In love with the artist Sabt Othman..

Anas Al-Aqib: Sabt was not swept away by the tide of imitation and similarity

Makhawi: A street with the name Sabt and a small hall next to it

Events – Magda Hassan

After the rumor of his death spread, Sabt may cry tears of joy after reading the ink of love that filled the pages with his luminous biography. Perhaps the most prominent thing written about and monitored by Al-Ahdath was what was discussed by television director Muhammad Makhawi and musician Anas Al-Aqib, after it was confirmed that what was raised about Sabt’s death was just a rumor.
“I wanted to delete the post after I became certain that the news was a rumor, but I saw people’s love for Saturday, so I decided to keep the post and keep the people’s love for it… May God bless the days of Saturday, increase them, and benefit us with his art.” Makhawi said.

A landmark in Sudanese art

“People know the value of some people after their death, and perhaps a long time after death, and I think that Sabt Othman, those who follow Sudanese art, realize that he was a milestone. That man came in the seventies of the last century. He came as a percussionist in the popular arts band, full of the rhythms of that mysterious region. He was as beautiful as she was, smiling and laughing, transcending society’s restrictions in separating between people. He memorized the rhythms behind great artists like Ahmed Al-Mustafa and Othman Hussein. When people would go to rest, he would sit at his rabab and people would gather around him. He would sing in Arabic and in his own language, and the people would delight until the experts picked it up, so Abdullah Amigu, may God have mercy on him, wrote his songs and they were known. The radio values ​​what he sings, so it kept it in its library.” Makhawi said. “In a session at the Artists’ Union, Sabt was joking with this person and making that person laugh, so Amigo called him. At that time, the idea of ​​video songs began to appear, and Kalbus told him to go to the television and demand your rights. Sabt replied that they did not care. Khalil Ismail, who was watching the conversation, said: Where are they going to find someone like you? We all laughed. Amigu told me that I left this man and Hawaa Ramadan for you. I considered the matter to be something accidental until I met Abdullah Amigu two weeks later. He asked me, and I did not hide my embarrassment. I told him I was traveling and I would start on the matter tomorrow. Because God wanted us to start, Sabt came on the same day, I sat down and we identified 5 songs that I heard and raised my vision for television.” He added.
“At the beginning of my life, I was a television director, and unfortunately for me, the program director at the time did not know much about Sabbath, so he said: I cannot do without a vehicle and a camera for two weeks in order to a novice director and artist that no one knows, and it seems that he completed a racist description, and because people in Sudan do not know silence, the conversation reached Sabt. He came to me with tears almost streaming from his eyes. I told him words that are his right. If people do not see the sun, then there is nothing wrong with it, and I reminded him of the Germans’ position when he presented a show in Kowloon, and there were artists with a high degree of fame in Sudan, but Kowloon officials chose him and Hafez Abdel Rahman only to record her works, and I kept deceiving him until he laughed, and if he laughed Saturday, that was the factory’s control… I told him I would find a solution. My options were not wide, so I relied on a friend. Al-Lasa had a small company. I went to him and explained the whole matter of Sabbat. He was silent and then said: I cannot pay for a trip to the Blue Nile, but I will not leave Sabbat alone. I will produce a song for him, even if the TV bought it at a loss.” He added. “We liked Halima’s song, so we recorded it. At that time, editing machines had just appeared on television. I showed the matter to my friend, Babakir Al-Hajj, and he was excited about it. When the editing was finished, we sat around Sabbat, and when the song ended, we hugged each other while he cried like a child. We did not know the value of what we had done until the song became popular. Amigo told me, laughing for a long time. Sabt, the star of the Union of Artists, in the songs of the Kalbas, they were commenting on his passing while he responded with laughter, and this is the matter of Sabt Wafa, and his song and laughter came from the Blue Nile, and the whole of Sudan was filled with it and he started singing Halima.” He said.

keeping a promise

“Then the paths changed and I got busy until he called me one time and said to me, ‘You have a young boy who wants to work with me. What do you think?’ In honor of Sabt Othman, I contacted Minister Issa and the Blue Nile University, and the university agreed to name one of the halls after him and to name a street in Damazin after him. The Farmers’ Union, led by Abdel Halim, promised to provide support to him, and the minister promised the poet that the state would honor him befitting him and produce all his songs in the most beautiful areas of the Blue Nile and we agreed to meet in the fall of 2023, so the war broke out, and as I publish that agreement, I know that the people of the Blue Nile do not break their vows. A street with the name Sabt and Hall is a little against a man who carried the Blue Nile shawl on his shoulder for more than half a century, and he was its pioneer and the most beautiful representative. Sabt is a journey full of art, morals and transgression, such as Awad Dakam, Abu Daoud, and Muhammad Jibril, were bridges that crossed our society from diseases to health and understanding.” Makhawi added.

Creativity and development

Musician Anas Al-Aqib says:
Sabbat Othman, who came from the outskirts of the Blue Nile State, since he settled in Omdurman, led his feet to the location of the Artists Union, to complete the membership registration and obtain its cards. I remember that the late actor, Othman Jamal Al-Din, was the one who carried out this task during the day, and he handed me the membership card after he signed it. There I met the boy, Sabt Othman, who was not more than twenty, and my meetings with him coincided during the day in the Actors Union and in the evening in the Artists Union, and his passion was noticed. The boy was satisfied with singing and music, his regular attendance, his donation, his initiative to do simple tasks, and what the members of the union assigned him to do, and because of the severity of his assignment to music and due to the familiarity that developed between us, he showed me the first musical instrument he made, which was a rectangular piece of wood fastened to nails with 4 wire strings stretched lengthwise to 4 Nails were tightened so that they produced different sounds, and despite their incompatibility, he practiced singing on them in a style of playing similar to playing the tambour. Thus were the beginnings of the boy Sabt, who was not guided by his experiments in manufacturing the instrument that his talent, which was imbued with the heritage of his family and his clan, yearned for. Then, after a great effort, he was able to buy the oud. “I believe that Sabt received the first principles of playing from those who combined their sympathy and love for Sabt Othman because he had good morals, and he was honest and patient and forgave those who did not pay attention to his talent, which was waiting to be launched like other promising artists who are applauded by the pens before launching. Sabt had no choice but to accompany the artists as a percussionist, at least to establish his presence nearby and then to earn a living. However, Sabt continued to develop himself, becoming proficient in playing the oud and subjecting it to the maqams and rhythms of the region to which he belongs. I know very well that the artist Sabt Othman, according to my knowledge of him, was not swept away by the trend of imitation and similarity, but rather did not think about keeping up with the dominant North Central singing styles, the artist Sabt Othman remained loyal and adhered to his authentic Sudanese artistic identity, and we did not care much about him.” Al-Aqib added.