“Our Uncle Salah Jahin”: National Centre for Translation Tribute to Egyptian Cultural Icon

The National Centre for Translation, directed by Karma Sami, hosted a celebration on Wednesday honouring the multifaceted artist Salah Jahin, titled “Our Uncle… Salah Jahin”. Held within the Taha Hussein Hall on the centre’s headquarters in Cairo’s Opera House Square, the occasion was attended by Jahin’s daughter, Amina Jahin, musician Mounir El Wasimi, poet Amin Haddad, and quite a few translators and intellectuals.

The night commenced with El Wasimi elucidating his musical association of Jahin’s quatrains, initially composed by Sayed Mekawi and carried out by Ali El Haggar. A seminar adopted, moderated by Moustafa Riyad, that includes discussions led by Lubna Abdel Tawab, Amal El Hadary, and researcher Amira El Samny. A bunch of aspiring translators additionally offered their renditions of Jahin’s poems in numerous languages, together with English, Spanish, German, and Persian. Among them had been college students from the English Department at Suez Canal University’s Faculty of Arts, supervised by Walid Abdallah. This served as a poignant tribute to Jahin’s pioneering poetry and its profound affect throughout a pivotal interval in Egyptian historical past.

Sami underscored the importance of honouring Jahin and preserving his legacy. “Jahin is a man who showered the Arab world with love and culture,” she said. Sami recounted her personal profound admiration for Jahin’s work, recalling the awe she skilled upon seeing the play Sahsah Lama Yengah – a collaborative masterpiece by Jahin (author), Mohamed Fawzi (composer), and Salah El Sakka (director), initially produced in 1963 as a part of the Cairo Puppet Theatre’s repertoire. She additionally shared a private anecdote about starting her days with Jahin’s cartoons and the deep influence his passing had on her. She famous the large attendance at his funeral, a testomony to his enduring affect. Sami emphasised the persevering with resonance of Jahin’s work, notably poems like these in regards to the Bahr El-Baqar and Gaza college students, which vividly painting Egypt, its individuals, and the Arab world.

A brief movie, directed by Mohamed Fadel, additional showcased Jahin’s various abilities as a playwright, poet, cartoonist, and screenwriter.

El Wasimi described Jahin as a multifaceted artist, thinker, and a person of the individuals, deeply linked to Egyptian folks life. He lauded Jahin’s capacity to seamlessly mix colloquial and classical Arabic in his writing. “Jahin was an artist from head to toe and loved art and new artists, actively seeking out fresh talent,” El Wasimi added. He shared an anecdote in regards to the creation of Jahin’s quatrains, recalling a disagreement over the variety of devices for use. Jahin favoured string devices, whereas El Wasimi envisioned a bigger orchestra of over 50 musicians. The recording was finally made in keeping with El Wasimi’s imaginative and prescient. He defined that the quatrains occupy a singular style, neither easy romantic songs nor purely patriotic anthems, however slightly explorations of various tales and feelings, particularly when paired with Mekawi’s compositions. Attendees loved listening to excerpts from the quatrains, captivated by El Haggar’s highly effective vocals and Mekawi’s evocative melodies.

Abdel Wahab mentioned the poem “Ala Esm Masr” (“In the Name of Egypt”), describing it as a outstanding collaboration between poet and translator, conveying profound feelings in English. “In Love of Egypt,” the title of the English translation by El Anani, she famous, completely captured Jahin’s sentiment. She referred to Jahin as an inspiration for generations and the poem as an epic, encompassing Egypt’s historical past, rulers, and geography. While solely 23 verses in Arabic, El Anani’s English rendering spans 56 verses. Abdel Wahab advised that the interpretation might be a useful instrument for language college students.

El Hadary reviewed a brand new translation of Jahin’s quatrains, Fi Hodn El Watan (“In the Embrace of the Homeland”), highlighting Jahin’s capacity to evoke the nation’s experiences with out explicitly naming it, permitting “Egypt” to be embodied throughout the writing itself.

This celebration was a part of a Ministry of Culture initiative, underneath the patronage of Ahmed Fouad Hanno, Minister of Culture, to have a good time Salah Jahin’s important contributions to Egyptian identification, titled “Our Uncle… Salah Jahin.”