A Reflection on the Letters of a British Doctor in Khartoum to His Daughter in London in the Mid-20th Century

Professor Badr al-Din al-Hashimi recently published an Arabic translation of a narrative text, which is actually a new short story written by the novelist and short story writer Layla Abu Al-Ala. The original text was in English, titled Doctor on the Nile, while Dr. al-Hashimi chose to translate the title as A Doctor on the Banks of the Nile.

Before proceeding with the translation of the narrative work, Professor Badr al-Din mentioned that this new short story by Layla Abu Al-Ala would be included in a collection of short stories and other texts expected to be published next year, God willing.

The structure of the short story consists of four handwritten letters sent in the early 1950s by a British doctor and lecturer at Khartoum’s Kitchener Medical School, Andrew MacCulloch, who is originally from Scotland, to his daughter Marion. At the time, Marion was a young student in her first year at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. In these letters, he expresses his deep longing for her, his pride in her intelligence, insight, strong personality, and refined artistic and literary taste. He recounts some of her childhood memories in Sudan, while also lamenting the grief and pain caused by the recent death of his wife and Marion’s mother in Khartoum. Furthermore, he shares aspects of his social life and the ways he has occupied his time to cope with the pain of losing his wife in a foreign land.

The story begins with the first letter, which Dr. MacCulloch sends to his daughter Marion through a Sudanese student, Makawi Ismail, who is studying in England. Dr. MacCulloch met Makawi at the home of a mutual Sudanese friend named Mahmoud Abu Zaid, who suggested that Makawi deliver the letter to Marion.

This first letter is filled with Dr. MacCulloch’s sorrow over his wife Edith’s death, his longing for his daughter, and his eagerness for her to visit him in Khartoum for the Christmas and New Year holidays. In the letter, he also recommends the safest, quickest, and most secure travel methods for her personal safety.

In this letter, as well as in the subsequent two letters, the British doctor and university lecturer presents a series of events and ideas that reflect the social, cultural, and political aspects of Sudan during that time, particularly in the mid-20th century when political parties emerged and became active in the struggle for Sudan’s independence from British colonial rule.

The fourth and final letter is the shortest, comprising only four lines. It is also the most charged and tense of the letters, as it subtly indicates that Marion, Dr. MacCulloch’s daughter, has become romantically involved with the Sudanese student Makawi Ismail, although this is never stated explicitly. This development causes concern and tension for Dr. MacCulloch, even though we know from the narrative that he is portrayed as a secular man with an open mind and not religiously fanatic.

Layla Abu Al-Ala subtly prepares us for this shift in the relationship between Makawi Ismail and Marion by having her father repeatedly notice in his letters that she frequently mentions this young Sudanese man.

What stood out to me in this narrative and its handling of the events was its strong sense of realism, and its remarkable fidelity in portraying the spirit of that era in Sudan’s history. For this reason, I wanted to reflect on the realistic aspects of this short story by Layla Abu Al-Ala, as is often the case in her creative works.

In fact, when I first read the draft of the translation of this work, which was sent to me by the translator, my dear friend Professor al-Hashimi, before it was published, I initially believed, due to its extreme realism, that these were genuine letters written by a British man residing and working in Sudan in the late years of the British-Egyptian condominium rule, sent to his only daughter, who was living in London and pursuing her university studies there. It never occurred to me that this was merely a short story born of fiction. I felt that these letters from Dr. MacCulloch to his daughter Marion were somewhat reminiscent of the letters sent by General Gordon to his sister in Britain when he was besieged by the Mahdist forces in 1884 and 1885, particularly the day Khartoum fell on January 26, 1885, leading to Gordon’s tragic death.

Clearly, from the outset of the story, or at the beginning of the first letter, we observe the appearance of one of the main characters from Layla Abu Al-Ala’s novel The Singing Alley. This character is Mahmoud Abu Zaid, the businessman and socialite, who is the father of Noor, the protagonist of that novel, or rather the alter ego of the singer-poet Hassan Awad Abu Al-Ala, as many critics and readers have noted. In this short story, Mahmoud Abu Zaid is introduced as a friend of Dr. MacCulloch’s and as a patient under his care for diabetes. It was Mahmoud Abu Zaid who suggested that Dr. MacCulloch entrust his letter to Makawi Ismail, who happened to be visiting him at the time.

Is Layla Abu Al-Ala perhaps reworking the characters from The Singing Alley in future works, as Tayeb Salih did with many of the characters from the village of Wad Hamid, especially the “Mahgoub Circle,” for example?

The story’s realism also surfaces when it notes that Dr. MacCulloch preferred to send his letter to his daughter through the Sudanese student Makawi Ismail rather than via mail, due to the fear that it would be delayed by a workers’ strike that had occurred among the Sudanese Railway workers at the time.

In fact, in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Sudan witnessed significant trade union activity and powerful protests, particularly led by railway workers in the town of Atbara under the leadership of prominent figures such as Qasim Amin and Al-Shafei Ahmed Sheikh, among others.

The story also refers to the “Sudanization” process during this period of Sudanese history, which involved replacing British and Egyptian officials with Sudanese personnel in various jobs and positions.

The narrative captures Dr. MacCulloch’s view of his students at the Kitchener Medical School, whom he describes as eagerly awaiting to take the positions left vacant by the departing British, and his dissatisfaction with what he called their lack of courtesy, likely referring to their demand to change the names of colonial institutions like the “Kitchener Medical School” and the “Gordon Memorial College” (which would later become the University of Khartoum). He dismisses this as a lack of courtesy, but in reality, it was a manifestation of nationalism and a desire for independence from colonial rule.

In one of his letters, Dr. MacCulloch also discusses the role of the British in promoting communism in Sudan, as well as the colonial administration’s efforts to counter this influence. This, in my view, is another example of the story’s remarkable realism, since many sources on Sudan’s history of Marxist thought and communist activities in the country mention the role played by English officers and soldiers, including a figure named “Astory,” in spreading communist ideas.

I was also struck by the admiration expressed by Dr. MacCulloch’s boss, Professor Roger Stevenson, for the architecture of Khartoum, particularly its gardens and green spaces. I thought to myself, “Where are these green spaces and gardens now, in a city that has been reduced to rubble by war?” I have often wondered: why not transform Abu Genzeir Square, located in the heart of Khartoum’s commercial district, into a lush garden? That could make a significant difference to the urban, environmental, and architectural landscape of the area.

One interesting detail related to the social history of Khartoum during the colonial era is the reference to the neighborhood of Al-Muqran, which was known among the European communities as the “neighborhood of the poor whites.” This term referred to Greeks, Armenians, and perhaps some Eastern Jews and Levantine Christians. Meanwhile, the wealthier Europeans, including the British, lived in more affluent areas such as Khartoum East, Khartoum 1, and Khartoum 2, before the emergence of the Amarat neighborhood and its extension in the early 1960s.

As for “Christo,” the Greek seamstress and a friend of Dr. MacCulloch’s family, who was deeply saddened by the news of Edith’s death, she may remind us of the tailor’s shop immortalized by poet Ahmed Mohamed Sheikh (Al-Jaghryo) in his famous song “My Friend Engraved in My Mind,” which was later sung by the legendary Ahmed Mustafa.

Once again, Layla Abu Al-Ala leaves her creative mark with a Scottish touch in this work, influenced by the culture of Scotland and her loyalty to that part of the United Kingdom where she lived for a long time and loved, where her genius blossomed, and from which her creative journey began.

We had noticed this influence in her novel The Spirit of the Ancient River. In this short story, Dr. MacCulloch remarks on the noticeable presence of Scots in Sudan, including notable figures such as General Gordon and Lord Kitchener.

In the same vein, Layla Abu Al-Ala draws attention to a term closely associated with Scottish culture – “Hogmanay,” which refers to the last night of the old year, or New Year’s Eve. She also mentions the type of tea called “Earl Grey,” which Dr. MacCulloch enjoyed, and which is a reflection of the British tradition of tea drinking. This tradition was passed on to Sudanese society, where tea parties were once a common social custom, though they have become rare in recent decades. They are now mostly limited to pre-engagement meetings, which often lead to official engagements or even marriages.

In one of his letters, Dr. MacCulloch also mentions the harmful practice of female circumcision, recounting an incident he witnessed when a man brought in his six-year-old daughter in critical condition due to a horrific circumcision procedure. Dr. MacCulloch also refers to the position of the Republican Party, led by Mahmoud Mohamed Taha, which opposed the British colonial administration’s decision to ban female circumcision, arguing that the British had no right to intervene in Sudanese customs.

The fourth and final letter from Dr. MacCulloch to Marion is short, terse, and tense. From this letter, we infer that Marion has decided to marry Makawi Ismail, a Sudanese student. This decision seems to have shocked her father, as evidenced by his angry reaction in the letter:

“I just finished reading your letter. I can hardly believe what you wrote. Have you completely lost your mind? Of course, when you say ‘bring a friend,’ you don’t mean bringing a man, especially not a Sudanese nomad!”