Translator: Reem Alnaqbi Reviewer: akram Abu-Farea
(Music)
All my attempts to reconcile with myself and others around me have failed.
It was fated
for my heart to be separated from my boat,
but where I lived, they both existed,
until I was overloaded with puzzlement and illusion,
here, in this weak, scrawny, defeated body
that appreciate life, there is no place for ego deception,
in my heart, we’re all brothers, and the same human beings.
(Applause)
that’s the reason I’m here,
I came to hear myself across all of you,
and witness the second face of the world through your eyes.
I’m not here as a rebel, a commando, a poet, a singer, or a drummer,
neither did I come with a promising or foreboding news,
and never think that I’m here to criticize or promote a religion.
where ever you are, let us pray
then ask God for equality, amity, love,
and peaceful coexistence.
(Applause)
Peace and mercy of Allah be upon you.
I’m delighted to be here tonight and happy for your attendance.
the topic that I will discuss is crucial,
as since we were born, we have seen, heard and knew about it really well,
but, unfortunately, we always talked about it
without finding any solution;
we only mention that something happened.
Before discussing it further, I want to ask for a favor if you don’t mind,
only in thirty seconds, grab your phone and take a selfie now!
you have thirty seconds.
Well, did everyone take a selfie?
I have another request. To whomever came here, as Allah willed, you clapped
and cheered them up, the same with those who mentioned the organizing team
and asked you to applaud for them, but the only thing I want to tell you
and my only request is
to stand up and clap for yourself,
as despite the hardships in your life, you have managed to challenge it.
(Applause)
You may sit down.
let’s agree that all human beings are a single race,
but each has a distinct journey in life,
and if we dig deeper in their tales and diaries, behind each story,
fear, sorrow, pain or suffering will be found.
But can we only end suffering
by eating, drinking, waking up, sleeping, working,
and repeating the same routine?
who are you? why are you living?
have you ever thought of these simple existential questions?
and when you asked yourself, what was the answer?
likewise, these questions came across my mind repeatedly in my life,
and I was always on a quest to find an answer,
and success seemed to be the only way to tackle this question.
Success in general; either in your studies, career,
relationships, or with talent and art.
which kept me looking at all kinds of success to find an answer to
Who am I? and why am I living?
I started with Academic success and I didn’t find an answer,
same with success in relationships and friendships.
then I shifted eventually to a third angle and it’s success using talent and art.
Football is where I started, and I played with youths in town, scored a goal
and said: that’s me
I’m the best football player who scores goals.
when I became familiar with it, I gave up and said that’s not me,
then I looked for myself in something else -a new Art- and learnt drawing.
Once, twice, and on and on,
then I found an answer and said: I’m the best Artist in this country.
ultimately, I found it not matching my personality neither it is my passion,
so I converted to writing,
once, twice; a lesson after another; present, past, imperative.
I started to think that the answer is here and I might find my self in this success,
and the rough journey began; the path to learn, change, accept
and to achieve a result after the hard work and great effort.
After writing three novels,
I had a challenging question and a heavy responsibility,
as words can be influential and a remembered quotation to people,
this makes every word your responsibility.
Alright,
after a while, I found an aphorism that made me rethink more often,
it says: “The righteous improve themselves
while reformists edify nations”
and I grasped that I became a reformist after being righteous,
how I should build nations
and enlighten my nation,
it is when I felt that the reason I exist is to fulfill this message.
It doesn’t only apply for me but for you as well.
ask yourself: what am I willing to do for nations?
Indeed, I started to seek an answer for it until an institution was established.
It accepts talented people and supports, enhances, motivates and teaches
various types of talents and their details.
The institution now, while I’m standing on this stage,
has more than fifty thousand talents receiving learning and training
to reach their goals, and two fairs were held for it.
In the second one, we agreed to showcase diverse identities, tribes,
and the various people living in Sudan, so in any place we exist,
we won’t be ignorant.
Because this land is for all of us, we should know every inch of it
not the million square miles that we’re certain for whom it belongs.
(Applause)
the fair was arranged under the name of “usted Watan”
and since the million square miles belong to each and everyone,
I’m standing here ready to organize
a fair in Niala that embraces the different identities of sudanese
and be known as “Nyala state”
(Applause)
Alright, to achieve this goal, two things should take place:
reconciliation and peace.
How can I achieve reconciliation? Reconciliation means that I should accept
everything and its contrary,
as well as the nature of my existence
; your human nature that revolves around opposite polars of emotions:
being happy, sad, active or stagnant; and the same applies to the universe
- it was created on this foundation-
there is the night, the morning, the winter, and the summer.
Therefore, to be able to compromise, one should come in terms
with every emotion and its opposite.
Never try to forcibly change yourself because once you attempt it
and nothing changes, you will live with an ongoing inner conflict,
and once you’re in such state, you will never be productive,
nor be a righteous or a reformist;
you will always be in a state of conflict.
Alright, I’ll shift to the second subject regarding peace,
do you know what our issue is in life?
We have two problems,
first, we constantly live in the victim mentality and blame others
while the question should have been how should I react during obstacles?
the answer to this question is what you need than being the victim.
To speak about peace in general, there is a beautiful adage from someone
who stated that peace starts from you before advising others for it.
Ask yourself this question, how did you contribute for peace?
what did you change in this society, this nation for peace?
the peace that you have been promoting,
saying that you and everyone needs it, and will have it.
this will never be achieved as long as you state that this moment belongs to you
and you’re the only person who decides.
While the present and decision is in your hands
it is best if you would stand and contribute
to start your journey because this life have became difficult
and all of us can relate.
We need honest people in our life,
those who can alter us and change the society
because at this lost moment when you state that peace is needed,
your children will encounter you at the same spot repeating yourself.
You didn’t seize the moment nor had any will, instead, you continued living
as a victim and whining about what others did.
By the way, the idea is not how we can have a great peace
to coexist peacefully and accept each other,
it begins beside you, where you can find a pile of rubbish,
and once it’s thrown in a waste bin
you will contribute in spreading peace, and building a reformist society
that can live with love, amity, compassion and abundance.
why is there no peace in our life? that’s for two reasons:
the first one is forgiveness;
we have to live and forgive!
have it occurred to you what we resemble? our heart is as a cup
that might overflows due to the countless experiences we encountered,
it reached its limit with negative, painful, and great ones,
and we should pour out the sludge that is inside for a new beginning;
you wake up every day and say: I’m ready to go forward
but something pulls you backwards.
What hinders you is the experiences left behind
that missed an act of forgiveness, stopping you to mend your ways
or live the dreams you wished.
do you know the old saying, “someone got lucky”?
they were mistaken; anyone in this auditorium
who has a possibility to do something at the moment should be considered lucky,
since the unlucky one is who lost that moment, and they’re dead individuals.
Those are the unfortunate ones,
and you’re most fortunate because you can start making a decision
and say: “I am capable of fulfilling my dreams,
and constantly being the best, I can also contribute to bring peace.“
Peace means mutual love for each other’s true selves;
when I have an opposite opinion, when my belief is different,
and even if we don’t have shared emotions, it’s crucial to accept me for who I am,
and I will definitely mirror the same to you
because we prioritize the same thing, it’s our need of life,
which doesn’t belong to one of us only;
you, I, and everything in this universe are allies as long as we live,
and that need should be known
and respected for every individual,
starting from you.
The second factor that can lead to peace is mercy,
mercy, mercy!
It is to forgive, and to remember God in every step you take
and when meeting people;
Mercy means to help the weak and the helpless
instead of shaming and making them the focus of everyone’s eyes,
and once you are in their shoe, you say: no one offers to help;
you couldn’t find it because of your deed that left your heart empty of compassion,
of mercy that should be inside you.
the harmonious coexistence that you sought all your life was never achieved
because you haven’t yet started.
to experience it, you should be the starting point.
the whole earth is a reflection of your self-image,
it is how you perceive the world and based on how you see it,
the truth will unfold.
I told you earlier to take a selfie, didn’t I?
keep in mind that the moment that selfie was taken,
you experienced the only authentic moment in your life,
and the person in that photo on your phone is the only real individual,
if you could be the best version of yourself as in that photo
and coexist in love while offering others the simplest thing,
even with a single word, you can make a change.
So once a painting is drawn or a poem is written,
you amend the world,
not completely, but it is changed to be as pretty as a painting
and became worth fighting for, like the artwork.
and those are another words for the saying:
a land retrieved for a second, brought back the beauty of a painting,
a verse in a poem,
or the one with no weapon but courage to stand against a tank that fears him.
(Applause)
Thank you
(Applause)