Easily the most popular and successful of Rabaud's operas, the five-act Mârouf, savetier du Caire [Ma'aruf, Cobbler of Cairo] has kept the composer's name alive long since his death in 1949. It was the last great work in a long line of orientalist French comic operas dating back to the eighteenth century and including Bizet's regrettably under-performed Djamileh. Lucien Népoty's libretto is based on "The Tale of Ma'aruf the Cobbler and His Wife" from Mardrus' French translation of The Thousand and One Nights.

Rabaud's contribution, typical of serious compositions of his age, freely borrowed Wagnerian techniques without loosing a firm grasp of traditional tonality. A through-composed opéra-comique, Mârouf is an interesting mixture of the traditional and "modern," of comedy, exoticism and refinement. Many conductors and composers have remarked on the elegance of the work's pseudo-oriental flavour and stunning orchestration.

Although the ballet music in Act 3 was quite popular, the bulk of the most memorable and interesting music is found in the title rôle. Noted arias are "Il est des Musulmans", "A travers le desert", "Dans le jardin fleurie" and "Beauté du cou de ma Saacheddine". Most of these arias found their way into the concert and song recital repertoire, and are still occasionally sung today. The part of Mârouf was originally written for baritone and later rewritten for tenor.

Mârouf, savetier du Caire received its première at the Opéra-Comique on 15 May 1914. Jean Perier, the baritone who created the rôle of Pelléas in Debussy's opera Pelléas et Mélisande, played Mârouf. While Rabaud was Director of the Paris Conservatoire, this opera received its Paris Opéra debut on 21 June 1928, a decade after the end of his tenure as conductor for that institution. Mârouf was not only popular in France, where it stayed in the active repertoire until the 1950's, but in other countries as well. Performances of the work still take place occasionally today.

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