The Sudanese Dialogue and the Destinies of Men (Socrates, Al-Mutanabbi, and Al-Azhari) Capt Mohamed Hassan Al-Tahir Date: September 1,

Sudanese songs, which embody the memory and emotions of the people, say:

– Your command proceeds, O Fate, your rulings are obeyed.”

Meanwhile, the noble Hadith declares that

– fate and supplication wrestle, each striving until one prevails over the other.

Between these two positions emerges the philosophy of man confronting his destiny:

– Is he submissive to it?

– Or is he a fighter striving to change it?

This is an attempt to absorb lessons from the movement of history by reading its patterns, which help us better understand the unfolding of destinies through the course ( curse) of time.

The philosopher Socrates faced death by drinking the cup of poison, refusing to flee from the judgment of his city. He believed that sincere intention in the pursuit of truth is “the companion of its master,” as the Sudanese say. Yet the winds came against the ships, even if it led him to annihilation.

Al-Mutanabbi, the poet of the Arabs, was killed by his own verse when he tried to escape his fate.

His enemies stopped him, saying:

“Are you not the one who said:

– If you venture in pursuit of noble honor…”

He turned back to fight and was slain.

 Here, intention appears as the companion of its master, but fate was swifter in sealing his end.

Al-Azhari, the leader of Sudanese independence, sought to be the founder of a free state, following in the footsteps of Abraham Lincoln and Gandhi.

Fate, however, led him to become a symbol of the inevitability of men’s destinies.

 His intentions merged with the laws of history, making him part of the narrative of national liberation.

This brings forth the central question:

– Is intention truly the companion of its master?

In these examples, intention is not mere desire but a driving force that carries its bearer toward his destiny.

– Socrates sought truth and faced death.

– Al-Mutanabbi sought glory and faced the sword.

– Al-Azhari sought independence and faced the destiny of the state.

Thus, the question regains legitimacy and renews its energy in the search for an answer:

– Can we read men’s intentions through their actions, which crystallize and reveal themselves in direct or inverse relations—

– either in harmony

– or in conflict—with their destinies?

The Wisdom for Sudan’s Present Politics Undoubtedly, reflecting on this question should bring to light the missing wisdom in Sudan’s current political reality.

Today, Sudanese dialogue stands at a crossroads:

The first path is the removal of evil through the wisdom of men, where sincere intentions overcome narrow interests, leading to national consensus.

The second path is the fulfillment of fate’s prophecy of Sudan’s decline, erasing all narratives of the philosophy of history—from

– Will Durant’s tales of heroes,

– through Hegel’s philosophy of history,

– to the chronicles of Sudanese political thought—

leaving fate as the absolute ruler.

The wisdom distilled from the history of ideas is that Sudan needs men whose intentions are truly their companions, not mere slogans.

History does not forgive those who leave their fate unchallenged, nor does it forget those who confront it with wisdom and resilience.

From here, this article comes as a call to resist destiny with the steadfastness and wisdom of men. For every person, his name carries meaning—O people of Bilal, Al-Najashi, and Luqman the Wise, O people of Sudan.