as-Sayyida Maryam ash-Sharifa; Maryam Al-Mighraniyah
Above, stills from al-arD as-sumr documentary, السيدة مريم الميرغنية | أرض السمر | الموسم الرابع | نبتة لللإنتاج الفني والإعلامي .
Background to This Week’s Text
This week’s text is the visually stunning, opening section of a 20-minute arD as-sumr documentary dedicated to the remarkable life of as-Sayyida Maryam al- Mirghraniya, her impact on the Khatmiyya Sufi order and the beautiful city of Sinkat in eastern Sudan.
This upper-intermediate to pre-advanced level excerpt follows the film crew as they journey to Sinkat, interview followers of the Khatmiyya Sufi Order there and discuss the life of Maryam al-Mighraniya, considered by many as a Sudanese woman of outstanding piety and good works. The text includes key terms used in Sufi practices.
The celebrations honouring ash-Sharifa Maryam annually are spectacular and are ones in which women play a major role.
Get a taste with the 1-minute clip here:
After you have watched the excerpt and studied the text, have a look at these links, which provide more background to the Sufi orders in Sudan, the Khatmiyya in particular, and as-Sayyida Maryam al-Mighraniya.
The Annual Ceremony of the al-Sharifa Maryam Al-Mirghaniyah in the City of Sinkat
Sudanese_Major_Sufi_Orders_pdf.pdf – this contains a chapter on Sudan’s Holy Women
Possible Approaches
If you are unfamiliar with the city of Sinkat and the life and work of ash-Sharifa Maryam, why not watch the excerpt and make notes on any aspects you were curious to learn about. If you have visited Sinkat, what are your memories of it and what do you hope might be mentioned? If you are interested in Sudanese Islam, why not focus on what information is given about the Khatmiyya Order and its impact on the region.
Below, the Khatmiya worship area in the Mawlid celebrations, Omdurman, 2019.
If you would like specific comprehension areas to focus on, then make notes to answer the following questions:
What’s the Beja name for Sinkat? How are the city and its inhabitants described? What is their attitude to the many visitors who come there? What do we learn about the background to the Khatmiya Order, its founding, structures and reach? What do we learn about as-Sayyida Maryam, her family background, childhood, and marriage? What epithets are given to her and why?
Alternatively, make notes to summarize the information and comments made by any two of the three contributors below:
Lexical Focus
The language used in this excerpt is predominantly formal, sometimes poetic, standard Arabic, interspersed with Sudanese colloquial, with smatterings of Bejawiyya.
What words would you predict will be used for “innate quality, distinguishing feature” of a people, and for “rough or bumpy” terrain?
You will hear expressions for “starvation”, “songs”, “torrent / stream”, “refuge”, “delegations”, “faith” and “spirituality”. What might they be? And for “feed”, “satiate”, “flee”, and “embrace”? What expression will be used for “perfume bottle” and “splash” and “spill / pour”?
Specific religious terms are used for a Sufi shrine / home of a holy person, and a small mosque / gathering place for Sufi orders (without pulpit), Islamic jurisprudence, religious verses which are repeated at set times and which are specific to the individual Sufi order.
Which formulaic religious phrases are used for “God bestowed upon him (the opportunity to undertake a task)” and “May God be pleased with him”?
Watch the Documentary Here, to Minute 9:
Transcript
Transcript with Notes
1 one of several epithets of Sharifa Maryam; jaabira; literally a bone-setter, (jabiira; splint) / jaarara, III; to treat kindly, ajbara; to splint; but as a name, Consoler or Comforter; of al-khawaaTir, plural of khaaTir, here, spirit / soul / heart / mind. The word can also mean thoughts / preoccupations; but here, Consoler of Broken Souls
2 raSiif; the paved road from …..; raSiif can also mean ridge / path / pier / quay
3 we travel through / over, cross hard; aS-Sald, firm, hard; al-wa `ar ; uneven, rough, rugged, bumpy (terrain)
wa`ira; having an uneven surface; aS-Sald; firm / hard
4 tatakannafahaa; and the mountains surrounding her;
5 sajiyya; innate character, attribute, trait, genius disposition
6 we crossed Aqaba; note this expression, when not a proper noun can also mean mountain pass, road; al-`aqaba; also, obstacle, hindrance, hurdle, inconvenience
7 the woman who (also) went into / made her way into Aqaba; iqtaHamat; literally, to break through / storm, go into / make a way into sth, and in other contexts, face danger bravely, go into obstacles
8 aT`amat; fed
9 ashbi`at; sated / also feed, assuage
10 al-masghaba; hunger, starvation; and who drove out /removed starvation
11 ad-durra; pearl / jewel
12 Taqs, climate
13 maljaa’; refuge, haven
14 yafirruuna ilay; fleeing to it in summer
15 literally, the houses of Sinkat aren’t mean / miserly / sparing; bakhiil; meaning the inhabitants offer hospitality to / welcome their many visitors
16 as they face (delegations) in torrents / streams; bi-saylin
17 delegations, plural of wafd,
18 taHtaDinahum; embrace them with, iHtaDana
19 extreme tenderness, Hanaan baaligh
20 baaligh; extreme, also ostentatious in other contexts
21 and they fill her streets with songs, / melodies / cheers, al-ahaaziij, plural of ahzuuja; song, in particular, religious or national anthems, also used as “warbler” for several species of birds
22 fi’ aat; denominations, groups, categories; different ethnic groups
23 Did you catch this? Eritreans
24 rashafaat; sips; if it weren’t for the sips of coffee and the drinking companions …
25 under every hill / mountain a nadiim; drinking companion; nadiim; also confidant
26 and the mutaka’; a place for reclining on couches and drinking coffee / relaxing for conversation companions; musaamir; conversation partner, also evening entertainment in other contexts. The idea is if it weren’t for these things the film crew would be bored of carrying on
27 kanaf; shrine or home of a religious person, from kanafa; protect, guard, take in, take someone (orphan, for example) under one’s protection
28 bilaa munaazi`; without dispute
29 literally, a splash; dafqa; of perfume, `iTr, spilled from, indalaqa min,
30 al-qaaruura; carafe, flask, the contents of a bottle, a narrow-neck, bulbous bottle for wine / perfume / chemistry, etc, here, perfume bottle
31 murshid; guide, note in Sufism, spiritual guide. Also teacher, from the root to have integrity, being sensible, mature, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murshid
32 note this religious formula for “The Almighty bestowed upon him the opportunity to (undertake a task)
33 quduum; coming / arrival
34 raDiya Allah `anhu; “May God by pleased with him.”
35 zaawiyya, plural, zawaayaa; a room dedicated for prayer / small mosque without a pulpit / centre for prayer or a Quran school, also in other contexts, corner / nook / angle, but here, see Zawiya (Institution) They were central to the spread of Islam by travelling holy men
These orders when established in Sudan were not centralized and all religious authority was canalized into the hands of the various teaching sheikhs. Sudanese Islam became “cellular”, in the literal as well as the metaphorical sense, the zāwiya being the nucleus of the embryonic Islamic civilization in a pagan environment. (Islam in the Sudan, J.S. Trimingham)
36 asraar; secrets, mysteries; also sacred practices, in Christianity, sacraments
37 al-abraar; the righteous
38 al- a`luum al-fiqh; Islamic jurisprudence
39 muulaanaa; title of respect for a religious authority
40 gharaqa; perhaps here embedded the foundation of the order
41 shabbat; she grew up
42 al-mushabba` bi; literally, saturated but perhaps, steeped in spirituality, ar-ruuHaaniya;
43 HaafiZa li-kitaab Allah; referring to a person who has memorized the Quran
44 awraad; plural of wird; these are portions of the Quran or elements of dhikr, repetition of Divine Names, sacred litanies, specific to a Sufi order and which are recited at certain times regularly. The spiritual work undertaken by the muriid; Sufi novice, with the direct permission of his Murshid, or spiritual guide.
“To take the wird of a sheikh is to take his tariqa, that is his rule for wird is the term for daily or seasonal collects which the new muriid promises to repeat”, Trimingham, Islam in the Sudan
45 multazima bi-nahj …; committed to the approach
46 f-afaaDa `alay; and, perhaps here, showered her with
Sudanese Arabic Documentary Transcripts with English Notes 