Mohammed Osman Hassan Salih Wardi ( ar, محمد عثمان حسن وردي; 19 July 1932 – 18 February 2012), also known as Mohammed Wardi, was a

Nubian Nubian may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Nubia, a region along the Nile river in Southern Egypt and northern Sudan. *Nubian people *Nubian languages *Anglo-Nubian goat, a breed of goat * Nubian ibex * , several ships of the Britis ...

Sudanese singer, poet and songwriter. Looking back at his life and artistic career, Sudanese writer and critic Lemya Shammat called him an "inspirational figure in Sudanese music and culture, whose prolific talent and massive contribution remains unsurpassed in Sudan."

Early life

Wardi was born on 19 July 1932 in a small village called Sawarda close to

Wadi Halfa Wādī Ḥalfā ( ar, وادي حلفا) is a city in the Northern state of Sudan on the shores of Lake Nubia near the border with Egypt. It is the terminus of a rail line from Khartoum and the point where goods are transferred from rail to ferr ...

in Northern Sudan. His mother, Batool Badri, died when he was an infant, and his father, Osman Hassan Wardi, died when he was nine years old. He was brought up in a diverse and culturally rich background and developed an interest in poetry, literature, music and singing. To complete his education, he moved to

Shendi Shendi or Shandi ( ar, شندي) is a small city in northern Sudan, situated on the southeastern bank of the Nile River 150 km northeast of Khartoum. Shandi is also about 45 km southwest of the ancient city of Meroë. Located in the ...

in Central Sudan, and returned to Wadi Halfa as a secondary school teacher.

Musical career

In 1953, Wardi went to

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...

for the first time to attend a convention as a teaching representative for his area. After this, he moved to Khartoum and started his career as a musical performer. In 1957, Omdurman Radio chose him to record and sing on national broadcast in an arena with singers such as Abdelaziz Mohamed Daoud, Hassan Atia, Ahmed Almustafa, Osman Hussein and Ibrahim Awad. Wardi recorded 17 songs in his first year. and worked together with poet Ismail Hassan, resulting in more than 23 songs. Wardi performed using a variety of instruments, including the Nubian ''

kissar The ''kissar'' (also spelled ''kissir''), tanbour or gytarah barbaryeh is the traditional Nubian lyre, still in use in Egypt, Sudan and Abyssinia. It consists of a body having instead of the traditional tortoise-shell back, a shallow, round ...

'' and sang in both

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

and

Nubian language The Nubian languages ( ar, لُغَات نُوبِيّة, lughāt nūbiyyah) are a group of related languages spoken by the Nubians. They form a branch of the Eastern Sudanic languages, which is part of the wider Nilo-Saharan phylum. Initially, ...

s. He has been described as one of "Africa's top singers", with fans mainly in the

Horn of Africa The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), ...

. His songs address topics such as romance, passion, Nubian

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

, heritage, revolution and patriotism, with some of his political songs resulting in him being jailed. After the military coup in 1989, he left Sudan for exile in Cairo and Los Angeles. In 1990, Wardi played a concert for 250,000 Sudanese refugees at a refugee camp in

Itang Itang (also spelled ''Etang'';"Census 2007"
, first draft, p. 81 University of Khartoum The University of Khartoum (U of K) ( ar, جامعة الخرطوم) is a public university located in Khartoum, Sudan. It is the largest and oldest university in Sudan. UofK was founded as Gordon Memorial College in 1902 and established in 195 ...

in 2005.

Death

Wardi suffered from

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney failure is classified as eit ...

later in his life. He eventually received a kidney transplant, after one of his fans donated a kidney to him in 2002. He died on 18 February 2012 and was buried in the Farouk Cemetery in Khartoum.

Poets and songwriters, with whom Wardi collaborated

* Abdel-Hadi Osman Ahmed * Sawi Abdelkafi * Aljayli Abdelmoneim * Omer Altayib Ad-dosh – ''"Banadeha"'' * Mubarak Basheer * Mohamed Muftah Alfaytori * Ishaq Alhalanqi – ''"A3z Alnas"'' * Ahmed Altahir * Ibrahim Alrasheed – ''"Saleem Alzog"'' * Abdelrahman Alrayah * Alsir Dolaib * Abu Amna Hamid * Ismail Hassan – ''"Alhaneen ya Foadi", "Nor Al3en", "Habenak mn Qlobna", "Almostaheel",'' *

Salah Ahmed Ibrahim Salah Ahmed Ibrahim (; December 1933 – May 1993), was a Sudanese literary writer, poet and diplomat. He is considered one of the most important Sudanese poets of the first generation after the country's independence, marking the transition fr ...

– ''"Altayir Almohajir"'' * Mohammed Almakki Ibrahim * Haile * Kamal Mahessi – ''"Jamal Aldoniya"'' * Mohammed Abu Qatati – ''"Almursal"'' * Altijani Saeed – ''"Gult Arhal", " Min Gair Meiad"'' *

Mahjoub Sharif Mahjoub Sharif (1 January 1948 – 2 April 2014), born as Mahjoub Muhammad Sharif Muhammad, was a Sudanese poet, teacher and Activism, activist for human rights. He became known in Sudan and other Arabic-speaking countries for his colloquial po ...

– ''"Ya Sha3ban Lahbt thwrtak", "Masajenak", "We Will Build It (The Alternative)" ("حنبنيهو")'' * Saadaddin Ibrahim * Mohammed Abdalla Mohammed Babekir

References

External links

Mohammed Wardi
on

discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

Music video "We Will Build It (The Alternative)" ("حنبنيهو") by Mohammed Wardi
with English translation and notes {{DEFAULTSORT:Wardi, Mohammed Sudanese musicians Sudanese people of Nubian descent Nubian people People from Northern (state) 1932 births 2012 deaths Deaths from kidney failure 20th-century Sudanese artists 20th-century Sudanese male singers