Sultan Al-Suraimi.. Songs in Pastoral Poems

A large part of Yemeni lyrical poetry took on pastoral characteristics during the second half of the twentieth century, due to the emergence of a generation that formed a deep bridge of communication between rural and urban culture. The Yemeni poet Sultan Al-Suraimi (1948-2024), who recently passed away, was one of the most prominent poetic voices that expressed the Yemeni rural spirit, and transferred its vocabulary and expressions to Yemeni singing.

The author of the poem "Nashwan" maintained many rural words, embroidering them in his lyrical poems, alongside classical Arabic poems. Thus, he gave himself a poetic identity, the purpose of which was not to represent belonging to his local community. Al-Suraimi was born in one of the villages of Al-Hujariya, affiliated with Taiz Governorate, and was one of those poets and intellectuals who made that Taiz countryside a center of soft influence in Yemen, for several decades.

The spirit of the countryside deepens this deep connection, specifically its Taiz countryside, in the poem “Talim Al-Hob”. The melody and performance of the Yemeni artist Ayoub Tarish enhanced this rural character, in terms of the extended opening, which formed an inscription in which the spirit of the Mullaat and the agricultural migrations belonging to that rural area blends, as well as with the expressive, innovative simplicity that distinguished Ayoub Tarish.

The lyrical poem is characterised by an expressive energy that allows those who know the Yemeni countryside to smell the scent of the earth mixed with the rain spray. They see the thickets formed by some arbors mixed with thorny trees, some of which are generous with small black fruits, the sweet breeze and the April flowers.

The song begins with the words “Talim al-Hob fi Qalbi reminds me of the days of al-Hatheem/ It reminds me of the twilights of our precious love and the twilights of the breeze.” All of which make rural life an image of a memory of love. The word “Talim” means “ploughing” and is used in the countryside of Taiz, Ibb and southern Tihama. Here, the twilight of love brings back memories of village rituals and days of soft rain. Al-Hatheem is the drizzle from the rain and the twilights are the slaps of the light wind. As for the twilights, they are a type of small fruit, similar in color to blackberries, and their taste is sweet.

This deep connection with the spirit of the countryside is the result of Al-Sarimy living for a long time in the village, according to what he previously said in press interviews, confirming that in his village he listened to folk songs such as songs of sowing, harvesting, births, and weddings.

All these arts in the countryside formed an “auditory stock of popular culture of various types” and contributed to the formation of “a broad dictionary of colloquial vocabulary and its equivalents in classical Arabic.” This helped him to formulate the poetic image between the colloquial and classical in a way that people could understand.

Al-Sarimy's lyrical poems have been associated with a number of prominent Yemeni artists, such as Mohammed Murshid Naji Al-Marshadi, Ayoub Tarish and Ahmed Fathi. The latter sang one song from his lyrics, "Ana Lak", which he composed with a fast rhythm, adding to it a popular character from the Tihami heritage, while building a bridge connecting the Lahji singing style and the singing of the southern regions.

Perhaps the artist most associated with Al-Sarimy’s poems is Abdul Basit Absi, the most prominent of which are “Ya Sabah Al-Bakr,” “Uruq Al-Ward,” “Ya Ward Nisan,” and “Mata Wa Ra’iya.” This is because the two share an artistic affiliation that expresses that Taiz countryside, whether in its vocabulary and expressions, or its popular singing heritage.

Yemeni artists such as Jaber Ali Ahmed and Najib Saeed Thabet sang for Al-Sarimy. But the matter was not limited to contacting local artists, as Arab artists sang for him, such as the Iraqi Al-Tariq Band, as well as Hamid Al-Basri, the Syrian Muhammad Hussein Munther Band, Shawqiya Al-Attar and Qais Al-Iraqi.

The Yemeni poet Sultan Al-Suraimi's presence was not limited to writing lyrical poems woven with a pastoral character that represent the love of the countryside. The poet was involved in a cultural and political role. Since his youth, he was associated with political work within the leftist movement, represented by the Yemeni Socialist Party. He was the head of the Yemeni Writers and Authors Union at the beginning of the unification between 1990 and 1992.

What distinguished Al-Sarimy's poems was their treatment of Yemeni issues and daily concerns, whether social or political. This made him the writer of the most famous Yemeni political song ever. The song "Nashwan" has an interesting story that made it a confusing issue in Yemen, which is divided into two countries.

When Al-Suraimi wrote the poem “Nashwan” in 1977, and was planning to recite it at a party event attended by President Salem Rubai Ali, the party leader in Aden, Abdul Fattah Ismail, and other senior state and party leaders, he was surprised to find that his poem was banned and excluded from the party event. Thus, the poem remained banned for two years, until it was allowed to be recited by the artist Muhammad Murshid Naji Al-Marshadi in 1979.

In the same year, there was extreme sensitivity on the border between North and South Yemen. The song "Nashwan" was part of this political ambiguity, as it was forbidden to cross the border between the two parts before unification in 1990.

Throughout the 1980s, the song "Nashwan" remained banned in North Yemen. Listening to it or sharing it meant a conviction that would land the singer in prison.

(New Arab)