SUFI POETRY IN SOMALI

Weliyada hanuunaan baryiyo, hodanka Yaasiine

Habeen iyo dharaar Eebbahay, hadimo kaa baaji

Hor iyo hareer iyo gadaal, halal nabaadiino

Hoygaagu heeraar Watiin, hoyasho Liilaaf leh

Hayaakiil ducaan kuu naqaye, hibada aamiin dheh!

I invoke the saints who keep the straight path,

and the riches of the Sura of YA SIN

May God, day and night, turn danger away from you

Before you,' on each side and behind, everywhere,

may the peace of God be upon you

May your home be surrounded by the blessing of

WATIN, may your night sojourn enjoy the blessing

of the Sura of LILAF

I have bestowed much blessing upon you: say amen

to the gift!

(Somali Poetry, Poem 8, Lines 26-30)

In Somali secular poetry, the Sufi shaikhs are usually

invoked when there is a prayer within the poem in which

the poet seeks the intercession of the saint whose name

is mentioned. Moreover, the piety of the Sufi shaikh,

his asceticism, his patience and his wisdom are regarded

as models of exemplary behaviour and are often alluded to
in Somali secular poetry. For example, in this line, the

patience of a shaikh is used as a simile to create a

powerful effect when describing a dangerous, hungry lion:

Sa.natayn hadduu sida wadaad, sooman ka ahaado.

If, like a shaikh, it [the lion] fast observes for two years the

[A.Y.M.]
While in this verse, the demeanour of the poet as a
righteous person is compared to that of a pious shaikh:

4S.