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In the aftermath of the fall of the Omar Al-Bechir regime in 2019, the time has come to reappraise the history of Arabic culture in Sudan, and its connection to Sudanese identity and Arab nationalism. To this end, this article considers a brilliant Arabic book that was first published in 1953, three years before Sudanese independence, by ‘Abd al-Majid ‘Abidin, an Egyptian professor in Khartoum. Called Tarikh al-thaqafa al-'arabiyya fi al-Sudan (“The History of Arabic Culture in Sudan”), ‘Abidin’s book presented Arabic culture in Sudan as robust, diverse, inclusive of women and men, and expressed in both high literary forms and popular oral media. A retrospective analysis of ‘Abidin’s book reminds us that while postcolonial Arabization policies may have failed and even backfired, Sudanese Arabic culture has had a genuinely popular history at the grass-roots. ‘Abidin’s book also serves as a historical document of the decolonization era, reflecting debates about Arab identity and Arabic culture that animated nationalists and shaped postcolonial policies.