Selected Poem: (Mohamed Osman Kajrai )
20 June, 2021
KHARTOUM (Sudanow) - Mohamed Osman Kajrai (1928-2003) is one of the most prominent modern Sudanese poets. Freedom, human dignity and social justice are permeating themes within his poetry. He was known for writing nationalistic odes against British colonial rule and for actively engaging in politics when national governments took over thereafter. He published a number of poetry books and equally composed lyrics for lead singers in Sudan including such outstanding figure, Wardi.
Following are two examples of his poetry:
Dirge
The homeland of forgetfulness bears no fruit but yellow colocynth,
Malice and bitterness,
Knows only profits and formally
And sees loss in a stanza of poem
When in the face of burning lamps
Drifts a shadow of an earthly obstruction
Or iron or stones.
Ah, nothing remains but the poem to bleed
A dirge of thought in an era of civilization
Beat my heart!
Your pulses are a sad stanza beyond words.
Time of Sword
Round recesses
And in the innermost depths of vision I behold charming eyes.
Lo! This is me beholding the contours of barbarian faces
In the circle of dreams.
The distracted moon hides, crushed beyond the clouds.
All poetry dies.
This is not the time of the sword and the fever of a shouting rage
Emerging from the roots of origin
My body shakes with the beating of drums
This night, in my blood a thousand horses surge on
And I behold my bleeding history an ever green branch
Knowing not the shades of pale
In the hymns of the season, I am the bleeding wound.
Nothing remains but to draw the sword
Against the abomination of the moguls
E N D
Post your comments
Photo of the Week
Khartoum (Sudanow) —The Islamic nation across the East and the West commemorates every year, on the twenty-seventh of the month of Rajab, the anniversary of Al-Isra’ and Al-Mi‘raj. On this fragrant occasion, the editorial board of Sudanow Magazine extends its heartfelt congratulations to all Muslims and to the steadfast, patient Sudanese people, asking God Almighty to r...
More-
30 November, 2025
Chronicles from the Battlefield Babanusa: The Resilient Heart of Kordofan… A City on the Line of Fire and the Memory of
Port Sudan, (Sudanow) — The systematic destruction practiced by the rebel militia and its mercenaries against public and private property has spared no one. It has impacted agricultural, industrial, and pastoral projects in both rural and urban areas. Even cities and neighborhoods have been struck by this devastation, turning into ghost towns. The city of Babanusa stands as a model of the destruction that has befallen these cities...
Contact Us
Address: Sudan News Agency (SUNA) Building, Jamhoria Street, Khartoum - Sudan
Mobile:+249 909220011 / +249 912307547