Najib Hankash (1899–1977) was a Lebanese poet, author, composer, and broadcaster born in Zahle, Lebanon, affectionately nicknamed “Zarif Lubnan” (“the Wit of Lebanon”) for his humorous writings. He emigrated to Brazil in 1922, where he was a prominent figure in the Lebanese diaspora community for years and founded a newspaper, Jaridat Lubnan, in 1934, before eventually returning to Lebanon.

Regarded as one of the earliest composers to set modern Arabic poetry to music, Hankash’s 1964 melody for an excerpt of Kahlil Gibran’s al-Mawakib (“The Processions”), titled Aatini al-Nay wa-Ghanni (“Give Me the Flute and Sing”), was arranged by the Rahbani brothers and recorded by Fairuz, becoming one of the most cherished songs of 20th-century Arabic vocal music; the melody draws on the maqam nahawand and reflects the tango influence Hankash absorbed during his years in Brazil.

Sources:

• https://www.kahlilgibran.com (“Aatini al-Nay wa-Ghanni”, by Francesco Medici)
• https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/نجيب_حنكش