Poet Ali Abd Al-Gayoum: A Versatile Artist
21 March, 2021
KHARTOUM (Sudanow) - Poet Ali Abd al-Gayoum (1943-1998 ) is one of the most outstanding figures in the Sudan’s and the Arab World’s free verse school. In terms of creativity, especially with respect to verse, Ali is classified within the influential “The Forest and Desert School” that morphed at the hands of poets Alnoor Osman Abbakar and Mohammad Almekkei Ibrahim, when in the mid 1960s these two poets began to question themselves about their identity. Poet Ali had then asked himself the same question, expressing this in verse. Poet Ali’s short life was a flow of creativity. As a student in the Faculty of Arts, University of Khartoum, Ali projected himself as an illustrative poet, vibrating the podiums and perfuming the poetry nights inside and outside the university. His poetry was a reflection of his socialist ideology, an incarnation of his humanitarian position towards the national causes. With these themes his patriotic verse had attracted several singers, foremost the late melodist Mohammad Wardi, who had a profound inclination towards the socialist school. Ali’s song Besaimatik (Your Smiles) is still on the list of Wardi’s most favored songs. He also shone as a theatre director through his activity within the “National Culture” and the “Progressive Thought” societies. In this he, in collaboration with his friend Taha Amir, had directed and produced the play: “Indigestible Fish”, written by Guatemalan playwright Manuel Francisco Galich. He also in 1969 directed the play “Evening Party for the Fifth of June”, written by the Syrian Sa’adallah Wannoos, which was staged on the National Theatre in Omdurman here. In the late 1960s he co- founded the Abadamak group for Sudanese progressive writers and artists and also the Sudanese Writers Union in the mid 1980s. As part of this activity, he represented Sudan in the Cinema Cultural Committee in Kuwait and the conference of Afro-Asian Writers in New Delhi. He also obtained a movie director’s certificate from Poland. This had qualified him to assume the office of director in the National Theatre, then an administrator in the State Cinema Corporation and a lecturer at the Extramural Studies Institute of the University of Khartoum and the Higher Institute of Music and Drama. He also served in the Scientific Research Institute, Kuwait, and assumed similar jobs in Qatar, Cyprus, Egypt and Jordan. He had translated a lot of works and wrote several film scenarios. In 1994 he published his only poetry collection entitled Alkhail wa Alhwajiz “Horses and Barriers”. Before that he wrote the play “Twenty Years in the Trial of a Friend”. Films he produced include the “Zar” and “Four Days in Sua’ad’s Island”. Following is a sample of his translated poetry: *** You never experienced such tastes before Have you endured before what you endure this day *** They sealed her behind doors that bar *** Do you run or die? *** Surely only lovers fear for their hearts E N D YH/AS
The Choice
(Translated by Bakhit Bakhit and Aron Aji)
You dare what the wind dares on its massive surge
As if burrowing the earth’s belly behind a red curtain
you penetrate the layers of lure and seduction
your companions: nights and winter wine
Has the heart ever tasted what it tastes
of restlessness
of burden
and vigilance
Have you ever had what you had of her presence
blue
red
blooming
Surely you dare what the wind dares on its massive surge
yielding to immense sorrow and despair
tracing the arch of her chest
through the shadow
to her thighs
from hill to plains to mountain to falls
from valley to river to sea to gorges
as though lover’s desires crash at nothing save rocks
knocking, knocking at the mute walls
lovers
poets
praise singers
In time of grief death may visit uncalled
Do you run or die of grief at her door?
As though she favors you with death
that makes the wind the trees rivers and rain
(not people, radios or newspapers)
cry over you
Does he cry over you who cries over money?
who cries over fortune?
who cries over his victims?
his hideous face smiling under his lamenting mask
they dare passion that turns vigor into waste
the beloved in her silence offers no relief
the beloved offers no relief
Do you run or die when you are the youngest?
Do you run or die when you are not the last?
Do you run or die?
Post your comments
Photo of the Week
Everybody alive today came from one African country (The Independent) Ariana Baio Khartoum, Jan.1 (Sudanow)-It is well known that all humans alive today can be traced back to a common ancestor but a study may have found where that ancestor originates. Researchers at the University of Oxford’s Big Data Institute mapped the entirety of genetic relationships among humans t...
More-
01 January, 2023
Phone battery killed nine persons, injured twelve
Zalingei, Jan.1 (Sudanow) - A dispute over a phone battery, in Marin Market, Central Darfur, led to the killing of nine persons and injuring of another twelve. The Director of Central Darfur Police, Salah Omar Al-Tayeb told SUNA last Thursday that main reasons behind the events in Zalingei began with a dispute over a phone battery, where one of the citizens stabbed to death. The police official added that the police forces moved to th...
Contact Us
Address: Sudan News Agency (SUNA) Building, Jamhoria Street, Khartoum - Sudan
Mobile:+249 909220011 / +249 912307547