Yes! She's really most comfortable singing religious hymns. That was where she first learned to sing after all. And she is from a very devout Maronite family.
Of her non-religious songs, I think my favorite is an adaptation she sings of a poem by Khalil Gibran, "A'tini al-Nay (Give me the flute)". A poem which I think speaks volumes about the Maronite soul -- our spirituality, our love of music, our ancient poetry, and our connection to the beauty of Mount Lebanon.
Here's a translation:
Give me the flute, and sing;
Immortality lies in a song
And even after we've perished
The flute continues to lament.
Have you taken refuge in the woods,
Away from places like me?
Followed streams on their courses
and climbed up the rocks?
Did you ever bathe in a perfume,
And dry yourself with a light?
Drink the dawn as wine,
Rarefied in goblets of ether?
Give me the flute then and sing.
The best of prayer is song,
And even when life perishes
The flute continues to lament
Have you spent an evening as I have done,
Among vines, where the golden candelabra
clusters hang?
Did you sleep on the grass at night,
And let space be your blanket?
Abstaining from all that will come,
Forgetful of all that has passed?
Give the flute then and sing,
Singing is Justice for the heart.
And even after every guilt has perished,
The flute continues to lament
Give the flute and sing.
Forget illness and its cure.
People are nothing but lines,
Which are scribbled on water.
I am a great fan of Khalil Gibran. When I adopted my daughter, friends in Puerto Rico sent me his poem on Children - "your children are not your children.".
I have several of his books but The Prophet holds particular meaning and that poem is bookmarked forever.
I will try to obtain one of Fairuz's recordins. Thank you for sharing that!