An imagined-Nubian anthem for Sudan began as a Molière translation

Evidence

The revolution of 1919 inspired some of Darwïsh’s best music, but the piece for which he is best remembered was actually composed before the revolution, in 1916. The song was titled “Masr w-al-Südän” (Egypt and the Sudan), but was popularly known as “Dinga Dinga Dinga.” Badi` Khayrï, a lyricist and comedic playwright who, like Darwïsh, was to earn his great renown in 1919, had written the verses for “Dinga” in an imagined Nubian dialect. They were published in the newspaper Alf sinf in Alexandria in 1916 as part of the play (the title of which was meant to be pronounced with a Nubian accent) They Stole the Box, Muhammad (Saraqu al-sunduq, ya Muhammad). Interestingly, this play was an Arabic translation of Molière’s The Miser, versions of which had become very popular in Egypt and were performed every three to four years. — Eve M. Troutt Powell, A Different Shade of Colonialism_…, 864

Categorization

• QUESTION: The irony is rich: the song expressing Egyptian sentiments about Sudan originated in a French comedy — worth chasing how European cultural forms mediated Egyptian portrayals of Sudanese.