“Speak the Truth…” How Could Leaving the Riverbank and the Nile Be Easy on You?

Ambassador Abdel Mahmoud Abdel Halim
Amid the prolonged seasons of national sorrow, Friday, 6 November, marks the sixth anniversary of the passing of the singer Othman Mustafa. He departed as fresh mornings and blossoming flowers fade away, and disappeared from sight like the moon. He chose the early evening hours for his departure, passing on like a softly plucked string and a gentle shadow, leaving behind an immense void. His artistic life had been an epic demonstration of how singing could become a discipline and a song could become a homeland. He left an impression that absence cannot erase, and a legacy of creativity that flows with the rivers every morning.
Othman was renowned for his astonishing operatic voice. It was as though the year of his birth, 1946, had bestowed upon his golden throat the unmistakable mark of that extraordinary distinction, with its mythical resonance. He entered the artistic scene in the mid-1960s and joined the first cohorts at the Institute of Music and Drama. He was subsequently awarded a period of study in Italy, before completing his Master’s and doctoral degrees in Egypt. He then returned as a university lecturer, with many of Sudan’s distinguished singers graduating under his tutelage. He also played a leading role in establishing Somalia’s first Faculty of Music.
He contributed to trade union activities, serving as Secretary-General of the Artists’ Union, and was also selected as a member of the Arab Music Academy.
Othman Mustafa was not merely a singer. He taught generations, served as a voice specialist, taught at a university, and was an exceptional musician. He was an artistic giant who combined extraordinary talent with deep academic and scientific knowledge. He recorded numerous songs for Sudan Radio and for its counterparts abroad, and was awarded the prestigious title of “Pioneer”, conferred on outstanding singers. For three years, he presented the programme Rhythm and Melody.
Among his best-known songs are Wallahi Mushtaqeen (We Truly Miss You), Rah Al-Mi’ad (The Appointment Has Passed), Fiha Eh Law Jeet Fayit (What’s Wrong with Dropping By?), Ma Batinshil, Ta’al Ya Qalbi Seebo (Come, My Heart, Let Him Go), Ma Ba’atibak (I Don’t Blame You), Madi Al-Zikrayat (Memories of the Past), and Qul Al-Naseeha (Speak the Truth), which was also performed by Mahmoud Abdel Aziz and Zainab Al-Huwairis.
He excelled in traditional Haqeeba songs and took part in the October Epic. He sang Al-Kashif’s Habibi, Aktub Li Wa Ana Aktub Leik (My Love, Write to Me and I’ll Write to You), and performed alongside Salah Ibn Al-Badiya and Mahjoub Othman in Malo Qalbi Al-Asroho (What Is It That Has Captured My Heart?).
The departed master of creativity also undertook several trips abroad. One took him to India during our time there, at the invitation of film star Muzaffar Ali, to participate in an international festival.
“The appointment has passed…” Yet the departed, whose presence endures through his legacy, remains among us. And, as one of his songs reminds us: “The wound neither sleeps nor finds rest…”

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