Abdul Qader Salem.. Your name is loved and you are the most beloved

Sudan Events – Haitham Al-Sayed

You feel a type of affection, comfort, and purity when you meet him. He adds, with fragility and joviality, an astonishing simplicity and humility that was not known among the big stars. He receives you warmly, charged with the warmth of feelings, and he does not say goodbye to you if you do not bid him farewell.
In the introduction, I meant the human artist and teacher, Dr. Abdel Qader Salem. He is a truly multi-talented artist who excelled in singing and human dealings in various aspects of life. People loved him as a wonderful singer who perfumed spirits and souls with his beautiful singing.
Abdel Qader Salem, the chief artist and their permanent president, is in the service of art and the union. He is not bound by positions. He walks for the people more than he walks for himself. He leaves his house early in the morning to roam offices, homes, and hospitals to help his fellow professionals. He fights for their rights. He does not adhere to the advice of doctors when he gets sick, and often he interrupts the scheduled periods of rest and convalescence to attend to the needs of his acquaintances, is keen and persistent about the rights of artists, especially those of his generation, and the artist professor Kamal Terbas was right when he addressed the penultimate General Assembly supporting the nomination of Abdel Qader Salem for the presidency of the Artists Union, saying:
Oh our brothers, there is no man more suitable than this Abdel Qader for the presidency of the Union. He is an energetic and enthusiastic man who takes care of people’s needs. If you make him sick, you will find him standing over your head in the hospital and you will not miss him. Oh, you are home, you are graves.
Indeed, Dr. Abdul Qadir Salem Hamim and Zul Wajib remained supportive of all artists in their various occasions and circumstances. Perhaps his humanity took over large areas of time that should have been for his art, but both make souls happy. His walking for the people heals and sweetens hearts, and he is forgiving when he sings, when he speaks, and when he strives to help others.
I was happy and was united by sincere affection and love for him. We met in many work committees, the most prominent of which was inside the Big House (Union of Artists). I saw beautiful things in it and learned a lot from him. He is the best teacher. We shared the concern of unity and striving to change some traditions that required change in order to keep up and develop. He was supportive of us in many projects and proposals, especially in the Cultural Committee, including changing the format of the show in (Oud Corner), which is a small cultural artistic session held from time to time to listen to the creativity of artists. We developed the session into a salary forum and allocated a stage and decoration for it with the participation of a great singer, a young man, and a promising singer, along with a poet who conducts a short dialogue between the singers, followed by a song. The aim of this was to achieve communication between the different generations. When I was entrusted with the task of media officer at the Artists Union, I prepared a monthly magazine specifically for the activities of the cultural, administrative, and social union, of which we provided copies. It was limited for the information of members, and was the nucleus of an official magazine in libraries, but due to general circumstances, the idea did not see the light.
I remember one evening I was sitting with the poet, Mr. Ishaq Al-Halnaqi, inside the Artists Union, and Dr. Siddiq Tower, a member of the Sovereignty Council at the time, entered and was a close friend of the artists and the Union, and Dr. Tower asked about the reasons for the stagnation of activity in the Union. I answered him that continuing the activity had become costly in light of the weakness of the Union’s resources. I pointed out that the Union lost its sound device years ago, and if it had owned a sound device, the activity would not have stopped because sound is one of the basic aids for cultural activities.
The session ended after a valuable dialogue about the importance of the Union’s leadership as an institution concerned with culture. A few days later, I received a call from Dr. Abdul Qader Salem asked me to be sure to come at seven in the evening of the same day to the Union House because Professor Siddiq’s office informed them of his visit to the Union. In the evening, Dr. Tower came, accompanied by Professor Faisal Muhammad Saleh, Minister of Culture and Information, and presented a (new) sound device as a gift to the Union, and it was a joyful surprise for the brothers. In Al-Ittihad, the culture in the house was indeed active, thanks to the valuable gift. Dr. Salem’s call was out of concern for my presence, as I had mentioned the matter of the sound.
Many members of the Artists Union were keen to have Abdel Qader Salem in the presidential chair, but at the same time they pitied him because of his excessive enthusiasm, which affected his health.
Excessive enthusiasm is a required characteristic in public work, but it is different for Salem, as he does not entrust others with tasks, out of companionship and enthusiasm from him. (This is what made Abdul Qader crazy), as those who pity him among his brothers and lovers say teasingly.
Even during the current damned war, Dr. Abdul Qader Salem remained in Omdurman, inspecting this and visiting that. He was exhausted by illness during the past months, but he remained keen on his humanity, affection, and creativity, which he showed to people during the war through the great national work (Madness of War), the poem written by Idris Jumaa, a song he presented more than 15 years ago, participating in the performance were the great singers Muhammad Wardi and Muhammad Al-Amin.
(Destruction is not heroism. Heroism is in construction). This is a work that preceded its time and reflects today’s painful reality.
Abdul Qader Salem rejected all invitations and offers to travel abroad, only to remain in Omdurman.
Abdul Qadir Salem has many blessings for everyone, including the Sudanese people who have encouraged him with his beautiful songs. I would have liked to write about him to give him his due due to his rich contributions in many fields, but writing about people like him is difficult. We ask God to grant him the blessing of health and well-being and to preserve him as an asset to his family and colleagues. And his acquaintances and fans of his beautiful art, we say to him:
Your name is loved and you are the most beloved… you are beauty in every sense that you represent.