THERE WAS A MAN FROM THE GAMBIA

by Tijan M. Sallah
(for Professor Sulayman Sheih  Nyang)


There was a man from the Gambia,
He went to St. Augustine's High School, Hampton University, and Virginia.
He studied under Irish Catholics priests who taught him the Bible,
And Latin, Mathematics, Science, Literature, and other riddles.

There was a man from Leman Street;
He was known in Half-Die and Buckle Street.
He learned the Quran under famous Gambian teachers.
Pa Tijan, Tafsir Demba Ndow, Pa Kebba Corr, Seedy Taban;  those great preachers.

He was gifted in school--- in both Quranic and Nazarene education.
He learned the Arabic alphabet and English by dictation.
Translating the Quran into Wolof through the process of "Wolofal".
He became good at it; in a nutshell, even triumphal.

Of the lore of Greeks, he learned from Professor Edward Kollman.
Minoring in philosophy----absorbing the medieval scholars and the Enlightenment.
He moved to the University of  Virginia--- to join the Jeffersonian tradition.
From Hampton's freedpeople's lore, he joined the landed gentry's firmament.

There was a man from the Gambia.
He studied in the sixties' America in Virginia.
Witnessing the civil rights movement, he became a pan-Africanist.
Admiring Garvey, Martin King, Malcom X, Carmichael---those great activists.

He admired Nkrumah for his bold African vision.
And mentored young Africans to dream a continent of united mission.
He was brilliant explorer of ideas and an engaging speaker;
Loved to toy with ideas; turn, counter-turn;  this truth seeker.

There was a man from the Gambia.
I will not name his name; he is not from Zambia.
He has written many articles and books on Islam and African politics;
Taught at several universities; responded to friends and critics.

Of his many virtues is his selfless humility.
Caring for others; always ready to serve humanity.
He always has time for ordinary and important folk.
Gave each his respect; empowered the weak to talk.

There was a man from the Gambia,
I will not name his name; he is not from Zambia.
He served diligently as the Gambia's Deputy Ambassador to Saudi Arabia;
Of that stint, he learned the dribble of politics in the Gambia.

He loved Howard university, this seat of African-American intellectual power.
Loved to train young black minds in this black ivory tower.
Opportunities galore; he shunned them always for Howard.
Grooming to success young black minds, he made his life's mission and reward.

There was a man from the Gambia.
I will now name his name--- our own Professor Sulayman S. Nyang.
A distinguished thinker, I have even called him the "younger Mazrui".
If Professor Ali doesn't object, I would even call him Professor Sulayman Mazrui.

Known across the continent from Egypt to Nigeria.
He is a shining intellectual, this promethean luminary from the Gambia.
Delighted we are gathered here to celebrate his thought and works.
I invoke the ghost of Leopold Senghor--please join me with an applause.

Play all the Gambian musical instruments in our cultural repertoire.
Play the kora, the sabarr, the reeti, the balafong.
Let us celebrate this Gambian intellectual, etched in our memoire.
Let us celebrate this scholar, our own Professor Nyang.