SUFI POETRY IN SOMALI

20}.

3~. They will go back to my family and kinsfolk to console

them

36. No one will stay behind to keep me company

37. If my clan hastily marches to my rescue, they cannot
    recover me
    3~. If I used to be proud, there I shall have to give it up

3~. A party [of Angels] who represents the [Divine] Slate

will question me

40. 0 God, the Powerful One, guide me to the doctrine of

Islam
4i. 0 how many young she-camels, cattle, sheep and goats had

I reared in a prosperous grazing land

42. 0 what [wonderful] castles had I built and what [hoards]

of gold I hid in them

4~. From all the spoils of this world, only a piece of cloth

has followed me [to the grave]

44. There are no neighbours to visit and it is a lonesome
    place
    4~. 0 people, to be a stranger is bitterest in that
    [deserted] spot

46. The sun above us will be brought nigh

47. 0 God, the Powerful One, 0 worthy Prophet


48. 0 ASH-SHAHADAH, 0 Quran, 0 IJADITH

4~. 0 Prayer, 0 Alms, 0 Self-denial of Fasting

sb. On the Day of Resurrection, I shall have no other

relatives but yo~.

Textual Notes

Line 1. The poet refers here to the statements and admon-

itions in the Quran concerning the transitory nature

of human lif~. The story itself is not based on

the Quran but on the Muslim burial customs in

Somalia.

I I