film “Yawm Saeed” to actress Ilham Hosni.

Al-Akhtal and Abdel Wahab had a strong connection, and he even sang many of Al-Akhtal’s poems, claiming that they were so beautiful that composing them into songs required no effort.

It is said that after Jamila was crowned, the young poet and singer were so mesmerized by her beauty. So much that Abdel Wahab asked Al-Akhtal to write a poem for him to compose and sing, and that is exactly what happened. Al-Akhtal retreated to his hotel room and returned with a beautiful poem dedicated to Jameela and Abdel Wahab sang it.

Al-Saba’ wal-Jamal milku yadayk

Ayyu tajin a’azzu min tajayk

Which loosely translates to:

Youth and beauty are in your hands,

Which crown is more precious than your crowns?

Since then, Jamila was known as the beauty queen whom Abdel Wahab for, with the magnificent words of Al-Akhtal.

The real inspiration for the poem was Al-Akhtal’s best-kept secret…

Of course, there’s another side to the story that circulated at the time. Some alleged that the poem was actually written for the young Guita Kfoury who participated in and won another beauty pageant in Dhour Choueir in 1934. It is said that Al-Akhtal wrote the poem for the crowned queen without even seeing her, but she expressed her anger after finding out that the song was used in an Egyptian film, as she considered herself the rightful owner of the song as its muse. But Guita being the song’s muse is not confirmed.

In fact, Gladys Joseph Tabet, the first “official” Miss Lebanon in 1960 who represented the Arab World in the Miss Universe pageant that year, confirmed to Al-Chabaka magazine that it was Jamila who was Lebanon’s first beauty queen and the poem was actually written for her.

The poem caused quite the stir, especially for Al-Akhtal. He would have many women come up to him and ask if the poem was written about them, and he would respond with: “It suits you a lot; surely it was inspired by you”. And he parroted this phrase to every woman who asked about the poem’s inspiration.

However, it is undeniable that the poem had been written the night of the pageant for Jamila. However, his true muse remains a mystery to this day.

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