SUFI POETRY IN SOMALI

Adigaa tijaaroon ku tuugnayee, taaj Awliyow

taageer na s i i.!

You are rich and we beg you: 0 crown of the

saints, grant us help ~

(Text 17/4)

24.3 •

The umbrella, though not a traditional Somali artifact,
is not unknown even in the pastoral interior, and in the

Sufi poetry in Somali symbolizes protection against danger

or hardship:

Dalladdaaduu hadhsandoonaa, rrln dariiqaaga jidaystaa

The man who follows your path will be sheltered under

your umbrella

(Text 18/18)

Sometimes even the invention of modern age can supply

Somali Sufi poetry with images. In the following line we

see an unusual blending of tradition with modernity, where

the aeroplane symbolizes great speed and ease of trans-

porta tion:.

Dayuuradda Awliyada jidka nagu dul mariyay

May the aeroplane of the saints fly us over

. the path [of ~IRATJ
(Text 5/46)

Very often in the Sufi poetry in Somali abstract

concepts are used as eulogistic epithets applied to the

Prophet and the saint~. Thus, for example, a poet addresses

Sheekh Suufi, the celebrated saint of Muqdisho:.

Raxmadda Rabbi uunka 100 rarayow, rugtaada nin

yimi rafaad ka bax

o mercy of God, which has been despatched to the