Modern Sudanese Poetry

Spanning more than six decades of Sudan’s post-independence history, this collection features work by some of Sudan’s most renowned modern poets, largely unknown in the United States. Adil Babikir’s extensive introduction provides a conceptual framework to help the English reader understand the cultural context. Translated from Arabic, the collection addresses a wide range of themes-identity, love, politics, Sufism, patriotism, war, and philosophy-capturing the evolution of Sudan’s modern history and cultural intersections. Modern Sudanese Poetry features voices as diverse as the country’s ethnic, cultural, and natural composition. By bringing these voices together, Babikir provides a glimpse of Sudan’s poetry scene as well as the country’s modern history and post-independence trajectory.   

Adil Babikir is a translator and an Arabic content manager at Mubadala Investment Company in Abu Dhabi. He has translated several works, including Mansi: A Rare Man in His Own Way by Tayeb Salih and two novels by Abdelaziz Baraka Sakin. Matthew Shenoda is a writer and educator whose poems have appeared in a variety of journals and anthologies. His latest collection is Seasons of Lotus, Seasons of Bone.    

Foreword, by Matthew Shenoda     Acknowledgments     Introduction: Notes on Modern Sudanese Poetry     Khalil FarahMy Beloved Aazza     Muhammad el-Mahdi el-Magzoub Wedding Parade    Idris Jamma’A Poet     In the Spring of Love    Mohammed el-FayturiDig No Grave for Me     A Roaming Dervish’s Stanza    Yaaqut al-Arsh    Jayli Abdel RahmanMigrating from Sai    Mohyiddin FarisThe Wharf and the Walkway Rhythms     The Horse and the Wind     Homeland    Taj el-Sir el-HassanAn Afro-Asian Song    El-Nur Osman AbbakerThe Exile and the Kingdom    Mohammed el-Makki IbrahimA Drib of Your Nectar     A Farm on the Hill     Two Love Poems and a Carnival     Songs for October    Mustapha SanadThe Old Sea     The Lost Violins    Abdel Raheem Abu ZikraDeparture at Night     The Night Girl    Ali Abdel QayyoumWho Triggered the Stone’s Tongue?     Muhammad Abdul-HaiThe Signs Ode    Kamal ElgizouliEncounter     Whispers     A Cell the Size of New Year’s Eve     Monologue    Aalim AbbasThe Pre-Eruption Silence    Mahjoub SharifThe Homesick Sparrow     Crazy in Love with You     I Say It without Fear     Buffoon!    Mahgoub KbaloThe Golden Scythe Song     Deng Malo: A Biography     Pastoral Scriptures    Fidaili Jamma’The Silent Rose     A Sun on the Window     Walking a Tightrope    Abdulqadir AlkutayabiThe Shores of Your Eyes     I Miss Something    Mohammed el-Hassan Salim HimmaidUncle Abdur Raheem     Nura and the Time-Tested Dream    Hashim SiddigA Story of a Revolution     A Tale of the Rose and the Street    Azhari Mohammed AliA Starting Point    Al-Saddig al-RaddiSongs of Solitude    Rawda el-HajHeart’s Confessions     A New Ebb in the High Tide Season    Rugaia WarragA Frosted Cry     A Tribute to Winter     The Spider’s Text: Millennium Messages to Life    Khalid Hassan OthmanAll Alone    Najlaa Osman EltomUnder Abundant Shades     Tuesday’s Dilemma     An Acacia Bush in Labor    Mamoun EltilibThe Fall of Angels    Boi John AwangWrapped in Grief    Hatim Al KinaniSkies    Nylawo AyulOn the Bank of River Sobat     An Amulet for the Mango Tree    Notes     References     List of Contributors