The Reverend Musa Aron, affectionately known as “Memher”, was a well loved and respected educator and school principal. He served as a teacher and principal of the Evangelical School of Asmara for many years. Later in life he was ordained as a Lutheran minister and served the Evangelical Church of Eritrea and many Eritreans in the diaspora.
As one of his great admirers, allow me, to share with you some of the accomplishments of this successful scholar, author, and “linguistics expert”, the Late Reverend Memhir Musa Aron; a man who has contributed a lot as an author and linguistic expert, in Eritrean Literature, of the Tigre and Tigrinya Languages. Memher Musa made a considerable contribution in literary development and advancement in the Tigre and Tigrinya languages.
He authored many books in Tigre and Tigrinya which include: Arki Tamhari, Warkaha and Embafrash in Tigrinya. He also translated Robinson Crusoe from English to Tigrinya and lately, he authored dictionary of Tigre names and another book called Meras in Tigre. These are some of the books that come to my mind and there might be more. I invite you to read the work of one of our own very gifted scholars. Rev. Memhir Musa Aron departed from this world naturally in Asmara on September 11, 2011. This unique author was admired not only by his own people but also by the international community as well.
Rev. Memher Musa Aron’s writing was full of wisdom and throughout all of his writings he used very insightful research and thoughtful elaborations to reveal the untold culture of the Eritrean society.
More to his credit other authors and news channels described Rev. Memhir Musa Aron, as “An Inspiring and masterful teacher, refreshing and talented historian, informed and thoughtful critic of his time”.
Others who enjoyed reading his books and who appreciated his talents and gifts said “As he is meticulous scholar Mr. Musa Aaron was a dedicated teacher of the soul, and faithful guardian of the grammatical order of Tigrinya and Tigre languages where he embodies a passionate and sensitive understanding of his past in a complex simplicity that continues the story telling tradition of passing the old tales and the old memories down through the generations”.
I myself personally had the chance and the privilege to know him more in the diaspora and after the productive establishment of the Eritrean Evangelical Lutheran Mission Society – North America in the late 80’s. In some of those annual meetings, we all enjoyed his presentations, his teachings, and knowledge. He led us with humility and an outstanding quality and pressed us all to know where we came from. One of his known traits & qualities were sharing knowledge, and indeed he shared so many things pertaining to history, culture and beliefs with us.
Rev. Memher Musa was a very talented educator, author, linguistic expert, and a national and international icon. He was equipped with very impressive body of knowledge. He was a socially responsible artist with his writings, especially with the advancement of the literature of the Eritrean languages of Tigre and Tigrinya. More to his credit, he was multilingual which included a good mastery of the English language. His legacy and his contribution to our society will live on forever. To us, for the Eritrean people and mainly for the Mensa people at home and abroad he was an inspiring man who was a mentor and a powerful resource through his so many gifts of writing, teaching, and exploring the issues and trends when it came to seeking further knowledge and finding the meaning of our rich tradition.
In summary I hope our young generation can acquaint themselves and learn more about this icon in details and share their impressions about this scholar with the rest of the membership. Together let us keep burning the lamp of hope, education and knowledge.
The Giant of Eritrean Literature: Musa Aron
Author and linguistics expert, the late Memhir Musa Aron
By Mebrahtu Asfaha,
I just read the news that Mr. Musa Aaron passed away. First, my heartfelt condolences go out to his family. Although, regrettably, I have never met him in person, I have known his writings for quite sometime.
I came across his writings by accident when the title of his small book “Werkha” 1 caught my eyes at the Eritrean festival. After reading the book, I became aware that Mr. Mussa Aron was a prolific writer of compelling breath and enlightening depth. He was a passionate author and linguist steeped in the finest traditions of scholarly curiosity, discovery and analysis.
For those who are interested in reading this small book of 119 pages, without spoiling the central narrative, Mr. Musa Aron narrates through insightful research and incisive writing the decadent culture of Eritrean society. However, it is not the culture of our current society, but that of the 1960s, since the first edition of the book was in 1965.
It is one of those rare books where it is difficult to put down, and where the author condemns the dark curtains of prostitutions, thoughtless, and hedonistic life style, and insidious denial of moral aptitude. The book is a testament to his incessant laboured to resurrect and to affirm the moral vitality of our Eritrean society.
Ones you finish reading this small book you realize how Mr. Musa Aron was inspiring and masterful teacher, refreshing and talented historian, informed and thoughtful critic of his time.
Since then I caught up with all the remaining of his books including his Biblical studies, his “Dictionary of the Eritrean Names” 2, his “Eritreans in the Work Place” 3 that aims to install the protestant work ethics alla Eritrea, and his many other works and translations and have become enchanted with his writings.
My passion for reading his work is partly because I love his style of writing, as he is meticulous scholar of enormous repute where he evokes, in his writings, the cold, the isolation, the joys and the pains of the people. The other reason is partly that he reminds me how my dad used to talk where the distinct cadence of Mensae and Anseba accents are pronounced.
Mr. Musa Aaron is a dedicated teacher of the soul, and faithful guardian of the grammatical order of Tigrigna and Tigre languages where he embodies a passionate and sensitive understanding of his past in a complex simplicity that continues the story telling tradition of passing the old tales and the old memories down through the generations.
In this occasion, I invite you to read his work and to celebrate his creative voice as a talented scholar and writer of distinction and remember him for writing with unwavering faith in the creativity of the human spirit, and for keeping us companion, the many lonely nights through his exquisite and prodigious writings.
May his soul rest in peace.
——–
1 Hedri Publishers, Asmara, Eritrea. Pp. 119, March, 2003. Second Edition
2 Toronto, Canada. 1994. Pp. 306
3 Musa Aron, First Edition 2004
ታሪኽ ክቡር ኣቦና መምህር "ሙሳ ኣሮን"
መምህር ሙሳ ኣሮን ብ 5 ሓምለ 1930 ኣብ ኣስመራ ካብ ኣቦኦም ኣቶ ኣሮን ሙሳን ኣዲኦም ወ/ሮ ማርታ ኣሮንን ተወሊዶም። ኣብ ገዛ-ከኒሻ ኣስመራ ምስ ወለዶምን ምንኣሶም ሓዎም ኣቶ እያሱ ኣሮንን ዓብዮም።
ካብ ሽዱሽተ ዓመቶም ብሓርበኛ መምህር ወልደኣብ ወልደማርያም (ብኣጸዋውዓ ቐሺ መምህር ሙሳ ኣሮን ‘ኣያ ወልደኣብ’) ኣብ ወንጌላዊት ቤት ትምህርቲ ገዛ-ከንሻ (ናይ ሎሚ ቤት ትምህርቲ ይስሃቅ ተወልደመድህን) ፊደል ቆጺሮምን ብትምህርቲ ተኾስኩሶምን፣ እዛ ቤት ትምህርቲዚኣ ዳሕራይ ቀሺ መምህር ሙሳ መምህርን ርእሰ መምህርን ኮይኖም ዘገልገሉላ ቤት ትምህርቲ እያ።
ኣብ ቤተ ክርስትያንን ስድራ ቤቶምን ብትምህርቲ ወንጌል እናተሃንጹ ዝዓበዩ ቐሺ መምህር ሙሳ ኣሮን፣ ክሳዕ ምዝዛም ማእከላይ ደረጃ ትምህርቶም ኣብ ወንጌላዊት ቤት ትምህርቲ ገዛ-ከኒሻ ተማሂሮም። ቀጺሎም ብምሸታዊ ትምህርቲ ኣብ ናይ ኣስመራ English Language Institute ንገለ ዓመታት ተማሂሮም። ብናይ ርሕቀት (ምጽሕሓፍ) ትምህርቲ ኸኣ ካብ ናይ ሎንዶን በተል ኮለጅ ናይ ካልኣይ ደረጃ ትምህርቶም ወዲኦም። ኣብ ናይ ምምሃር ሞያ ምስ ኣተዉውን ኣብ ዕስራን ሓሙሽተን ዓመቶም ብሓልዮት ሉተራን ዎርልድ ፈደረሽን ኣብ ኣመሪካ ናይ ማህደረ ትምህርቲ (ስኮላርሽፕ) ዕድል ተዋሂቦም ንኽልተ ዓመታት ኣብ ኮሌጅ ተማሂሮም።
ቀሺ መምህር ሙሳ ኣሮን ኣብ ዘመን ምምሕዳር እንግሊዝ ኣብ ዓሰርተው ሸሞንተ ዓመቶም መምህር ኪኾኑ ተመሪጾም። ኵሉ ዅሉ ኣብ ሞያ ምምህርና ንኣስታት 45 (ኣርብዓን ሓሙሽተን) ዓመታት ጸኒሖም። ባዕሎም ብዘካየድዎ መጽናዕቲ ኣብ ናይ ምምህርና ዘመኖም ንኣስታት 10,000 (ዓሰርተ ሽሕ) ተመሃሮ ባዕሎም ምሂሮምዎም ወይ እዞም ተመሃሮ ኣብቲ ንሶም ዝመሃሩሉን ዘመሓደሩዎን ቤት ትምህርቲ ተማሂሮም። ቀሺ መምህር ሙሳ፣ ካብ ኵሉ ናይ ስራሕ ኣገልግሎቶም ናይ ምምህርና ዕዮኦም ልዕሊ ዅሉ ኸም ዜሐጕሶም ይዛረቡ ነይሮም።
ብ1953 ምስ በዓልቲ ቤቶም ወ/ሮ ርግቡ ቐሺ ዮሴፍ ሕመድ ተመርዕዮም። ትሽዓተ ቖልዑ ድማ ወሊዶምን ኣምሂሮምን። ቀሺ መምህር ሙሳ ኣሮን ሓደ እዋን ከም ዝመስከርዎ፣ “ኣነ ገለ ኸጥሪ ኣይብልን እየ ነይረ። እቲ ኣነ ኽበጽሖ ዝሓልሞ ዝነበርኩ ደረጃ ትምህርቲ ደቀይ እንተ ዚበጽሑዎ ዚብል ሕልሚ እዩ ነይሩኒ” ኢሎም ነይሮም።
ቀሺ መምህር ሙሳ ኣሮን እቲ ቕድሚ ዅሉ ዚፈትውዎ ዝነበሩ ዓይነት ዕዮ ምምህርና እዩ ዝነበረ። ግናኸ ማዕረ ማዕሪኡ ኻልእ ዕዮውን ነይርዎም። ንሱ ኸኣ ብቐንዱ መጻሕፍቲ ምጽሓፍ እዩ ነይሩ። ንሶም ኣብ ሓደ እዋን ከም ዝበልዎ፣ “ምጽሓፍ ምስ ምንባብ ዝተተሓሓዘ እዩ። ተንብብ እንተ ኾንካ ኽትጽሕፍ ትኽእል። እንተ ዘይኮይኑ፣ ምጽሓፍ ባዕሉ ኻብ ላዕሊ ዚወድቀካ ነገር ኣይኮነን።”
ልዕሊ 20 (ዕስራ) መጻሕፍቲ ብትግርኛን ብትግረን ዝጸሓፉን ዝተርጎሙን ቀሺ መምህር ሙሳ ኣሮን፣ መጻሕፍቲ ምጽሓፍ ከመይ ከም ዝጀመሩ ሓደ ግዜ ኣዘንትዮም ነይሮም። እቲ እዋን ኣብቲ ሽዱሽተ ቛንቋታት ዚምህር ዝነበረ ወንጌላዊት ቤት ትምህርቲ ገዛ ኸንሻ፣ መባእታ ደረጃ ትምህርቶም ዚዛዝሙሉ ግዜ እዩ ነይሩ፣ ናይ ሰዋስው ትግርኛን ቋንቋ ፈረንሳይን መምህሮም ዝነበሩ ቐሺ ኣሌሳንድሮ ትሮን ዝተባህሉ ኢጣልያዊ ኻህን ወንጌላዊት ቤተ ክርስትያን፣ ናይ ተማሃራይ ሙሳ ኣሮን ናይ ምንባብ ልምዲ ተዓዚቦም፣ “ንስኻ በብሰሙን ሓደ መጽሓፍ ኣንቢብካ ትውድእ ስለ ዘሎኻ፣ ብቛንቋ ትግርኛ ኽትትርጕም ወይ ክትጽሕፍ ትኽእል ኢኻ” በልዎም።
ቀሺ መምህር ሙሳ ኣሮን ኣብ 20 (ዕስራ) ዓመቶም ነታ ናይ ዳንኤል ደፎ “ሮቢንሶን ክሩሶ” ደጋጊሞም ምስ ነበብዋ ድማ ናብ ቋንቋ ትግርኛ ገልቢጦማ። ነታ መጽሓፍ ብልቓሕ ምስ ኣሕተምዋ፣ ኣብ ኣብያተ ትምህርትን ዕዳጋን ሰፊሕ ተቐባልነት ረኺባ። ብተደጋጋሚውን ንማሕተም በቒዓ።
ካልኣይቲ መጽሓፎም ኣብ 25 (ዕስራን ሓሙሽተን) ዓመቶም ዝጸሓፍዋ ናይ ባዕሎም ድርሰት ዝኾነት “ወርቅሃ” እትብል ልብወለድ እያ። እዛ ልብወለድዚኣ ነቲ ኣብቲ ግዜቲ ኣብ ከተማ ኣስመራ ገኒኑ ዝነበረ ምንዝርና እትምልከት እያ ነይራ። ምስ ተሓትመት ድማ ካብ ኣርባዕተ ሽሕ ቅዳሓታ፣ ኣብ ቀዳመይቲ ሰሙን ጥራይ ሓደ ሽሕ ቅዳሓት ተሸይጦም።
መጻሕፍቶም ኣብ ምርምርን ተባዕ መጽናዕትን ዝተመርኮሱ ኸም ዝነበሩ ኣረጋጊጾም ኣሎዉ። መጻሕፍቶም ንረብሓ ዘይኮነስ፣ ብርቱዕ ውሽጣዊ ድሌቶም ንምርዋይ ዝገበርዎም ኣበርክቶ ኸም ዝኾኑዉን የረድኡ
ቀሺ መምህር ሙሳ ኣሮን ኣብ ዘመን ህይወቶም ካብ ዝፈጸምዎም ብሉጻት ስነ-ጽሑፋዊ ዕዮታት፣ እቲ ዝዓበየ ምትርጓም መጽሓፍ ቅዱስ ትግረ እዩ። ቀሺ መምህር ሙሳ ኣሮን ኣብ ገዛ ኸኒኻ፣ ኣስመራ እኳ እንተ ዓበዩ፣ እቲ ናይ ቋንቋ ትግረ ኽእለቶም ካብቲ ወለዶም ንኽልቲኦም ደቆም ዝሓገጉሎም ስድራ ቤታዊ መምርሒ ዝተላዕለ እዩ ነይሩ። እቲ ናይ ገዝኦም መምርሒ፣ “ካብ ድርኩኺት ቤት ንውሽጢ ቛንቋ ትግረ ጥራይ ምዝራብ፣ ካብ ድርኩኺት ቤት ንደገ ኸኣ ቋንቋ ትግርኛ ጥራይ ምዝራብ” ዚብል ጽኑዕ ትእዛዝ እዩ ነይሩ። እዚ ኣተዓባብያ እዚ፣ ቀሺ መምህር ሙሳ ኣሮን ንቛንቋታት ትግረን ትግርኛን ብማዕረ ብጽፈት ኪመልኩ ኣኽኢልዎም። ብዘይካዞም ክልተ ቛንቋታት ቀሺ መምህር ሙሳ ኣሮን ካልኦት ዓሰርተ ቛንቋታት ማለት ግእዝ፤ ኣምሓርኛ፤ እንግሊዝ፤ ጣልያንኛ፤ ፈረንሳይኛ፤ ዓረብኛ፤ ሽወደንኛ፤ ኪስዋሂሊ፤ እብራይስጢን ጽርእን ይመልኩ ወይ ይዛረቡ ነይሮም። እቲ ናይ ቋንቋ ትግረ ዓሚቝ ክጭበጥ ዝኽእል ዕላማ ናይ
ፍልጠቶም ዳሕራይ ኣብ ምእራምን ምትርጓምን መጽሓፍ ቅዱስ ትግረ ኣገልግሎቶም ኬበርክቱ ኣኽኢልዎም።
መጽሓፍ ቅዱስ ትግረ እቲ ናይ መጀመርያ ናይ ሓድሽ ኪዳን ሕታሙ ብቐሺ ዳዊት ኣማኑኤልን ቀሺ ተወልደመድህን ገብረመድህንን ተተርጕሙ ብ1902 ኣብ ከተማ ኣስመራ ተሓቲሙ። እቲ ኻልኣይ ሕታሙ ኸኣ ብሽወደናዊ ቐሺ ካርል ሮደን እናተመርሐ ብመምህር ጢሞቴዎስ ፋይድ፤ መምህር ኣልኣዛር ህዳድ፤ መምህር ይስሃቅ ሓምድ፤ መምህር ሳሙኤል ዕትማንን ቀሺ ዮሴፍ ሕመድን ተዳልዩ ብ1931 ኣብ ኣስመራ ተሓቲሙ።
ድሕሪቲ ናይ 1925 ናይ ዶክተር ሪቻርድ ሱንድስትሮም፤ ቀሺ ዮሃንስ ኤሚልዮስን መምህር ዑቕባዝጊ መንዳልን ናይ መዝሙር ዳዊትን ትንቢት ኢሳይያስን ትርጕም፣ እቶም ዝተረፉ መጻሕፍቲ ብሉይ ኪዳን ብቐሺ ካርል ሮደን ኣብ ሽወደን ናብ ቋንቋ ትግረ ተተርጕሞም።
ድሕሪ ኣስታት ሓምሳ ዓመታት ድማ ምሉእ መጽሓፍ ቅዱስ ትግረ ንምድላው ቀሺ መምህር ሙሳ ኣሮን ምስ በዓልቲ ቤቶም ወ/ሮ ርግቡ ዮሴፍን ምስ ቀሺ ኣክሰል በርግሉንድን ካብ 1978 ጀሚሮም ንልዕሊ ዓሰርተ ዓመታት ኣብ ናይሮቢ (ኬንያ)ን ዳላስ (ሕቡራት መንግስታት ኣሜሪካ)ን ጽዒሮም። ብ1988 ድማ ምሉእ መጽሓፍ ቅዱስ ትግረ ተሓቲሙ ንህዝቢ ተዘርጊሑ።
ቀሺ መምህር ሙሳ ኣሮን ብ1997 ናይ ክህነት ማዕርግ ተዋሂቦም ቀሺ ኾይኖም። ኣብ ወጻኢ ሃገርን ኣብ ውሽጢ ኤርትራን ኣብ ወንጌላዊት ሉተራዊት ቤተ ክርስትያን ብኽህነት ኣገልጊሎም። ኣብ ዘመን ህይወቶም ኣብ ቤተክርስትያን ከም ኣሰናዳኢ መልእኽቲ ሰላም ንልዕሊ 15 (ዓሰርተው ሓሙሽተ) ዓመታት፣ ከም ዋና ጸሓፍን ኣመሓዳርን ቤተ ክርስትያን፣ ከም ዘማሪ፣ ኣባል ማሕበር መጽሓፍ ቅዱስ። ከምኡውን ኣብ መፋርቕ ሰብዓታት ኣብ ገጠራት ኤርትራ ኣብ ምጥፋእ መሃይምነት ከም መራሕ ዕዮ ብትግሃት ሰሪሖም።
ከምቲ ሓደ ፍላስፋ፣ “ናብ መቓብር ጥራይካ ኺድ፣ ማለት ነቲ ኣብ ውሽጥኻ ዘሎ ኽትገብሮ ዚግብኣካ ነገር ጓሕጕሕካ ምስ ፈጸምካዮ ናብ መቓብርካ ውረድ” ዝበሎ፣ ቀሺ መምህር ሙሳ ኣሮን ንዅሉ እቲ ኣብዛ ዓለም ኪገብርዎን ኪጽሕፍዎን ዝነበሮም ነገር ፈጺሞም ብምኽንያት ሕማም ኣብ መበል 81 (ሰማንያን ሓደን) ዓመቶም ብ8 መስከረም 2011 ዓሪፎም። ስነ-ስርዓት ቀብሮም ብ9 መስከረም 2011 ኣብ መካነ መቓብር ጸጸራት ተፈጺሙ።
ገለ ካብ መጽሓፍቲ ሙሳ ኣሮን:
1-"ዓርኪ ተምሃራይ" 1948፡ 1965፡ 1975
2-"ሮቢንሶን ክሩሶ" (ትርጉም) 1957፡ 1961፡ 2002
3-"ክታብ ኣግእዞት ወቅራን" 1958
4-"ጎደና ትምህርቲ፡ መጽሓፍ ፊደል" 1964፡ 1966፡ 1968፡ 1971
5-"ጎደና ትምህርቲ፡ 2ይ መጽሓፍ" 1965፡ 1968
6-"ወርቅሃ" 1966፡ 2003፡ 2005፡ 2006
7-"እምባፍራሽ" 1967
8-"መጽሓፍ ቅዱስ ትግረ" 1989
9-"ናይ መጽሓፍ ቅዱስ መዝገበ ቃላት ትግሪኛ" 1991
10-"ናይ መጽሓፍ ቅዱስ ክብት ቃላት" 1994
11-"መዝገበ ቃላት ስማት ኤርትራውያን" 1994
12-"ኤርትራውያን ኣብ ዓውዲ ስራሕ" 2004
13-"ክታብ ቃላት ህግያ ትግረ" 2005፡ 2015
14-"ጽሕፈት ቛንቋ ትግረ" 2005
15-"ገበይ ሓዮት" 2005
16-"ሜራስ" 2010
ብሰላም ዕረፍ ክቡር ኣቦ!
ምንጪ: ሰሎሞን ኣማኑኤል
The Giant of Eritrean Literature: Mr. Musa Aron
Ghideon Musa Aron
