The loss of Saleh is a sad one for Arabic literature

Literature lost one of its most valuable proponents this year with the death of acclaimed Sudanese novelist Al Tayyeb Saleh. He was a great example of an Arab thinker who helped to make a connection with the West.

Writing mostly in Arabic, while living in a foreign land and dealing with the subject of the relationship between the Middle East and the West, Saleh was a well-known writer among his peers and among those who wanted an opinion that differed from the norm.

Literature stems from the deepest recesses of the heart. It is able to convey feelings and emotions that one cannot straightforwardly express. As such, literature furthers understanding, both on an individual-to-individual basis, and on a larger scale, on a culture-to-culture basis. It is able to show that despite our differences, we are still human; all of us. Culture is but a mere product of circumstance. Literature is both able to maintain cultural identity, yet at the same time transcend it. For example, a good story will always stay true to its socio-cultural backdrop, while its essence will be universally relatable.

Saleh's choice of words was always straightforward and evocative, filled with passion and heart. This is true in almost all of his pieces.

Most of his works reveal how critical a thinker he was, and he was known to be sometimes radically frank and open. His novels show his impressions on issues he regards with respect, love, or disdain. But it is his patriotism and his love for his native land that stands out in most of his works.

Saleh possessed a gift for writing. He could take the readers within the story being told, allow them to feel happiness, grief and ecstasy as it should be felt through the eyes of the character being portrayed, and eventually leave them wondering what they would have done had they been placed in a similar situation. Although he concentrated more on his ancestry, his religion and its relation with a different culture, he made representations from a more modern viewpoint, i.e. where conflict occurs in reality, it also occurs in his fictional writings.

More often than not, the characters in his writings were said to represent the author himself, although he strongly denied this. He had the ability to distance himself from his writings, since he believed that a writer should be able to create and not live his characters.

His persistence in writing in the Arabic language, which of course was eventually translated into other languages, has also made him popular among the Arab culture, particularly since he lived most of his life outside the Arab world.

As such, his writings could be considered a breath of fresh air in Arab literature, since he had a wider knowledge or perspective than those of his peers that resided in Arab countries. Meanwhile, for Western readers, his Islamic background provided a point of difference, as religious teachings served as the backbone for his writings.

Saleh was able to overcome the differences in social, religious and political beliefs among Arabs and, in a way, between the Arabs and non-Arabs, within his writings. The possibility of a peaceful union among the Arab countries and between Arab and non-Arab nations, even if in literary writing, is something that has long been dreamt of and is yet to be achieved.

A writer such as Saleh is, as one of his peers stated, irreplaceable. He presented literary works that exceeded those of his counterparts during his lifetime. However one may look at it, Saleh has definitely changed the way people, Arabs in particular, see the world. He provided an insight into what could be, should everything just fall into its rightful place. The love for his heritage clearly manifests itself in every literary work he created.

Future generations may not know him for who he was, but at least they shall have the chance to read the books that Saleh has left behind - and maybe find some peace in doing so. And though the great Sudanese novelist has already departed unto his next great adventure in the afterlife, he will still be remembered by this generation and the generations to come.

It will be written in history that once there was a person who urged people to see that there is more benefit in peace than in war. Through his words and writing, he showed us that one can bridge the fissures of this world.

Dr Salem Humaid is an Emirati writer.