As many have navigated through the poetry of the legend and the Beja Revolution Poet, Arka Saber, they may find that you read an interpreted document of the international laws about the ethics of war; whereas, most of the groups that revolted against its regimes fell into the most heinous crimes of humanity due to their unawareness of the international laws. The Beja revolution, in contrast, is one of the most distinguished ones that preserved the rights of citizens.
Over the ages, the Beja revolution was marked by a bright history of human rights for many reasons. The first is that the leaders of the Beja Congress were highly educated figures, who, according to their understanding of their case, helped at aiming their spear for the goals of which they revolted without prejudice to the public or private property that others benefit from.
Second, the Bejawees innate nature, like the nature of any Sudanese, does not disgrace prejudice to the rights of others, regardless of its cost. Therefore, the Beja revolution did not register any attack on women, children, or elderly people, even in the most difficult cases of its weaknesses. As it is impossible or rare for a Bejawee to attack a family, a child, or an elder, human crimes were characterised by zero value in the history of the Beja revolutions, and that was mentioned repeatedly in the poetry of Arka Saber.
Finally, the religious background of Bajawees especially in the region where the Beja revolution started, in the Red Sea mountains, Eastern of Sudan, around the Hamesh koreib district, which was characterised by the spread of the message of the preacher Sheikh Ali Beetai. The students, who were raised in that area, were nourished by the spirit of the religious morals that prevent the rights of others. Therefore, the revolution continued to protect itself from the rights of others or attacking citizens or their possessions throughout the difficult years. In addition, during the battles, the rights of the wounded and prisoners were preserved, as stipulated by the United Nations laws derived from their true Islamic religion.
In his familiar discursive style, the poet challenges his audience by requesting responses to his inquiries about how the ethics and behavior of international law that characterised the Beja revolution implemented and to confirm whether what he described was true. In his song, “Sak’ka Ware Rata”, which means “ask who tells you”, he counted the rights of others and how they carried out their duties.
“Sak’ka Ware Rata”
The first Beja singer, Mohammad Al Badri, introduced the song with lines from the authentic environmental heritage of the Beja that they understand, which is considered as an example in many similar cases when Al Badri was amazed at delaying the camels training to obey when they were young because this could make it difficult to be controlled if they became strong. This is an example of good morals which were acquired by the revolutionaries’ as they grew bigger and took responsibilities in both war and peace. As a result, the Beja revolution did not register any awful notes.
In the third and fourth lines, the poet focused on facts of battles and the behavior of the revolutionaries who allowed others to pull out their wounded comrades from the battlefield. To emphasize his claims, he specified named battles when the revolutionaries refrained from touching any wounded person in the battle of “Hellbait”, in which the intervention was only with light weapons. However, he followed this with heroic stances and the rights of others in a similar battle called Kadbuit, in which the fight began early in the morning. Arka says that the revolutionaries also remained on the battlefield to withdraw their comrades from those who may have been injured in the incident. This indicates that documenting these events and naming their places was to cut off any suspicion with the certainty of what he believed done truly and they protected the sanctities of others according to the international laws.
However, Arka confirmed in the fifth line that their revolution was national that the funds were collected from the participants in order to protect themselves from any external interference. He hinted that their organisation did not receive any funds from any internal or external party, in an indication of difficulties that they encountered, and confirmed that their leader did not accept any sums of money that would dissuade them from their revolution. Therefore, at the end of each line, Arka repeated a phrase that allows anyone who wants to make sure to inquire about the validity of any of the information that he offered and to check by themselves.
There was another challenge to those who accused them of working for others. Moreover, in order to cut off the road to those who work to weaken them, he mentioned again in the sixth line of the poem “Saka Ware Rata” that their revolution was costly and young people were assassinated with cold blooded in order to preserve it. Arka followed that with another message that they did not deviate from their way for any reason, even if it was a security reason that could not prevent them from achieving their goals.
Arka ends the poem with a kind of high spirit that he acquired due to the preservation of their rights and of others by saying, we do not object to participating in a decent life with others; however, it can’t be left to those who don’t discuss how it supposed to be managed because that will be another issue. In this regard, there is a religious principle and a law guaranteeing that the right to live on earth for all, in alignment with the religious text: “People are partners in three”.
The song, “Afaal Hinaiba”, which means the victory is for us, is sung by Seedi Doshka, where his wonderful melodies and outstanding performance added a lot to it.
“Afaal Hinaiba“
The poem is identical in the meanings compared to the first poem, except that it focuses on the rights of the Beja by virtue of their presence on the ground. According to Arka, international laws allow those who live on land to be responsible for its permanence while preserving the rights of others.
Arka referred to some of the rights that must be affirmed and how their preparation for force frightened others, which led to results in their favor despite all the difficulties. He added, “Their revolution will not stop despite the sacrifices because it calls for freedom that must be continued”. The poem concludes with the same principle as the first poem, which allows for the right to coexist peacefully with others, provided that rights are established.
The song, “Dor Arait”, which means magnanimity, is performed by Al Badri, in three lines summarising some internal rules and regulations that are consistent with international laws and led to the clarification of the rights as well as duties of individuals and groups.
“Dor Arait“
The poem begins with an account disclosure of large numbers of those who gave their souls to the point that under every tree or stone was buried a martyr or a hero. Therefore, surrendering or submitting complaints is unexpected and we won’t beg for a piece of land, as well, indicating that we can take away our rights fully.
The second line shows how Arka was proud of the history and glory that was built, and he assured that they did not attack their brothers who did not join the revolution. He also emphasised that among themselves, they did not have courtesy on anyone or distinguish them because of their tribe.
The poem ended with some revisable reservations. Firstly, we didn’t leave our revolution, and will never secure ourselves. Incase we can’t achieve what we wish for, we will continue for more effective struggle by strongly adhering to our optimum goals.
Each of these songs was expressed in a manner that would not devoid the poet’s culture and the depth of his critical thinking in preserving their unity and justifying their positions. All of this was reflected in the behaviour of the Beja revolutionaries, who won partnership and confidence of their comrades, who were allied with as one of the cleanest revolutions that were free from the defects of human penetration by virtue of their commitment to their religious matters in addition to their knowledge of international law.
Dr Hassan Adrob is a Sudanese based in Oman and works as an English language and Linguistic lecturer and a teacher trainer at Red Sea University and Sohar University. His MA and PhD are in Applied Linguistics. Dr Hassan is a qualified CELTA instructor and has participated in an accredited IELTS Training Programme. He fulfilled the twin duties of lecturer in English and skills leader. Dr Hassan is a regular participant at conferences and has recently published three books with Eliva Press.
Name *
Email *
Website
Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.
Δ
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
