On the 60th Anniversary of the October Revolution, Wad Al-Makki Passed Away and “The Ember Parted from the Sandalwood of Poetry”

Wad Al-Makki’s “October Poems” did not merely impact him, but also influenced our understanding of the October Revolution itself. These poems, which are essentially a single long poem, overshadowed much of his other work. This impact was so significant that one critic even called for a movement to defend Wad Al-Makki from the dominance of his “October Poems.”

The passing of the poet-diplomat Muhammad Al-Makki Ibrahim (1939) on September 29 was a heavy blow for Sudanese people, especially as it occurred just one month before the 60th anniversary of the October 21, 1964, Revolution, in which “Wad Al-Makki” – as we fondly call him – was the lyrical voice of its entire movement:

“In your green name, O October, the earth sings

The fields ignited with wheat, promise, and hope

The treasures opened beneath the earth, calling out

In your name, the people triumphed

The prison wall broke

And the chains fell as a garland of wedding flowers in hand.”

Thus, as we remember the 60th anniversary of the revolution, the one who reminded us of it is no longer with us. This situation is as Wad Al-Makki described when mourning poet Muhammad Al-Mahdi Al-Majdhoub in 1983: “With your departure, the ember parted from the sandalwood of poetry.”

Wad Al-Makki’s anthem for October, beautifully composed by musician Muhammad Wardi and sung passionately, became an alternative national anthem. The October Revolution had toppled the military regime of General Ibrahim Abboud (1958-1964), which came upon us uninvited, barely three years after our independence. Other revolutions followed in 1985 and 2018, but October holds a special place in Sudanese hearts as the “first cry” or the “first spark,” in the words of Wad Al-Makki himself:

“From behind the closed houses

Behind the seething veils of hate, burning

Give birth to your first revolution, your new awakening.”

The revolution’s essence is captured in its poetry that has stayed embedded in the Sudanese collective memory. As one young student remarked when asked about his knowledge of the October Revolution, he replied, “Not much. But the songs I’ve heard tell me it was a significant event.”

Yet Wad Al-Makki’s “October Poems” affected not only him but also our broader understanding of the October Revolution. These poems, which are essentially a single extended piece, overshadowed much of his other work. This overwhelming emphasis on that one piece led a critic to suggest a campaign to defend Wad Al-Makki against the dominance of the “October Poems.”

A deeper understanding of October is possible if we appreciate that he approached it from a background of political turmoil within a young generation of university students, who wanted a national agenda after independence but saw that aspiration thwarted by a military coup, which they then felt obligated to resist. Perhaps this fury is the same “daring glow” that he described in his own words. Despite the fame of his first poetry collection My Nation, which denotes clear and concise loyalty, the title has a more comprehensive subtitle: My Nation: Awareness, Dream, and Anger.

Wad Al-Makki’s poetic aim was always to affiliate himself with his nation. To him, it was the “Nation of the Sun,” proudly stationed at the “top of the sun,” setting its banquets “on the highest sun” and with its people spread across the “neighborhoods of the sun.”

“On the sun’s summit, my Nation gathered its turban

And fastened the cloak

And milked its history:

This is the sun’s essence on my brow

This is the garb of my Nation

This garb is my mark.”

Wad Al-Makki was dedicated to his nation and its culture, even calling previous generations of poets “My people’s poets.”

Wad Al-Makki was born in Al-Obeid, the capital of Kordofan state and the center of the Ismaili Sufi order, to which his family belonged. His roots go back to the Bashiri oasis north of Al-Obeid, settled by his ancestors in the 18th century. His admiration for them is evident in his words:

“My ancestors die with passion and song

They joined hands, and the sands gave way

And the palms grew amidst the singing wounds.”

His passion for his homeland even led him to visit the northern regions and write about them.

When he first entered Khartoum to study law at the University of Khartoum in 1959, he sought inspiration from “My People’s Poets” who had perfected the art of travel literature. He found Khartoum’s vastness bewildering and felt as if the train had taken him to a city outside the Sudan he knew.

One of his most transformative journeys was his trip to West Germany in April 1962, where he studied for a year with his fellow law student and poet Nour Osman. This period profoundly influenced his concept of the “Forest and Desert,” a metaphorical school of thought on Sudan’s ethnic mixture of Arabs and Africans.

The most crucial of Wad Al-Makki’s poetic journeys was that trip to West Germany in April 1962. Here, he embraced a youthful pursuit for new experiences and ventured into the intellectual conflict between East and West, a conflict marked by a yearning for adventure and the quest for self-fulfillment, saying, “How can I return home without draining life’s nectar?”

Thus, Wad Al-Makki’s desire for change was not limited to political reform; it extended to a more profound existential hunger. He sought to transform Khartoum from a village-like city into a true metropolis, a place where one could experience life fully.

“I shall return, with the sword of refusal and vision in my hand

How long have I cursed your compliance, your submission

Your laying wasted on the graves of those who left

Only the failures of their joyless lives.”

When Wad Al-Makki faded into his “October Poems” as we wanted him to, we lost sight of the fact that his revolution was not merely a transfer of power from dictatorship to democracy. His hunger for action was existential, born of “youthful, singing wounds.”

“Who but us shall forge history, new values, and new journeys?

Who but us to shape the world and mold life to come?

My generation, the generation of unyielding passion and confrontation.”

His generation was emerging to reshape life for the next system, not just the system itself. This ideal aligns with the aspirations of poet Al-Tijani Yusuf Bashir, who, three decades earlier, called it “an alternative existence.”

Although the October Revolution is often critiqued for not establishing a democratic system as intended, its legacy endures in its cultural achievements, such as the acknowledgment of the citizenship of women and youth above 18 years of age. This transformation aligned with Wad Al-Makki’s vision of building a new life beyond any political system. The French Revolution (1789) faced similar scrutiny, yet it took France over a century to achieve secularism in its constitution. But no one questions the importance of the French Revolution despite this delayed realization of its ideals.

Wad Al-Makki did not sing to the revolution, as his “October Poems” may suggest. Rather, he invented it.