Читать книгу What 'Isa ibn Hisham Told Us - Muhammad al-Muwaylihi - Страница 23

SUDANESE GOVERNMENT MONOPOLY

Miṣbāḥ al-sharq 40, January 19, 1899

6.1

ʿĪsā ibn Hishām told us: I heard a story about a minister concerned with the topic that is on everyone’s mind at the moment. This happened when a newspaper reporter came to see him to try to get the benefit of his enlightened views and learn some accurate information about the new government in the Sudan. Because it seems to me so remarkable, I’ve decided to relay it to our readers immediately before we go back to the story of the Pāshā and his trial.

6.2

The Reporter said: I inquired when the Minister of War would have some free time from all his responsibilities. They told me that he was too busy carrying out his ministerial duties, but they also went to great lengths to explain how stubborn and secretive he was; he excelled at saying nothing. Many newspaper reporters like myself had tried in vain and had left frustrated and disappointed. However, I paid no attention to these statements and ignored their advice. I reminded myself that he might be reluctant to meet newspaper owners through fear of their criticisms; as a result he would regularly refuse to help them or give them information. On the other hand, any reporter who pretended to praise him to the very heavens as a way of offering him support against bitter critics, thus playing the role of a genuinely loyal helper in the face of slanderous falsehoods, would find that the minister had no cause to hide his innermost feelings and secret thoughts or offer the usual excuses. After all, people love making excuses for themselves, whatever they happen to be doing.

6.3

So I headed for the Ministry and asked for an audience with the Minister. The curtains were pulled back for me, and I went in. He was standing towards the door in welcome, lighting the fire to keep warm in the winter cold:

Approaching him, you glow in the warmth of his blazing fire;

there you find the best of fires, and to tend it, the finest kindler.⁴⁸

I stood where I was. He seemed completely distracted and did not even notice me. I watched as he gestured with his hands and stamped on the ground, then started banging his head and mumbling to himself about his sorry plight. In front of him was a long spear and gleaming sword while by his side was a coat and rosary. He spoke in a hoarse voice:

6.4

MINISTER (talking to himself) How futile are people’s dreams, how erroneous their understanding! They keep watching me closely, hatching all kinds of plots, all in order to have me relieved of my post so they can step into it themselves. If only the silly fools knew the things I have to tolerate and suffer through! We spend the whole day being despised and looked down on, and then worry all through the night. They should feel pity and sympathy rather than envy and hatred!

He who envies a poor wretch his livelihood is himself despicable;

Death itself is less burdensome than many a life.⁴⁹

The Sudan has been conquered in my name, subjugated by the Egyptian army under my authority. Now, everyone’s earned their laurels and come home victorious. However, I’m out of luck. Everyone but me has their share of booty, a portion of the prizes and gifts:

To East and West, a full moon has lit up the earth;

but the place where my foot has stepped is as black as pitch.⁵⁰

6.5

Kitchener has been given the title of Lord, and twenty-five thousand pounds to boot, not to mention an embossed sword. He’s gained the kind of fame and prestige that he would never have dreamed of in his entire life. Lord Cromer has been made a Viscount, and Buṭrus Pāshā a Knight—and there’s obviously a world of difference between the Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of War! Wingate has been promoted to Major-General after ten years of waiting, and Colonel Rhodes has been allowed the privilege of returning to the ranks of the British army after being cashiered for Wingate’s campaign in the Transvaal. Zubayr has the reward of seeing his sons going back to the Sudan as amirs after being thwarted for so long. Hunter has got the Second Class ʿUthmānī decoration and Griffith the Third Majīdī. All their officer colleagues have been decorated, and Omdurman has been open to the Sudanese soldiery for three full days. Everyone who participated in the conquest has got two months’ pay as a reward and those who didn’t got one month’s, right down to the military draft councils in the various provinces. But even though the Minister of War, the head of this splendid army, is in charge and signs the documents, he has no share in this bounty. All he can do is to repeat these lines of poetry:

Is it not incredible that someone in my position

watches as his inferiors stay aloof from him?

In his name the whole world is being subdued,

and yet none of it comes into his hands.⁵¹

6.6

I seek God’s forgiveness! This weapon and these clothes they’ve given me as reward constitute my entire share in the spoils of victory, with all its glory and honor. They’re the kind of thing that the Mahdī would previously give to those people whom he was encouraging to follow the path of true guidance and avoid temptation. This is all the reward I get for assuming so much responsibility and enduring so much blame and criticism. My foes have even accused me of neglecting my job, going against the canons of patriotism and disregarding the people’s interests.

6.7

The Reporter went on to say: The Minister became quite upset and started sobbing. He quoted al-Mutanabbī’s line to himself:

What have I ever got from the world? Most incredible of all

is that people envy me for something which makes me weep.⁵²

I felt sorry for him so I coughed. The Minister turned towards the door with a jump. I went over to him and offered my greetings. He asked me how long I had been standing there; I hedged and gave an ambiguous answer so that he would think I had not been eavesdropping on him and not seen him sobbing. When he accepted that, he sat down in a chair which was an imitation of one in the English War Ministry and chewed a Havana cigar like the one the American general Miles had in his mouth when he entered that city. He put one foot on top of the other, brought the seal of office out of his pocket and started fiddling with it. He began counting his fingers and sifting papers on his desk in the pretence of being busy. All the while, he kept sneaking glances in my direction. After carrying on like this for some time, he asked me what I wanted. I responded as follows:

6.8

REPORTER You are well aware, Sir, that the Sudanese problem is the primary event of the day and the focus of everyone’s attention. I’m fed up, and so are our readers, with all the confusion and bungling, not to mention the slanderous criticisms being leveled at you. I’ve come to get some idea of the situation from you since you have a complete mastery of the whole picture. I can then pass it on to our readers and claim distinction from my colleagues by providing plausible statements and clear rationales. That will rid you of all the criticisms and abuse. As the saying has it, if you want information, ask someone who knows.

6.9

MINISTER The whole thing is quite straightforward; there’s no cause for concern and nothing for people to be worried about. The Sudan is being governed jointly by the Egyptian government in which we are ministers and the British government represented by Lord Cromer. At the moment, we are considering together ways of organizing the government there and introducing Western culture and civilization instead of the primitive barbarianism which subsists there at the moment. We are entirely unconcerned about the stupid prattle of those ignorant meddling fools who are unable to grasp what lies in the inscrutable future. Sudan is going to be a veritable garden for Egypt; it will provide us with all our wants. It is the place where we find the source of Egypt’s Nile and so it will also be the source of its welfare and mainstay of its power and pride. The Sudanese people are still primitive; they don’t have ingrained in them the customs of Oriental civilization with all its futilities, delusions, opulence, and luxury. The corrupt character and nasty traits which are so common in Oriental countries have not become so deeply rooted in their nature; in fact, quite the opposite, their thoughts are like their own land, virgin. All this bride lacks is a dowry made up of the jewels of civilization. The country will then reveal its true beauty and shine radiantly over all other ideas. It’s as if you are planting a seed in their soil; the fruit it produces will be better than any other fruit.

The Sudanese are not like the Egyptians. They’re serious and energetic; they have a sense of purpose and élan, they persevere with whatever they’re doing and have a strong willpower. It won’t take them long to reach a quite sophisticated level of civilization. In Africa their position will become like that of the people in South America. In this era of ours what project is more worthy, glorious, memorable, and long-lasting than this one? Every time I think about the enormous pride and prestige it brings, I find it easy to ignore the idiotic things people say, the envy that people feel, and the criticisms of my detractors. All the yelling and screaming, fault finding, and prevarications are of no import. The whole of the Sudan is in Egyptian hands; the only trace of the occupation is two hundred English soldiers.

6.10

REPORTER Since you seem to be so enthusiastic about the future of the Sudan, Sir, and so concerned about its administration and coordination of government arrangements, how is it that you haven’t traveled to Khartoum along with the others to put your concern to work and confirm reports by seeing everything for yourself?

MINISTER I don’t have to put up with the hard journey all the way up there. The late Saʿīd Pāshā only stayed there for half an hour even though it had taken him months to get there. Lord Cromer is representing the British government, the Financial Adviser is representing the Egyptian government, and the Sirdar is my personal representative.

REPORTER Were you happy about Lord Cromer’s speech? Did it conform with your intentions?

MINISTER Certainly! The device Lord Cromer has come up with to put the Sudanese government under the control of the Sirdar instead of the British and Egyptian governments is a very subtle maneuver which shows considerable shrewdness. By so doing, his intention is that the Sudanese government will be rid of the fetters imposed by capitulations, treaties, and debts. He couldn’t say it had been annexed by England because that would have involved the violation of company contracts, and he didn’t want to have it declared as annexed to Egypt since that would put it under the same restrictions as our present government. So he put it under the Sirdar’s control, or, in other words, under martial law. In that way, things can be organized without any opposition or objection—what a marvelous way of doing things!

6.11

You’re aware of the story about the Greek general who was in charge of the Athenian government? One day, people met as was the custom in their republic. The general asked them if they knew who ruled the world. When they said they didn’t, he told them that it was the little boy who was standing at his side, his son. He pointed out that the boy ruled his mother, his mother ruled him (the general), he ruled Athens, and Athens ruled the world. One day, I should ask the Egyptian people if they know who rules the world’s great continent. When they say they don’t, I’ll reply that I’m the Egyptian Minister of War, I have authority over the Sirdar, he rules the Sudan, and Sudan commands Africa.

REPORTER If you realized, Sir, that I was standing by the door all the time you were talking to yourself, watching and listening to you, you wouldn’t carry on pretending like this.

MINISTER All is lost! As if I didn’t have enough to worry about! My chamberlain is so negligent and doesn’t use his wits to keep people out of my office. In that case, I’ve no alternative but to ask you to keep everything you’ve heard a secret and not publish any part of it in the newspapers. I hope you’ll be kind enough to turn a blind eye to my dissimulation. Such things are forced on me by the prestige of the office I hold. This is what happens when the occupying power does all the thinking and arranging. Their actions are all like cast iron whereas we keep weaving excuses for ourselves like a spider. Meanwhile, all the other people get the rewards and presents.

6.12

REPORTER Don’t be so sad and resentful that they’re the ones getting rewards and not you. They can quote a number of reasons for their good fortune. The Sirdar has got his for putting up with so many troubles in the war, for the stratagems he’s devised against the enemy, and for saving his country the need to gather a large force together for the battles in the Sudan. He’s only been using a token number so as to give some semblance of their being there as part of a cooperative effort during the battle, whereas in fact it’s Egyptian soldiers who do all the work. Lord Cromer has got his title for advising his government to lend the Egyptian government eight thousand pounds at a time of desperate need and then forgoing it at the right moment so that it could be used as capital for setting up the Anglo-Egyptian Company to control the Sudan. Buṭrus Pāshā got his title because he didn’t object to receiving this gift from Cromer’s government so that the latter could make full use of this opportunity. Zubair secured the return of his sons because he gave advice which proved useful in the conquest of the Sudan. Wingate got his promotion for his efforts to keep track of enemy information. They’ve all been rewarded for good reasons, but they couldn’t come up with anything you’ve done to help them in the Sudanese campaign.

6.13

MINISTER Let’s leave aside the question of rewards. Why didn’t they at least maintain some semblance of form in their dealings with me? It wouldn’t do them any harm. They could have taken me with them to the Sudan and suggested on my recommendation that the Minister of Finance be appointed to the cabinet, instead of appointing him over all our heads direct from London. In everything Lord Cromer has done, said, and projected regarding the Sudan he seems to have wanted to bring the nineteenth century to a strange end; namely to get the Sudanese government to reintroduce the feudal system and tax farming just as it was during the Middle Ages. It’s as if he’s tired of organizing the Egyptian government along the lines of contemporary Western civilization and is eager to try something new by turning a loathsome and objectionable concept into something commendable. But I can’t believe in the inversion of basic truths. Something that people unanimously condemn continues to be unacceptable. In any case, the upshot of it all is my chief concern and that comes within my responsibility. Talking of responsibility…

6.14

The Reporter said: The Minister pressed his bell button, and the chamberlain came in. The Minister instructed him to call the accounts secretary. The chamberlain came back after a while and told him that the secretary was busy with the Adjutant General and could not come. The Minister told him to go back and inform the secretary that he very much hoped he would be able to come; it was a private matter, not government business. As soon as the secretary had finished his business with the Adjutant, he came in. The Minister told him that he wanted him to forward his salary to the National Bank. The Minister turned to me and told me that this salary was all he got in return for his considerable responsibilities. He told me that he still cherished the hope and continued to dream that, if they came across al-Taʿāyishī’s treasure, they would make him a gift of the Mahdī’s fur or the lion skin which al-Taʿāyishī used to sit on while carrying out his functions as governor. He asked me, in view of what I’d learned, whether I could envisage anyone casting an envious eye on his situation or thinking that his office was worthy of aspiration.

The chamberlain came in to say that the council had left. So I said farewell and left too.