SUFI POETRY IN SOMALI

23.4.

Savanna-type plains form the main feature of the geo-

graphical area which the Somali nomads move about with their
livestock. However, there is a range of mountains (the
Golis range) which sometimes rises up to a height of almost

9,000 feet and which towers above the plains of the Oogo and

the Hawd. A prominent characteristic of this range is its

steep and dangerously precipitous escarpment which often

separates the gently sloping mountains. This steep precipice

of the Golis mountains and the long cliffs of the dry river-

beds of the plateau have become images which symbolize dis-

aster and misfortune:

Ninkii jaxarnimo sife u badiyow, jar dheer baa

Eebbe kaa ridi

o you who insolently attribute. multiplicity to

Him may God throw you down from a steep precipice

(Text 3/16)

Gebigii dumaba gebi daba socodaa, gowriirta kore

garab jeexan ey

When a steep escarpment topples down, another

escarpment, next to it will crack at the top of

the ridge

(Text 10/106)

Hal adayga qaarkii, jar buu kugu hagaajaa

Haadaamo dheer buu) hoos kuugu tuuraa

Hir aan kuu dhoweyn bUll, gacan kuugu haadshaa

Hoog iyo belaayuu, kugu sii hogaanshaa

At times stubborness leads one to a precipice

It casts you into a deep ravine