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Bowing to the Rose but Never to the Sword: A Tribute to Hashim Siddig

By Adil Babikir

NOVEMBER 12, 2024 — Amid horrifying reports of mass killings sweeping their country, the Sudanese people awoke on Saturday to the heartbreaking news of the loss of yet another cultural icon. Poet and playwright Hashim Siddig was a powerful voice, eloquently capturing the Sudanese people’s aspirations for peace and democracy.

Siddig stood out from a very age as a vocal voice against tyranny and dictatorship. “The Story of a Revolution,” which he composed when he was a teenager, immediately turned into a favorite song for the Sudanese people, as it eloquently chronicled their daring resistance to General Abboud’s dictatorship, which culminated in the October 1964 popular uprising.

Siddig’s departure came only weeks after the passing of another cultural icon, Mohammed el-Makki Ibrahim, whose powerful poems in praise of the October Uprising were put to popular songs by legendary musician Mohammed Wardi. Kamal Elgizouli, another staunch defender of human rights, passed away last November.

The following poem was composed in Sudanese slang and was put to song by Nancy Ajaj.

The Tale the Rose and the Street

By Hashim Siddig

Translated by Adil Babikir

Prologue:

To the rose I bowed,

not to the wind,

or the caliph’s sword.

To a genuine smile I bowed,

to a warbling tear,

and a tasty bite,

to relief, in the comfort of a loaf of bread.

To a moon sticking his tongue out

at the awful darkness.

I did a bow,

to a wound braving its pain;

to a nation above narrow interests rising;

to a morning,

with intimately rosy features;

to a heart,

green and forgiving.

I bowed to shake hands,

with clean hands.

A perfect bow is due,

to the streets;

to a homeland,

beloved & proud;

to a hope,

from my wounds sprouting;

to a pen,

not for sale;

to eyes,

vigilant and noble.

 

I did a bow,

to huts,

harbors,

exile shelters,

waterwheels,

to live coal in harsh winter,

to words,

patient and chaste.

I did a bow,

to my people: the beacon,

to the handkerchiefs,

the wheat spikes

the folksongs

to impudence

to hearts: bold and tender.

To the rose I bowed,

not to the wind,

or the caliph’s sword.

 

حكاية الوردة والشارع

(بورولوج)

إنحنيت للوردة

ما للريح

ولا سيف الخليفة

إنحنيت

لي بسمة صالحة

ودمعة صادحة

ولقمة مالحة

وراحة

في سُترة رغيفة

…….

لي قمر مدّ اللسان

بي طولو

للضلمة المخيفة .

إنحنيت

بي كُلي لي جرحاً

بنافح

ولي وطن

فوق للمصالح

ولي صباح

وردي الملامح

ولي قلُب

أخضر مسامح

ولي سلام

إيداً نضيفة

……..

إنحنيت

بي كُلِّي

لي ستي الشوارع

ولي بلد

معشوق وفارع

لي عشم

من (جرحي) طالع

لي قلم

ما بخون وبايع

ولي عيون

صاحية وشريفة

……..

أنحنيت أنا

للقطاطي

للمرافي

للمنافي

للسواقي

لي جَمُر والدنيا

زيفة

لي حروف

صابرة وعفيفة.

………

إنحنيت

بي كُلي

لي شعبي المنارة

للمناديل

القناديل

المواويل

والجسارة

ولي قلوب حارة

ورهيفة

……

إنحنيت للوردة

ما للريح

ولا سيف الخليفة.

Also: Find it here on YouTube.

This poem first appeared in the author’s book Modern Sudanese Poetry: an Anthology, University of Nebraska Press, 2019.

Hashim Siddig (1957- 2024) was a poet, playwright, critic, and journalist. He earned a B.A. in criticism from the Music and Theatre Higher Institute in Khartoum in 1974 and did further studies at the School of Acting in Essex, United Kingdom. He wrote more than ten poetry collections and scores of plays for radio, TV, and theater.

Adil Babikir is a Sudanese translator based in the UAE and is the author of The Beauty Hunters: Sudanese Bedouin Poetry, Evolution and Impact. His translations include The Jungo: Stakes of the Earth, a novel by Abdel Aziz Baraka Sakin; Mansi: a Rare Man in his Own Way, by Tayeb Salih (winner of Sheikh Hamad Translation Award, 2020); The Messiah of Darfur, also by Sakin; and Seven Strangers in Town, by Ahmad al-Malik.