17/01/2024
I know the history of the founding of Timbuktu in the 11th century by the Imaghcharen Tuaregs, I read it in history books, I know the history of the Aqît, family of Ahmed Baba settled in this part of the city which took the name of Sankoré, district of the white masters, the history of this university of 25,000 students, I read it in books, I know the history of this mythical, mystical and mysterious city, of this airport of the knowledge of these different conquests, of this violence, of these severed heads exposed to the market of history.
I know the history made of blood, pillaging, theft, violence, r**e, assassination, a history made of stories. I read the prodigious history of this Sahelo-Saharan architecture, of this marvelous craftsmanship, of this prodigious culinary art, yes! I read in history books of saints, scholars, heroes.
I liked these sentences "In Timbuktu the salt comes from the north, the gold comes from the south, the silver comes from the land of white people but the word of God, learned things and pretty tales, we only find in Timbuktu "
and then this other from Sidi Yahia al Andalusi "remember, memory is full of lessons, in its repetitions there is something to quench the thirst of the elite of those who come to drink" and then this other again "TIMBUKTU IS THE MEETING POINT OF THOSE WHO VOGUE BY CANOGUE AND THOSE TRAVELING BY CAMEL",
These famous verses from the one who, like Ismaël diadié in his exile, wrote: "O! You who are going to Gao, make a detour through Timbuktu, whisper my name to my friends and bring them the greeting of the exile who longs for the ground where his family, his friends, his neighbors reside", it is about Ahmed Baba, all this I read in books, the great books of history, a story of which some were the great witnesses . I knew that in the 18th century a mosque had collapsed on about forty scholars, it was the mosque of prosperity, djaman hana (About my accomplice Tunbutu woy the méhounayeurs and the Bétémouneurs of jaman - hana and all have the jaman hana understood the message, we don't blame anyone, right Mohamed Tita Jean Pierre ALJANNA TUBAABIIJÉ?
In 1985, on February 22, Air Mali's Antonov 24 crashed in Timbuktu, killing 51 of the 52 passengers. During the 2010 maouloud, a stampede killed 16 people near the Djingareiber mosque. I read that...No! I experienced it. I practiced the tarikh es sudan of Abderrahmane sadi, the tarikh el fettach of mahmoud kati, the Tedzkirat al Nissian of the anonymous, the izalat al rayb of boularaf, the turjaman of mohamed mahmoud OULD cheickh, the chronicle of san shirfi, the sa'adat al abadiyya fî zikr 'ulam'a tinbuktul bahiyya by mawlay ahmed baber, I read the Jews of Timbuktu, jawder and the Saadian conquest by Ismaël diadié Haïdara, the history of the pashas, the caids, the askias. I read the diary of a librarian from Timbuktu, a cabin by the water by ismaël diadié Haïdara sorry! I have not read, I have lived, we have seen and experienced the various droughts which have left the Sahel in mourning, filling cemeteries, rebellions sending people into the depths of exile, we have seen Timbuktu fall on April 1st 2012, for 10 months, we rubbed shoulders with death, lived in the proximity of Abou Zayd the killer, Moctar Bel Moctar the one-eyed, iyad ag ghaly and others, we kissed shells, caressed rockets, lay on cartridges, flirted with Kalashnikovs, we saw hands cut off, beards grown, pants shortened (so they only know how to cut?) men and women flogged, men killed.
We did not read, but lived. We are somewhat similar to Hassan Al Wazzan Leo the African. I understand now when Ismaël diadié Haïdara, this dear little brother from childhood, said that we are not born for free in Timbuktu, that we do not live for free in Timbuktu, that we do not come to Timbuktu for free and that our misfortune , for us, it is to have been born here at this moment and to have been there during these gigantic and moving stories which marked a historical turning point, events of which we were privileged witnesses in spite of ourselves. So here we are, faced with the obligation to bear witness, to write, we who have opted for the art of doing nothing, we who are from this Khayyamian school of Timbuktu sublimated by our Aïssa Alamir'idjé in her MINIINI ÑIN GO HALLAL in name of which we claim our hammad'alfintitude, my exceptional young brother with the great pen, chahana Takiou, isn't it?
When you take the trouble to be born, you have to take responsibility for yourself. We followed in the footsteps of Ahmed Baba Soudani, Mohamed Bagayoko Al wangari, Albakkaye Al Kunti, Abul Qasim Al Tuwati, Abou Ishaq Al Sahili and we rubbed shoulders with the Cheickna Boulkher, the sidi Yahia al Wangari , the Mawlay Ahmed Baber, the Mawlay Al