No, Fiqir Iske Meqabir Isn’t About Romance. It’s About Freedom.

By Tesfaye Woubshet

   Haddis Alemayehu is arguably the most well-known author in Amharic literature. And ፍቅር እስከ መቃብር (which translates to Love until Death) is by far his most celebrated work. But how is Haddis’s classic novel remembered today and is it remembered for the right reasons?

The Public’s Perception

   The public perception of ፍቅር እስከ መቃብር seems to be dominated by the idea that it is all about the joys and tortures of romantic love. Many people, especially those who have not read it thoroughly, view the love story between Bezabih and Seblewongel as the main point of this novel. 

   One indication of this view is Tewodros Kassahun’s (stage name Teddy Afro) famous musical rendition of the novel. The song, which is titled ማር እስከ ጧፍ (Mar iske Tuaf), solely focuses on Bezabih and Seble’s love story. The lyrical speaker, who is Bezabih himself, tells us how his love for Seble dominates his life and how he, despite his best efforts, loses Seble in the end. 

The first few lines of the song show this clearly:

“የጸበል ዳር እንኮይ ወንዝ ያወዛት ቅጠል
ተሸፈና ዋርካ ከልሏት የዛፍ ጠል
የት ነበር ያረኩት ቀፎየን ስል ኖሬ
ንብ ተከትዬ ባይ ጎጃም ኑራ ማሬ (ጎጃም ኖራለች ለካ)
ብራናዬ አንቺ የልጅነቴ ጓዴ
ተረሳሽ ወይ የሳት ዙሪያው ተረት በአንዴ
ብራናዬ አንቺ የልጅነቴ ቀለም
እኔ እንዳንቺ ያጠናሁት ፊደል የለም
ፍቅር የበዛበት ዘልቆ ከማንኩሳ
መንናለች አሉኝ ብጫ ልብስ ለብሳ
ሸዋ ከሩፋኤል ስጠብቃት ኖሬ
ንቤ ገዳም ገብታ ጎጃም ኑራ ማሬ
ሲኖዳ ዮሐንስ ያመት ወዜን ይዤ
ጋማ ሽጦ ካሳ ሸኝቶኝ ከወንዜ
መጥቼ ከሸዋ ስጠብቃት ኖሬ
ለካ ገዳም ገብታ ጎጃም ኑራ ማሬ
"ሀ" ብለህ ተው ድገም ሲሉኝ ንስሀ አባቴ
"ዋ" ብየ ተማርኩኝ አይ አለመስማቴ
ቀለም ወርቄ ቢሆን የቅርቤ ጓደኛ
ፍቅር ለያዘው ሰው ከልካይ የለው ዳኛ
አሁን በማ ትኬ (ተክቼ) ይህ ልቤን ልካሰው
አንዴ በሷ ፍቅር የተረታሁኝ ሰው
የት እርቄስ ላገኝ ከፍቅሯ መሸሻ
እሷ ሆኖ ለኔ የአለም መጨረሻ”

   The message behind these lines is that ፍቅር እስከ መቃብር is all about romantic love, in particular, the romantic love between Bezabih and Seble. I suspect that this message has continued to shape how the public views this novel.

Some Inconvenient Facts

   But people who view ፍቅር እስከ መቃብር in this way are in for a rude awakening if they ever decide to read the novel from start to finish. 

   For one thing, the novel’s story is not narrated by Bezabih or any other character but by a third-person narrator. Secondly, while the novel is about 522 pages long, the reader encounters Seble for the first time on page 84. Thirdly, Bezabih and Seble get to know each other properly (i.e., Bezabih tutors Seble) starting from page 186. Most importantly, however, the love story between Bezabih and Seble starts to be hinted at on page 247 and explicitly begins on page 318. 

   These inconvenient facts may surprise those who have not read the novel. They may even irritate those who have not read it attentively. But these facts also beg the question, what is the rest of this book about?

   One answer is that ፍቅር እስከ መቃብር, from start to finish, is a novel about freedom and the limits placed upon it by our country’s imperial as well as traditional social order. 

Our Fatalistic Worldview

   All the major characters in the novel struggle to break free from what seems to be their allotted fates. This is true of Wudinesh, Bezabih’s mother and the first character to appear in the story. 

   Having been widowed three times, she struggles to free herself from the fate of being unable to establish a family. Although this fate seems to her to be an outcome of being cursed by God, it is revealed in the novel to be a result of the poor social and technical development in the society of that time, which unsurprisingly led to higher mortality rates and poor health outcomes.

   But in order to appease what she sees as God’s wrath, Wudinesh vows that if Bezabih (the son she has with her fourth husband) is spared from death, she would commit him to a life of celibacy and ecclesiastical service. Bezabih survives many childhood illnesses, but, in his adolescence, comes to resent his allotted fate of life as a “የስእለት ልጅ”, a child vowed to a monkish life, something he sees as being forced on him by his parents. 

  As a result, he flees from his home village and abandons his parents in their old age with no one to retire them. This leads to the breakdown of Wudinesh’s family, with her only son gone and her fourth and final husband driven to an early grave.

   The irony of Wudinesh’s tragic story is that, although she tries to avoid this “fate” of not being able to have a family, which she sees as a consequence of God’s wrath against her, it is not God but her own actions that ultimately lead to the fulfilment of her “fate”. This ironic reversal is a critique of the religious practice of vowing children to celibacy. 

   More importantly, this reversal is an attack on the doctrine of fatalism, the idea that our lives and freedoms are determined and limited by God. Instead, the novel shows that it was Wudinesh’s earthly circumstances and her own actions that lead to her tragic end. 

  The novel, thereby, asserts that people, although shaped by their conditions of existence, play a major role in shaping their circumstances and that their lives are not decided once and for all by divine decree.

The Element of Social Control

   To properly understand this attack on the doctrine of divine fatalism, we need to consider the historical role that this doctrine played in the old imperial order. 

   In his book Ethiopia: Anatomy of a Traditional Polity, John Markakis argues that the concept of fate (እድል in Amharic) worked in the traditional order to constrain people’s sense of agency in governing their own lives. Moreover, Markakis argues that there is an element of social control in this doctrine of fatalism in that it: 

“Imbues a profound sensibility for rank and authority.”

   Traditional texts such as the Fetha Negest and the Kebra Nagast corroborate this view. Indeed, a major theme in the Kebra Nagast, a 14th century epic, is the inevitability and eternality of the divine rule of Christ and of Solomonic rule on Earth. 

   It is such doctrines of inevitability, doctrines that have religious but primarily socio-political ends, that ፍቅር እስከ መቃብር challenges.

   This assertion of human freedom against divine authority is repeated in Seble and Bezabih’s story. If Wudinesh and Bezabih’s relationship mostly underscores the religious aspects of the traditional doctrine of fatalism, Seble and Bezabih’s relationship highlights the socio-political significance of this doctrine.

   Seble and Bezabih come from different class backgrounds; Seble is of aristocratic (and even royal) heritage whereas Bezabih, though part of the clergy, is nonetheless a commoner. Be that is it may, both Seble and Bezabih have one thing in common: their respective families deny them the freedom to marry. 

   While Bezabih’s inability to marry has to do with his being vowed by his parents to a life of celibacy and religious service, Seble is unable to marry because of her family’s aristocratic pride. As her parents claim Solomonic descent and, thus, royal status. Moreover, they do not find a person that they deem worthy enough to marry their high-born daughter. Seble, realizing her powerlessness, is wracked by thoughts of despair until she finally rebels. 

   Notice how the doctrine of fatalism also operates here but on a different level. Seble’s royal lineage associates her with the Solomonic dynasty and to the epic that chronicles its rise, the Kebra Nagast. A major theme of this book is how the Solomonic dynasty is divinely ordained to rule Ethiopia for all time. It is through this prophesy that fatalism emerges again in ፍቅር እስከ መቃብር. 

A Radical Critique

   As such, Seble’s lack of freedom to decide over her own life, along with Wudinesh’s act of vowing her child to a life of ecclesiastical service, are both a reflection of society’s lack of freedom to decide on the way it is organized. 

   Ironically enough, Seble, Wudinesh and everyone in between are oppressed by a social order built on the doctrine of fatalism, the idea that either a single bloodline or a select group of people that God favors, are above others and are therefore destined to either benefit or rule. Whilst those that are seemingly not in either God’s or the elite’s favor are to suffer in an unquestioned and unchangeable set of circumstances. 

   No one in this novel rejects this static way of thinking more than Gudu Kassa. He advocates, instead, for a philosophy that recognizes humans as capable of deciding over their own collective fate. As he put it: 

“የማህበራችን አቋም የተሰራበት ስራት ልማዱ ወጉ ህጉ እንደ ህይወታዊ ስራተ ማህበር ሳይሆን  ህይወት እንደሌለው የድንጋይ ካብ አንዱ ባንዱ ላይ ተደራርቦ የላይኛው የታችኛውን ተጭኖ የታችኛው የላይኛውን ተሸክሞ እንዲኖር ሆኖ የተሰራ በመሆኑ ከጊዜ ብዛት የታችኛው ማፈንገጡ ስለማይቀርና ይህ ሲሆን ህንጻው በሙሉ እንዳይፈርስ እንደገና ተሻሽሎ ሰውን ከድንጋይ በተሻለ መልክ የሚያሳይ የህያዋን አቁዋመ ማህበር እንዲሰራ ያስፈልጋል። የዛሬው ስራተ ማህበራችን ሲሰራ በዚያን ጊዜ ለነበረው ማህበር እንዲህ ሆኖ መሰራቱ ጠቃሚ ኖሮ ይሆናል። ነገር ግን ለዛሬው ማህበር ጠቃሚ አለመሆኑ የታወቀ ነው። የሆነ ሆኖ ማናቸውም ስራት ማህበሩ ለዚያው ለማህበራዊ ኑሮው እንዲያገለግለው ሰው የሰራው ሲሆን ማህበሩን ባርያ አድርጎ እንዲገዛው መሆኑ ጣኦት ሰርቶ የሰሩትን ጣኦት በፈጣሪ ቦታ እንደ ማስቀመጥና እንደ ማምለክ ነው።”

   In other words, Gudu Kassa rejects the idea that some unquestionable higher power has the final say on human affairs. He advocates, instead, for a vision of humanity as being capable of deciding on its own collective destiny. This belief sets Gudu Kassa apart from the other characters.

   This belief of Gudu Kassa’s is so radically different for its time and place that it earns him the epithet of gudu, a word that means unusual or odd. This is to be expected since Gudu Kassa’s statements radically cut against the grain of the ruling ideas of his period, ideas that are heavily influenced by the philosophy of fatalism. 

   Instead, his statements are more aligned with modern humanist philosophy as introduced by the likes of Vico, a philosophy that views humans as forming societies collectively, and that the progress of such social formations can be understood in secular and not simply in divine terms.

On the Pursuit of Freedom

   That said, Gudu Kassa emerges in ፍቅር እስከ መቃብር as a defender of freedom both on an individual and social level. He not only defends society’s freedom to decide on its own destiny but also provides crucial help for individuals such as Seble and Bezabih to escape the domination of Fitawrari Meshesha’s powerful family so that they can live a life of their own choosing. 

  Though he is ostracized and stigmatized by those around him, Kassa’s character provides a positive spin on the word gudu by associating it with the pursuit of freedom despite enormous and even hopeless obstacles. 

  And if his example is followed by more people, perhaps the pursuit of freedom for humanity may not seem all that hopeless after all.