Khalil Farah

His songs have become symbols of national pride, freedom and political independence. His song Aazza fī Hawāk (My beloved Azza), expressing love for his country in poetic terms, has been called Sudan's most popular patriotic song.

• Name — Khalil Farah • Birthplace — Dabrousa, Saï Island, Sudan • Born — 1894 • Place of death — Khartoum, Sudan • Genre — Music of Sudan, Sudanese literature • Occupation — Poet, singer, composer • Years Active — 1920s

From the beginning of modern written literature during the early decades of the 20th century, and going back to old oral traditions, poetry and songs have been the most popular literary genres in Sudan. Songs celebrating the beauty of the land, its regions and scenery have been popular in Sudanese music since at least the 1930s. Before independence in 1956, poems and songs were often artistically coded expressions of nationalism and opposition to colonial rule. Khalil Farah expressed his patriotic sentiments in romantic verses, such as his Azza fī Hawāk (My beloved Aazza), where Sudan is likened to a beloved woman. In her overview of "The Contours of Sudanese Literature", literary scholar Constance E. Berkley quoted a study on early Sudanese nationalism: "Since most of the hostile references to Britain and the loving allusions to Egypt were allegorically expressed [...], Farah, it was felt, was personally safe vis-a-vis the Intelligence Department. For the same reason, and because it was not easy to trace the origins of popular songs composed in basically colloquial form of Arabic, the authors remained practically anonymous and equally safe."

Khalil Farah was born and grew up in the Nubian village of Dabrousa on Saï island in northern Sudan, in the region of Wadi Halfa, in 1894. His father was Sheikh Farah Badri, and his mother was Zahra Sheikh Mohammed. He began his education in the koranic school, called khalwa in Sudan, of Sheikh Ahmed Hashem on the island of Sai, and received his first formal education at the government school in Dongola. Later, his family moved to Omdurman to live with his father's relatives. His father worked in trade and moved frequently between Wadi Halfa and Dongola, often accompanied by his son Khalil. The father died in 1915, and his mother in 1927. In 1923, Farah married Salama Agha Ibrahim, the widow of his brother Badri, on Saï island. They had two children, Farah and Aisha. Farah attended the technical workshop for mechanical training at the Gordon Memorial College (later the University of Khartoum). During this time, he became a follower of the Sudanese national movement, expressed for example by the White Flag League, and became interested in literary works of Egyptian writers such as Taha Hussein, Mahmoud Abbas Al-Akkad and Ahmed Hassan Al-Zayat, and started to write his own Arabic poetry. He joined literary forums and the Sudanese Writers Union. As his songs became famous, they spread nationalistic ideas of the newly educated Sudanese classes to the largely illiterate population. Having suffered from illness since 1929, Farah had to undergo medical treatment until his early death on 30 June 1932 at the Nahr Hospital in Khartoum. He was buried there in the Ahmed Sharafi cemetery.