SUFI POETRY IN SOMALI

241.

It is impossible for the Somali portable house to stand
without the central pole, for lacking the support, it
collapse~. In the following line, the impossible has happened
since the house stands without the central pole and this

symbolizes the changes in the natural order of things expected

in the last era of the world:

Aqal udub la1aan jooga aan, laga irdhoobaynin

A house which stands without the central pole

but is not abandoned!

(Text 25/38)

Jewels, which are worn by Somali women ire used as

poetic images. A Sufi poetess, referring to FATIN~H, the

daughter of the Prophet says:
JawharCdii Nebiyay jaahaaga nagu xoree

o jewel of the Prophet, free us on account of your

face

(Text 14/3)

The Somali traditional political system has always

tended to be democratic and with few exceptions their rulers

have had powers limited by popular assent.

The terms denoting a Somali ruler are E..£.9.or, garaad,

suldaan, islaan and (in poetry only) maalig and malig and

they all have approximately the same meaning. The first,

the third and the last two of these terms, however, are also

applied to foreign rulers even if they are absolutist, and thus

differ from the usual Somali concept.

In Somali poems by the Sufis, words denoting rulers

are applied, as panegyric epithets, symbolizing supernatural