SUFI POETRY IN SOMALI

238.

Next to camels, horses are seen, by the Somali nomads, as
the noblest of their livestock, while donkeys are regarded

as the meanes~. To prize a donkey over a horse provides

therefore astonishment beyond reckoning to the nomadic

Somalis and is symbolic here of the chaos in the system of
values and of decadence:
Isir faras ah uur kuus dammeer, iibka ina
dheersan!

A pOf-bellieddonkey which costs more than a

fine horse.!
(Text 25/62)
The pastoralistslive mainly on the milk of their beasts
and it is a grave disappointment to them to have animals
which after they calve do not produce enough milk. This
familiar image again symbolizes the coming of sinister

events which the poet predicts:

Eyr kuu dhashiyo ugub curtoon, ibuhu dhiiqaynin

Old camels which calve for you and young camels
which give birth to their first calf but which do
not let out milk from their nipples!
(Text 25/37)
Milk is used as a metaphor for abundance and prosperity:
Sidii jaar karuur u fiiqsada 00, sidii ramag jaar
ka buuxsada

Drink [the wisdom of my words] like sour milk; and

with them fill a vessel as if ~ith fresh milk

(Text 3/39)