From Bahtim
Sheikh Kamel Yousef Al-Bahtimi – may Allah have mercy on him – was born in 1922 in Bahtim in Qalyubia governorate, north of Cairo, the town from which he takes his name. Like most reciters of his time, he memorised the Quran in the kuttab, and his exceptional gift showed early. He was soon invited to occasions in the area and also made a name for himself in Cairo.
In the golden age
Al-Bahtimi lived and worked in the period many call the golden age of Egyptian recitation. He was a contemporary of Sheikh Muhammad Siddiq Al-Minshawi, Sheikh Mahmoud Khalil Al-Husary, Sheikh Mustafa Ismail and Sheikh Abdul Basit Abdus-Samad – may Allah have mercy on them all. Each of them had his own voice, and amid these great names Al-Bahtimi found his own unmistakable place.
On the radio
In the 1950s Sheikh Al-Bahtimi was accepted as a reciter on Egyptian radio. From then on his voice reached all of Egypt and the Arab world. He recited in great mosques and at important occasions, and his recordings were among the sounds an entire generation grew up with.
His style
Al-Bahtimi's voice was powerful, bright and very agile. In mujawwad he loved rich melodic ornamentation and artful transitions between the maqamat, without giving up the precision of tajweed. His recitation has something luminous and lively about it; you can feel the joy in the beauty of the word of Allah. Listening to his recordings, you understand why people came in crowds to hear him.
What you can take from him as a learner
- The variety of the golden age: listen to him alongside his contemporaries. You will notice how different and yet related their voices are – without any one of them needing to outdo the others.
- Ornament in measure: notice how, despite rich melody, he keeps the letters and elongations correct.
- Joy in the Quran: his recitation reminds us that the Quran may also awaken joy and wonder.
Legacy
Sheikh Kamel Yousef Al-Bahtimi passed away in 1969, not yet fifty years old – in the same year as Sheikh Al-Minshawi. His life was short, but his recordings are loved to this day. May Allah have mercy on him and count every verse he recited as a step for him in Paradise.