The New Sudan “girl” in the writings of the first founders
What's beyond the horizon?
Muhammad Ashry Al-Siddiq
From Issue No. 818 of the Sudanese Civilization newspaper, published on October 30, 1929
- Quoted from a series of literary writings collected and published by the late Dr. Ali Al-Mak in 1980 -
The human poet stands at every stage of his life wondering about his purpose in life, about his work in it, about his means and qualifications, what hopes he achieved or what experiences he gained, and did he come close to the ideal that naturally influenced him and illuminated for him reality and circumstances, competence and striving: his methods and methods, and did he win the deal of life, or did he return from it as a deceived loser?
He may give himself a severe and accurate account, and he may display before his imagination the processions of his deeds, his hopes, his past pains, and the hours of his past joys, and he smiles a smile that expresses contentment and relief, and it may be mixed with some generous joy and innocent admiration for a life well spent. Why does he not rejoice for himself and admire it when he sees those hours as spots of light in which the brides of victory and success dance, and in which the fairies of virtuous effort frolic, and in which the fairies of virtuous effort sing?
He may feel disgusted, depressed, and disgusted if he sees periods of complete darkness in which the demons of wasted work cry out in vain, and the demons of opportunities that take away pleasures, and about what is of no benefit, or bring about certain loss, and the darkness has overcome the light, or the light has overshadowed the darkness, and after this review and accounting the person must make a judgment about life and must pronounce his blessings or blessings, or remain in a state of hesitation. Mental doubt and psychological confusion look back and forth, and despair prevails over hope, so he dives into the depths where there are tornadoes and tornadoes, where there are fears and horrors, where there is darkness and death.
Hope triumphs and rises through despair to the heights where there is freedom, strength, and wisdom, where there is relationship, solace, trust, and reassurance.
This hesitant, doubtful, and confused person, as long as he does not destroy himself, says yes to life implicitly, and there is no doubt that all people say yes to life in action. Except for those who commit suicide, those who cannot do otherwise.
After this result, a person looks at his numbers, his tools, his mind, his muscles, his circumstances, and his times, and repairs what requires repair, builds what is destroyed, improves what is corroded and rusty, and descends again into the arena of life stronger, more knowledgeable, and more confident.
But nations are stronger than individuals. No nation that loses the trade of life thinks of committing suicide at once. It may be exposed to all kinds of adversity and types of afflictions, such as wars, famines, and epidemics. But it has the strength, flexibility, and patience that makes it emerge victorious many times, if not to the end.
Life is cruel and cruel and knows no mercy most of the time. Whoever does not follow her Sunnah and follow her method, she will remove him and trample him under her feet, whether individual or nation, plant or animal. Sometimes they provide the living with unique opportunities for transcendence and exaltation. Whoever pays attention to them and rises to them will lead him upward. Whoever invests it well will guide him to the paths of success and advancement. And whoever neglects it or neglects it, she will leave him where he will regret it, and his regret will benefit him nothing.
Like a child in his early years, when he opens to life, like a flower at the beginning of spring, he is fit for education and correction, and I listen to guidance and act upon it. Likewise, nations, at the beginning of their formation, are born with the most beautiful possibilities and the brightest hopes. If someone arises within them to guide and lead them with firmness, insight and reason, they follow him and attain exaltation and glory.
Now the world, especially the East, is undergoing a profound and dangerous upheaval in all endeavors and efforts. It looks at the remnants of the past with suspicion and doubt, is confused about its present, and rushes into the future. Most of his past experiences have shown remarkable failure. His political systems, social traditions, and literary habits today are in a boiling pot, and the corrupt will evaporate and the useful will precipitate.
He is now more preoccupied than before with global issues, and his major issue is life. While Westerners have reached almost countless conquests and discoveries in the world of matter, and are about to seize the corner of nature, they see the world of the spirit dominated by severe chaos, strange contradiction, crushing depression, and profound confusion. The war intensifies between the mind and those forces that control man’s work and destiny, which we call eternal laws, and we do not understand their purpose or govern them, and between rational matter and that spiritual feeling that permeates the world, between the ancient mentality and the modern mentality, between ancient literature and modern literature, and between the ancient system and the modern system.
There is Asia, which stands first in the face of the West’s influence, civilization, and culture, with a position of bewilderment, apprehension, and contempt. It sees that it is undoubtedly a failure, so it takes up its weapons and gives in to it, armed, menacing, and threatening, and competing with it in its economies and industries.
Japan, China, India, the Afghans, Turkey and Egypt are developing profoundly, and they must reach the sophistication and greatness they aspire to. They all have the same purpose, but they have different means: some introduce modern methods gently and cautiously, some with severity and strictness, and some with moderation and understanding.
The East has two Easts: a developed and renewed East, and a stagnant East that does not develop. There is no doubt that Sudan is not counted in any way in the rising East. We still worship the ancients, and respect outdated traditions, and our methods of behavior are still the ways of the dark centuries, and the values of most things are the values of those centuries, and our way of writing and thinking is an antiquated way that is not compatible with the rapid development of the world, and does not go along with the struggle for survival, which is becoming more heated every day, and our literature, despite its paucity and backwardness, is exaggerated, flattering, complicated, and difficult.
We need truthful, bold, simple, and reasonable literature. We are in need of a new outlook with which to look at laws, literature, philosophy, religions, and all affairs. Until now, we have not been a nation as many Westerners tell us, and our country is still unknown to the world. We are still poor in spirit, old, lean, hungry, and lost wastes without money or an entity. We have no history, arts, literature, sciences, industries, or crafts. Our greats are still the greats of lethality, wars, and destruction. No poet, philosopher, writer, artist, or reformer will meet you in the history of this country. There is no one among us who is considered a man of science or a man of action. Peace has no victories for us as war has, and our land is a vast, barren plain with no traces of genius and genius except a few (*).
Thirty years ago, our country was a vast field in which fierce war raged, day and night. The safe was plundered, the innocent were hanged, children and women were killed, men were displaced into the wastelands, homes were demolished, and depression and misery reached a degree below it. Memories of those days are still stuck in the mind and the remains of the slave traders’ pens still indicate the large number of those innocent people who were being led to misery and death.
Someone might say to us: You are now ahead. He is right and wrong! We are right if we compare Sudan with its past, and we are wrong if we compare it with nations that were close to its situation in their recent past, but they rose in a short period and became honorable, reputable, and respected in personality.
But the homeland is our old home, and it is the cradle of our fathers and grandfathers, and it is their grave that contains their bones. They accompanied it in days of prosperity and in days of misery, when it was great, and when it was beset by humiliation and humiliation, and we inherited it from them. We also inherited their customs, their hopes, and their pain, and we spent part of our life in it, and became familiar with its memories, and were imprinted with its character, and our heart beats as its heart beats, which are the shared memories: the great ones and the not-so-great ones, the sad ones that make us cry, and the happy ones that make us happy.
Shouldn't we love this ancient house? We respect his past despite its flaws? A righteous son does not hate his father because he is not perfect, but rather respects him for that. An animal longs for its homeland in which it was born and raised, while a bird longs for its homeland, and its mind does not rest until it returns to it.
This is our homeland in which we enjoy living on its land and under its sky, drinking the water of its Nile, as old as it is old, eating the plants of its land, and being miserable in a way that distresses its conscience and distresses its sad soul. Don't we know it's nice to respect this sacred country? This country has been kneeling for five thousand years, gazing at the sun of its happiness, and why does the East break away from it? And his tears are falling on his sad cheeks, and his pain is ulcerating his burning liver. He asks us in pleading and crying to remove what is wrong with him, and to raise him to his feet. He is great in his great misery because he has conquered millions of days and ages, embracing his eternal hope in his mortal children!
An Englishman might say, “I love you, England, and I still love you, despite all your mistakes.” A German might say, “Germany is above all.” And an Argentinian might say, “Greetings and peace to the honorable Argentine people.” Doesn’t a Sudanese have the right to say, “To my miserable country, my sacrifice is mine”?
Much of what needs to be done has not yet been started. Who is responsible for this laziness? It falls on the young people who call them risen, and on the old people who call them wise.
I now imagine this Sudan as a mighty child, often drowsy, stretching, and trying to wake up. Whoever tells us that he is not a nation does not prevent him from becoming one soon.
There is no difference in its religions, nor the difference in its customs, nor the difference in its peoples, nor the difference in its atmosphere and living conditions in it, which prevents the fulfillment of this virgin wish, and it is not possible for nations at the beginning of their formation to be otherwise: common interests, mutual understanding, and historical events bring the divide of difference closer together, and connect the two far away with a strong bond.
And let his children know that the sun has heralded his advancement and advancement. It will have a wonderful dawn. If they join hands, follow their rational instincts, are inspired by their consciences, and work to reform it morally and materially, they will reach the high peak of greatness and glory. Let them know that they are in a unique time, and under a strict experiment, in which the early ones mix with the late ones, and they obtain everything that their ability and effort qualify for.
Who will promise to use his mind and pen? Who will go down to the field of reform, sacrificing his comfort, pleasures and interests for the sake of Sudan?
So let us work, and the plan of the workers must be to put things in their places, for appearances are deceptive and often distract the eye from looking at things correctly. It must be said to the one who is right, “You are right,” and to the one who is wrong, “I am wrong.” A right is a right, even if it is a shelter among huts. Falsehood is false even if it arises among palaces, and falsehood may surpass truth for a time, but it will not surpass it over the course of ages. Let them know that in chaos, tyrants multiply, and those who destabilize themselves fail, but they do not succeed.
The system saves us a lot of effort and time, and there is nothing like silent work. The Earth rotates around its axis once every twenty-four hours, and around the sun once a year, and this rotation has no commotion or noise. We have not heard the Earth announcing itself, or being proud of doing two things at the same time. Let them know that erasing torches and banners, burning incense, ringing bells, beating drums, wearing red clothes, and thick faith, there is no purpose behind them other than sorcery and deception. It will not be a path to genuine action, a reasonable result, or a noble demand.
Forward, sons of “Girl Sudan.”
(*) I believe that this criticism directed at the educational plans in 1929 still maintains its objectivity, and if we want to build a new “girl” Sudan, we must take this criticism seriously and begin the process of rewriting the history of our Sudanese nation’s cultures according to the perspective expressed by the author of the article, which is based on “putting things in their places.”
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