The residence of Ahmed Fouad Negm in the poorest neighborhoods of Cairo, Egypt, exposed him to the most talented professionals such as Sheikh Imam Eissa, impoverished poets and artists. But, Sheikh Imam in particular compensated Negm for the earlier rejection by his orphanage-mate Abdel Halim Hafez. In 1962, Negm was introduced to Imam by a friend who believed that the two, poet Negm and composer Imam, could make a perfect duo. On the first occasion, Negm noticed that Imam took over an hour to tweak the strings of the Oud before starting his first demonstration to the new guest. Negm shouted "Allah" upon listening to Imam's singing and playing the Oud. The blind Sheikh was equally longing for inspiring words of the sort Negm had. That was the spark that lasted 30 years of concerted writing by Negm, composing by Imam, and singing by the two combined. Negm was quick enough to sense that the blind Sheikh was a hidden treasure of Islamic literacy and music talent, and with his physical handicap, he could use the help of Negm's eyes and words. Hence, Negm proposed to stay in Imam's residence. As he recounted, his other rented room has properties worth 6 Egyptian pounds, thus if he threw away the key for his other room, the landlord was required three months before breaking into the room and possessing its content. Negm took the risk, abandoned his rented room with its contents and stuck with Sheikh Imam from 1962 throughout 1995. In 2007, Negm was chosen by the United Nations Poverty Action as Ambassador of the poor. Ahmed Fouad Negm won the 2013 Prince Claus Awards for ‘Unwavering Integrity’. In the early hours of 3 December 2013, Negm died at the age of 84 in Cairo. Although he had been ill for a long time, publisher Mohamed Hashem said Negm sounded fine the day before his death, but remarked further that his voice was "a little heavy". Negm's funeral took place in Al-Hussein Mosque, Cairo. He is the subject of the book "A Homeland Called Desire" (Merit House, Cairo, 2005) by Egyptian poet Rana al-Tonsi.