SUFI POETRY IN SOMALI

I

Documentation and Sources

Although the existence of Sufi oral poetry in Somali

has been noticed by some scholars, the whole documentation

of this field is limited to the recording of a few poems,l

and no attempt has been made so far to analyze it or to

place it in a wider context of Somali culture. It is not

even known at what period of history Somali began to be

used as the medium of Sufi poetry_ The problem will

probably remain unsolved, since no documentary evidence is

availabl~_ Nonetheless~ there is a strong conviction among

the Somali Sufis that the use of Somali in Sufi poetry is

of great antiquity. Although I have heard such views

from a great number of people, especially men of religion,

I have thought it advisable to consult some of the leading

Somali authorities in this field.

I have interviewed Aw Diiriye Bashbash, a religious

elder and a reputable antiquarian who is said to be over

100 \ years old and who lives in Burco, Cabdi Cabdilaahi

Muuse, a well known poet and a traditional historian who

is originally from Bureo but who now resides in Jiddah,

and Khadiija Faarax Maxamuud, a poetess and a lady Sufi

who lives in Hargeysa. They all belong to the QADIRRIYYAH

Order, and all of them maintain that, according to oral

tradition known to them, the Somalis have simultaneously

composed Sufi poems in Arabic and Somali from the earliest

times when Islam laid its foundations in Somali~. Accord-

ingly, they say, each of the two languages has separately

.9 _