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Departure of the Homeland Adorer
(An Elegy for the Poet of the People)
By Ustaz Abdel Moneim Khalifa
Translated from Arabic by Dr. Ahmed Ibrahim Yagi
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O brethren I am presenting to you a poem
About a poet, for the Homeland he had lived,
His passion is the Homeland,
His breath is the Homeland,
His oxygen is the Homeland
I wish I possess, as you do, O Mahgoub:
Finesse in speech
Simplicity in poetry.. rather mellowness of the tunes
The ingenuity of inspiration.....
You have taught us: to dispel anguish and sadness
At bidding farewell to the beloved ones and friends
To dispel the plaintive wailings and pains
To aspire to loftiness and sow happiness
And pick at elegies the easiest words
“O Pa ... farewell”......
At that evening reverberant with grief and reverence
Swarmed multitudes of our folk in faithfulness parades
Their chests welling with gratefulness
And hearts abound with poems for Sudan
From your bountiful outpouring inspiration
Because to them your poetry is the victual
And your path is the beacon ...........
And they reposed you in a good earth, in “Sherfi”,
Earth redolent with ambergris and fragrance
Rejoiced at your warm embrace
And exulted that it may redeem
Some of what lay for you in the heart of Sudan
And some of what lay for you in the heart of Omdurman .......
And hovered over the turf of the tomb
A turtledove, landing on a twig
Trilling the coos and melancholy
Partaking with the hordes in the bitterness over departure
And alienation of the Homeland ......
Mahgoub, O sherif, O righteous
O virtuous
Asking about you are those on the road without bread
And those through the “ingress”
And remembering your whispering rustles
You planter of seedling of hope
In our land
With no favour and no fatigue ...........
Mahgoub, O indomitable
Mahgoub, O oboe of the pitiable
O grandeur, O firmness
O steadfast as a mountain
O lofty palm ridiculing the wind
You taught us how you excogitate mellifluous poems and melodies
In the dungeons of prisons
Or when being guest of the (ghosts)
Blissful in pride, contentment, and peace of conscience...............
The great comrades of your path have been stung by alienation over parting,
But with their determination are advancing,
On the people’s road passing on ...
“ Amira“,“ Mariam“ and “ Mai“
Carrying the flame of struggle
Moving in awe
Setting for women and men
A paragon of your extravagant heritage, O great,
And our folk lay eyes on them.......
In the sphere of eternity, did you meet those you love, O Mahgoub?
“Abdel Kareem” and company
And the mentor “Rashid” who by his rope he soared
And did you meet the trusted leader “Wad Milleen”?
How were you celebrated by your beloved “Al Gaddal”
Rectifier of the history for the posterity?
Almighty, O Gracious, O Merciful, O forgiving,
To the forum of judgement your indigent subservient came
With quintessential self core.. Crystalline,
And vestal history so chaste,
Craving for Your great forgiveness
And to bless the progress
And to bless “Amira”.. The “Princess”
And “Mariam” and “Mai”
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هذا هو الرابط للقصيدة باللغة العربية، والتي نشرت بهذا المنبر في الخامس من إبريل 2014م:
http://www.sudaneseonline.com/board/345/msg/1399492770.html
Abdul Monim Khaleefa
فيس بوك
تويتر
انستقرام
يوتيوب
بنتيريست