SUFI POETRY IN SOMALI

By vying to surpass someone, we move

away from God's waj.

There is always something hidden behind

much talking and in the discussions held

in the courtyaid.
o people why don't you abandon sleep, for
we shall be laid in a tight grave.
(Text 10/123-125)
Those who follow the way of God envisage that, in order to

overcome the separation from the Divine Essence and to

remove the veil (AL-BIJAB)of the ego, it is essential for

27

the aspirants to engage themselves in the practice of Remem-

brance under the tutelage of a shaikh. In connection with

this, Sheekh Caaqib alludes to the importance of the Sufi

master in the following verse:'

Siyaarada sheekhyahaa surin kuu banaysee.

Visits to the shaikhs will reveal you the way.

(Text 5/54)

As an aspirant travels in the spiritual path, he

experiences a number of stages (MAQAM) which he passes

through on his way to G~d. In the first stage, the

aspirant becomes aware of his nothingness and battles against

the illusory prison of the ego. While he is in this stage

the aspirant feels the imposing Majesty of God and hence

becomes fearful and experiences a state of spiritual

contraction (QABO). This feeling makes him leave his

state of forgetfulness (GHAFLAH) and urges him to engage

himself in the Remembrance of Go~. The following verses

by Sheekh Caaqib express this intense feeling: "

, i