"The Boat Set Sail" ("بابور كسونا") by al-Balabil | English Translation

Описание: “The Boat Set Sail” (“ⲃⲁ̄ⲃⲟ̅ⲩ̅ⲣ ⲕⲟⲩⲥⲟⲛⲁ”) is a song written by poet Mustafa Abdelgadir, an Egyptian Nubian from the village of Adindan, who wrote the song to memorialize the construction of the Aswan Dam and its destructive effects on the Nubian people in south Egypt and north Sudan. Built in 1960, the construction of the Aswan Dam in Egypt led to the flooding of many Nubian villages and heritage sites in south Egypt and north Sudan, displacing thousands. Perhaps most infamous of the flooded sites was the city of Halfa, a relatively developed city. Al-Balabil, who made this recording of the song, belong to the Halfawi tribe and were forced to migrate as children from Halfa to New Halfa in East Sudan.

The song was also performed by Egyptian Nubian Ghazi Said, whose recording can be found here:    • غازي سعيد بابور كاسونا  . In Ghazi’s version of the song, the line “I am going to travel to Aswan” (“اسوان فجونميسني”) is sung as “I am going to travel to Sudan” (“سودان فجونميسني”), telling the same story, but from the perspective of southern Egyptian Nubians rather than northern Sudanese Nubians.


A big thanks to Mohamed Osman for translating this one. Please check out his page @nubian.language on Instagram for more translations of Nubian songs and information about Nubian culture.