SUFI POETRY IN SOMALI

30.

followers of an order may live together with their shaikh
in a settlement (JAMACAH).l In another situation how-
ever, it may only be the special pupils of the shaikh who
live within the JAMAcAH, while initiates pay frequent
visits to the shaikh and receive periodic instruction.
In addition to the formally initiated members of the order
there is a large number of followers who do not practice
TASAWWUF but who are nonetheless attached to the order
and aspire to participate in the spiritual presence of
the shaikh. The orders meet once or twice a week to

perform supererogatory prayers. The prayers include the

Remembrance (DHIKR), prayers prescribed for the night

vigils (WIRD") and litanies of glorification (MAUltO.
Most of the poems which I shall examine in this work, and

which are performed in public are prayers known as

shallaad (i.e., religious recitations, and are used in

WIRD and MAD -Ilj..^2 Furthermore, while practicing some

of the orders engage themselves in a rhythmic movement

which had become known in Sufi terminology as the sacred

dance (tIAl?RAEO. It may be of interest to note that

women members \ of an order compose their hymns and practice

separately from men under the guidance of a Sufi woman.

Nevertheless, the shaikh of the order oversees their

activities and instructs them directly.

II

The Sufi Orders in Somalia

The principal Sufi orders in Somalia are the QADIRIYYAH,