Following rising nationalist movements in the 1920s, Farah's patriotic poetry expressed his support for independence and the fight against Anglo-Egyptian rule in Sudan.

From the beginning of modern written literature during the early decades of the 20th century, and going back to old oral traditions, poetry and songs have been the most popular literary genres in Sudan.

For the same reason, and because it was not easy to trace the origins of popular songs composed in basically colloquial form of Arabic, the authors remained practically anonymous and equally safe.

"[3] Khalil Farah was born and grew up in the Nubian village of Dabrousa on Saï island in northern Sudan, in the region of Wadi Halfa, in 1894.

[5] During this time, he became a follower of the Sudanese national movement, expressed for example by the White Flag League, and became interested in literary works of Egyptian writers such as Taha Hussein, Mahmoud Abbas Al-Akkad and Ahmed Hassan Al-Zayat, and started to write his own Arabic poetry.

[6] As his songs became famous, they spread nationalistic ideas of the newly educated Sudanese classes to the largely illiterate population.

Hageeba started as essentially vocal music, sung by a lead singer and a chorus, with percussion coming from the tambourine-like tar frame drum.