Yusuf Bashir Al- Tijani

Born 1912; died 1937 in Omdurman. Arabic poet of the Sudan. Al-Tijani was educated at a secular college in Omdurman. He wrote his first poetry while still in college, following the traditional forms of versification. Influenced by European poetry, he experimented with structure, meter, and rhythm. Al-Tijani headed the romantic movement in Arabic poetry. In the early 1930’s he published articles on modern Arabic poetry, criticizing the poetical devices inherited from the early feudal period. The themes of patriotism and protest against English colonialism appear throughout his poetry. Al-Tijani often wrote about nature and his personal emotions and experiences. Some of his poems reflect the influence of Sufism and are imbued with sadness and pessimism. Al-Tijani’s works were collected in the posthumous divan Radiance (1942).