Uncle Abdur-Raheem
Background to This Week’s Text
This week we offer the first of three posts dedicated to the famous musical version of one of the most poignant poetic tributes to the Sudanese poor, Uncle Abdur-Raheem or The Tragedy of Abdur-Raheem, by Mohammed El-Hassan Salim Himmaid. This iconic work has been been taken up time and time again as inspiration for the downtrodden in periods of political and social turbulence in Sudan.
Although the language and syntax are often straightforward, the cultural density and use of Sudanese colloquial make this text upper-intermediate to advanced in level.
Today we look at the first third of the work and explore the Sudanese colloquial expressions used and the beautiful yet simple imagery of the poem. We provide a literal breakdown of the poem’s concepts and expressions, followed by the elegantly wrought official translation of the section studied by Adil Babikir in his Modern Sudanese Poetry, An Anthology.
Below, you will find two musical versions of the poem; an exquisitely sung and very clearly enunciated non-subtitled version by the artist Nancy Ajaj, accompanied by another, popular and accurately subtitled version. Start with whichever version you feel most comfortable with.
The text of the poem which we annotate comes from the Poetry Translation website. There are slight inaccuracies in the text, which are indicated. You can also check these out by comparing the text with the accurate subtitled video version.
After you have studied the text, you can find more background and context to the poem and its musical arrangement, as well as a beautifully recited English performance, directed by Moniem Ibrahim in Uncle Abdur-Raheem .
You can read an interview with Moniem in In Conversation.
Possible Approaches
If you are unfamiliar with the poem, you might like to listen to Nancy Ajaj’s version with your eyes closed and try to visualize the scenes and imagery evoked and just enjoy the sound of the words and note the rhymes and poetic rhythms you can catch.
How many different scenes or phases of the poem do you notice? How do you picture Abdur-Raheem in your mind’s eye? How does Abdur-Raheem sustain himself psychologically and spiritually? What is the atmosphere and emotional tone created? What does the poem perhaps reveal about the poet and his cultural and political ideals? Which scenes are most evocative or moving for you? How do you predict Abdur-Raheem’s story will unfold?
Alternatively, you might like to make notes of all the specifically Sudanese turns of phrase, syntactical features, such as assimilation of possessive suffixes and word order, and cultural references you hear. If your Sudanese Arabic is of advanced level, you might enjoy comparing the original text with Adil Babikir’s translation and explore the choices made by the translator.
After you have worked through the poem, why not try learning a section by heart or reciting it in time with the subtitled version?
If you would like specific comprehension questions then consider the following:
What is Abdur-Raheem doing as the poem opens and what relevance might this have to insights into his character? What time of day is it and how do we know? How would you describe Abdur-Raheem’s internal monologue in this opening scene? What do we know about his wife? Which everyday tasks are mentioned?
What thoughts occupy him as he travels to work? How can we describe the atmosphere between Abdur-Raheem and his workmates? What does he do when he sees them on the way to work?
What does the poet say about Abdur-Raheem’s life as a rural worker? What advantages of rural life are mentioned? What domestic responsibilities weigh on Abdur-Raheem’s mind?
Lexical Focus
How would you explain the words jerayf / jiriif, and tukl (plural takkaal) and their cultural significance? Which Sudanese colloquial expressions do you predict will be used for “cobbler”, “tailor”, “shoes”, “toubs”, “clothes” and which verb might be used for “to call in on / drop by”? You will also hear Sudanese colloquial expressions for “to look upwards” and “to bend over / down”.
Which names of God are invoked and what is their significance to the poem? How would you explain the concept of “tawakkal”?
You will also hear expressions for “cares”, “mumble / mutter”, “touch of affection”, and “warmth”. Which words might you hear for”wink / blink”, “saddle the donkey”, “the stable”, and milk the goats”? Which verb is used for birds’ singing or tweeting?
You will hear several synonyms for “tease, mock and banter”. How would you say “bear a grudge against someone”? Can you think of two words for “hope”? What would you say for “hardship or suffering”? And for “obstinate”, “by force of circumstance” and “good omen” ?
Video Resources
Nancy Ajaj
Subtitled Version
Abdur Raheem; The Text
Poem Text (4 pages) from Poetry Translation
Text with Explanatory Notes
- 1/2 The poem opens with Abdur-Raheem at his morning prayers and we hear four of the sacred names / attributes of God, frequently invoked in prayer, among which are; fataaH, often translated by Muslim sources as The Opener of the doors of mercy to whom He pleases / also the Granter of Success; `aliim; the All-Knowing and razzaaq; the Sustainer (rizq; livelihood / sustenance / life), and the Holder of the Key of our Sustenance. The latter perhaps holds special relevance for those in precarious circumstances and those struggling, like Abdur-Raheem.
- Note the religious invocation which opens the poem; laa yaghshaak ash-sharr; May evil not befall you; a phrase echoed with powerful effect later in the poem; from the verb ghashiya; come to, visit, descend upon, afflict, befall and overwhelm
- He prayed quickly / hurriedly; Sala `ala`ajal
- 3 hamham hamhama; literally, he murmurs with the verbal noun; hamhama; mumble / hum / mutter / murmur; note the echoes of the word hamm; care / worry within these words, echoed in the 8th line, hamm foog hamhama, and later in the poem contrasting the careworn workers and those with few cares; baarid hamm(haa)
- 4 HaSn lil-`ibaad; literally; the fortress of the believers
- 5 howzaz SibHat-u; to fidget with / nervously finger, from shake, hazza; note the Sudanese pronunciation; SibHat-u; his prayer beads / rosary
- 6 wa dangara li-turaab; note this Sudanese colloquial verb; dangar, dingeer, dangara, to bend down / bend over, (as he prays)
- 7 Sanga`a; Sudanese colloquial verb for to look upwards. The poem then sweeps upwards to early morning summer sky and distant stars and the keen sense of the absence of Abdur-Raheem’s loving wife; she too is labouring in the early morning so cannot ask him if her slept well. Note the use of ad-dunya to express the season / atmosphere
- 8 laa lamsa Hanaan; no touch, lamsa; Hanaan; affection / tenderness / kindness
- 9 laa lamsa widaad; no touch of affection / kindly feeling / love / friendship
- 10 laa ramsha Tarayf; literally no blink / wink; here, gesture, Tarayf; in Sudanese colloquial, nice / pleasant
- 11 min galb(ha) wafii; from her loyal / faithful / constant / true-hearted heart
- 12 ayaam ad-difii; the warm, days
- 13 shaddatlu -l-Humaar; she saddled the donkey, she was in the stable, al-muraaH. Note too the colloquial syntax used; kaanat maa-haa fii
- 14 taHlib fi-lghanam; milking the goat, note the preposition fii used here
- 15 and the birds; aT-Tayr maa naDam; the birds didn’t tweet, hadn’t started tweeting / twittering; naDam, (u), naDim fii / `an; speak / talk about, naDaam; talkative, used both in a positive and negative sense: Here emphasizing that Abdur-Raheem has risen even before the dawn chorus
- 16 maa rasal nagham; literally, they sent no melody / tune / song; they are still silent
- 17 itwakal nazal; he entrusted himself to God; the concept of tawakkal encompasses the duty to take adequate precautions and act responsibly in your personal life and then entrust everything to God; “It’s a delicate dance between action and acceptance”, (The Importance of Tawakkal Allah, Arabian Tongue.com); as in the proverb, tie your camel and trust in God; and he went down to, fi-l mushra`;
- plural mashaari`; landing stage for boats / ferry, pontoon, also anchorage / dock
- 18 zimlaan ash-shagaa; colleagues, a plural variant of zumalaa’, in hardship / misery; ash-shagaa
- 19 here; a proper noun but al-jiriif / jirayf / jerayf, plural jiruuf; cultivated river shore; the area around the river bank and as a proper noun, diminutive of jarif, the region on the Blue Nile near Khartoum
- 20 `alla; he wishes / hopes everyone (is) well
- 21 haaZar(hum); tease / joke / banter
- 22 nagnag naagar(hum); nagga; nag, also grumble, tease / joke / poke fun at; nagaar(hum); literally to beat a drum
- 23 ghaaZoohum); tease /provoke; ighaaZa; teasing, wa na`al; curse
- 24 / 25 note this way of saying he didn’t bear a grudge against anyone; maa bitakhbir za`al; the poet then emphasizes that all the workers there are friends, SiHaab, as one family, and those without family / relatives have their workmates as family;
- al-ma(hum) guraab garrab(hum) al `amal; whose who don’t have relatives, guraab, their workmates become their family; garrab; become close to / be related to
- 26 aT-Taaga al-yaTugg; literally; it exploded; Tagga; make sharp, cracking sounds, explode, burst; here the expression is used to refer to those being teased; if he gets wound up / upset, then let him get wound up/ upset
- 27 `ishta ..bi-lHaala; May you live
- al-`alayk; live (accepting) the situation / circumstances you find yourself in, with
- 28 bil-faal bil-amal; literally, (good / auspicious) omen and hope
- 29 the poem now centres on Abdur-Raheem’s life as a rural worker, falaaH, which for all its harshness, offers greater autonomy as there was
- 30 laa daftur HuDuur; no attendance register or
- 31 laa HiSa faToor; no (regimented / fixed) breakfast break
- 32 taqra` bil-gamr; to irrigate by moonlight
- 33 lakin az-zaman dawaar laa biduum; but time turns (like a wheel) and (nothing) endures / lasts; biduum; last / perpetuate, also swirl / gyrate. Note mistake in the text here; it should be laa
- 34 fi-lbaal al-gadiim it`aaraD tukul..; in his subconscious; baal al-gadiim, (the image of) the tukul (his home) rises up before him in his mind; baal; mind, baal-u murtaH; he doesn’t have to worry, baal-u mashghuul; he’s worried and baal-u Tawiil; he’s a patient person
- tukul; a round, thatched hut found in many regions of Sudan but this word is also associated with the hearth, cooking, Sudanese cuisine and often refers to the kitchen of a compound of huts; The Tukul: Rural Sudan’s Traditional Kitchen
- it`aaraD; is projected as on a screen / displayed, from
- ya`ariD; to display / exhibit
- 35 tashaaiiH jiraaH; (old) wounds, jiraaH, are re-opened / bleed again; tashaaiiH and in the following line, how can this (pain / suffering) be washed away?
- 36 the world, Um SalaaH, begins from here, the tukul
- 37 min Hijja aS-SabaaH; from the morning, perhaps here, issues, Hijja, literally excuses; the things for the stew (mulaaH), new clothes
- 38 fil- gasaT al-gadiim; an old installment (of a debt still to be paid)
- 39 and between them both `asham; hope, this word is also used in the saying;
- `asham ibliis fij-janna, the hope of the Devil to enter Heaven; an utterly unrealistic hope; and `ashmaan; hopeful; sustained by the thought of;
- 40 fil-faraj al-ba`iid; in distant (perhaps here, future) relief; that somehow in the future things would be better
Amuna, in the morning
- 41 an-ni`aal wa-T-Tirga inharin; shoes and toubs; Tirga, plural of Taraga, literally layer but referring here to the type of toub / cloth worn by women inside the home; colloquial, possibly Shaygia; are worn out / are finished
- the shoes; an-na`aal
- plural ni`laat, pair of shoes or slippers
- 42 ghash(hin) an-nugulti; from ghasha, (a), ghashwa, ghashayaan, to drop in / call in on at the cobbler’s; nugulti; plural; iyya; drop them (feminine plural) off at the cobbler’s
- 43 wat-tarzi al-gariib; and the nearby tailor, plural; iyya
- 44 Tagghin maa bifiid; (machine) stitching them will not work / be of no use; this verb is used for stitching by sewing machine
- 45 Tagghin maa biziid; stitching them will add nothing (to their life as they are so worn out)
- 46 inTag(hin); note the sound echoes with Tagga above, inTaga; eaten away by time to shreds
- 47 ghaSb(aan) liZ-Zuruuf; by force of circumstances
- 48 wal-Haal al-Harin; and obstinate situation; Harin; Humaar Harin, a donkey that refuses to move. The poem now moves to Abdur-Raheem wishing he could provide for his family all those things so much part of and required by Sudanese community life;
- 49 `ashaan maa tankasfii yoom; so that you shouldn’t be embarrassed; from kasafa; (i), kasif / kasafaan; to embarrass when
- 50 maargaat lii SufaaH; (feminine plural present participle from the verb marag; (u), muruug, to go out / leave) the women are going out to attend weddings
- 51 aw beeriik najaaH; congratulations (Shaygia dialect word equivalent to mabruuk) on success
- 52 al-wajaab idhan; literally, it’s a duty therefore; perhaps here because al these things are part of our communal duty / the fabric of our lives
- 53 lammat naas bi-khayr aw sa`aat Huzun; the gathering together, also crowd in other contexts; lamma, of people (in times of) happiness and sadness
Below, from Modern Arabic Poetry; translated by Adil Babikir, Uncle Abdur-Raheem, pp 80-87
Sudanese Arabic Documentary Transcripts with English Notes 