Peace in Arka Saber’s Songs

Looking at Arka Saber’s poetic copious productivity, it would be difficult to confine all the topics that will be analysed in one or two articles. Due to the extensive and essential issues that touch humanitarian areas at different levels, this article will discuss peace in Arka’s songs, one of the most important issues in his songs, and analyse the reasons behind accepting its clauses. Other topics will be discussed in the coming articles, respectively. 

Arka was not only a poet who was known as a ‘revolutionary poet’ and just called for fighting, but his poetry was also characterised by love of peace, simplicity and happy life. That was not strange from the poet who was born and raised with his wise and distinguished father, and poet Mohammed Saber. Hassan Jafar (2021) reported that Arka was a descendent from the Adaroys, a clan from the Hadandwa tribe, who were also famous for their wise poetry, which was devised from religion. 

Arka also gained love for the Beja people since he was a child and pledged success for their revolution because as a villager, he suffered a lot as he witnessed people dying in front of him unable to provide any assistance for them. Later, when the Beja Congress leaders started peace negotiations, Arka mentioned in his poems that he supported that line as a way that could be of salvaging the people in Beja land from being extinct. Hassan Jafar (2021) was also surprised by the unique and genius abilities of Arka that enabled him to compose revolutionary poems and recite them at the right time. It was remarkable that he had the talent of creating his own language in which he writes his poems with multiple uses of the sound /w/. That language could not be understood by anyone else; therefore, it’s called the language of Arka.   

The instinct and family background were distinctive features of Arka’s lifestyle as he was described by his colleagues in their condolences when the great poet passed away in March 2021. They all agreed that he was recognised as being an exemplary human and delightful character, even in the worst cases in which the fighting spirit of the militants was descending. His colleagues went beyond that when they linked his kindness with the meaning of his name, ‘Arka’, which means, ‘the great‘, in Bejawiet language.

In his poetic song, “Al-Sa-laam”, Arka recounted all the benefits of the peace agreement that was signed between the Beja Congress and the Sudanese government. However, some of the members found it ridiculous. Arka argued with his wonderful words and justified the demand for the peace at that time in the following lines from his poem, ‘/u-sǝ-lᴂm/, which is from the Arabic word, ‘Al-Sa-laam’, that means, ‘the peace’.

“Isalaam”

Arka did not want to see rifts within the body of the Beja congress, so he kept advising both the negotiators as well as the other leaders of Beja Congress those who were not satisfied with the decision of signing.

In his poem, “Al-Sa-laam”, Arka believes that peace has already come and the historical rights have been established; thus Beja rights are inevitable. Therefore, if you didn’t have an alternative of peace, you couldn’t get much than you expect. In addition, if you feel that the matter is difficult to be achieved; my advice is to return to your fellow fighters.

The poet was balanced in positions to keep the Beja entity from being fragmented, therefore, he was at the same distance from everyone. Arka deeply studied and assessed the issues and the path of disagreement to be able to advise them all through a hint in his poem. He referred to that by saying, ‘We all did well and everyone will win, and therefore, this is the stage of uniting and working hard and diligently’.

The poet, as his habit of raising the confidence of the negotiators and stabilising the fighters on the battlefields, was always chosen expressions that help everyone to be positive. In his poem, he lifted the blame from the militants as well as the Beja Congress leaders, whether they did well or erred, and he began to give hope that the next stage is greater and more beneficial, therefore, he advised to leave out the disagreements aside and embrace unity to achieve their objectives.

The poet was tolerant and advocated that by virtue of his religious upbringing and keenness not to negatively influence those who fought a lot. Arka intended to see those who left the Beja army by only punishing them by ending their leaderships’ roles, whereas he advised those who lost their way to be guided to the rights of Beja.

‘Oaki-tab’

In two lines from his poem, ‘Oaki-tab’, which runs from the Arabic word, ‘Al-Kitab’, referring to the Holy Quran, Arka showed some interest in religion and its impact on his life. He also referred to the reward that are expected because of reading the Quran and implementing it in their everyday life.

The impact of piousness in Arka’s poetry was genuine as he referred to that by inviting fighters to read and memorise the Holy Quran as well as paying attention to its meanings. He also encourages young people to protect themselves by encouraging them to get married as early as possible. Perhaps, he refers to the role of the university students who have joined the army and contributed in the areas of teaching matters related to religion.

Another leading reason that encouraged Arka to support the acceptance of the peace clauses was the deep intelligence of the poet who tried to look forward to the overall benefits of the peace to the individuals, community, and country.

In his poem, ‘Oaki-tab’, Arka considered the role of the students of the Beja young fighters (male and female) who were strongly convinced with the Beja revolution and dropped semesters at their universities, in order to defend their rights as Beja. He mentioned that clearly in his poems, explaining their roles in the revolution, and he wisely thought of securing their future. Thus, he found it necessary to accept some of the unfair clauses in the peace agreement.

It has been noticed from the overall analysis of the two poems that the poet was much concerned with the peace and its benefits to the Beja community. He also noted what the peace requirement sacrifices are, but the poet had a role in converging views and advising for what was useful to everyone and what he believed was correct in verses of deep meaningful poetry. In addition, the poet was also concerned with religion issues through guidance and advice so that he could bring people closer to each other and protect their societies.