The Somali diaspora’s enduring love affair with poetry
By Ali Issa
The Somali diaspora in Europe and North America used to be a bashful, unassuming herd whose mention might have once prompted images of women in colourful jilbaabs or, maybe, internet cafes mushrooming on high streets. Then the ‘War on Terror’ came around in the 2000s with its increased scrutiny of Muslims — Somalis included. So Al-Shabaab, piracy and devastating droughts became the notions latched onto the popular imagination of Somalis.
Over a quarter of a century since the civil war forced Somalis to the UK, the generation that followed has found success in fields across the board but it has been in the poetry and spoken word scene that they have made a serious impact. A generation raised outside of but still tied to the “Land of Poets.”
The 19th century British explorer Richard Burton said of Somalis: ‘The country teems with ‘poets’… Every man has his recognized position in literature as accurately defined as though he had been reviewed in a century of magazines — the fine ear of this people causing them to take the greatest pleasure in harmonious sounds and poetic expressions, whereas a false quantity or prosaic phrase excites their violent indignation.’
“…poetry is a way of life for Somalis”
Today scattered through the world, the Somali diaspora also teems with a new generation wielding their newfound Western tongues to forge tales reminiscent of those of their forefathers. Poets like Warsan Shiire, Faisal Salah and Farah Gabdon tackle themes borne from conflict — like loss and identity; both inextricable components of the shared Somali diaspora experience. But it must be something less ephemeral than a traumatic experience that has triggered this artistic explosion. Delve a little deeper into the language and culture and it becomes clear: poetry is a way of life for Somalis.
The prominence of oral traditions was reinforced in Somali speaking regions by the inability of any one region’s orthography to be universalised, making the role of a poet in Somali society an exalted one; their verses are meticulously relayed and words etched into the public consciousness over camp-fire performances where their messages and rhetorical devices are mulled over.
Poetry is woven into the fabric of society in Somalia. There are forms of it as political propaganda, religious instigation and wedding praise. All of them are characterised by length, style and subject matter, different categories serving different social functions.
In the political arena, poetry (gabay) played a significant role at several crucial junctures in Somali history. At the birth of Somali nations ‘Hal-abuur’ (sowing-she-camel) was the defining pattern used to allegorize the nascent nation-state, using depictions of a pastoralist society as a means to envision an ‘Andersonian’ nation-state. Abdullahi Suldaan Timacadde’s Maandeeq (she-camel) encapsulated this form with its powerful imagery showing the nation being ‘nurtured’ by the she-camel (Somalia). In addition to the state’s formation, poets were deployed directly by the government to galvanise a flailing sense of nationalism, with a debate held entirely in poetry called ‘Deelleey’- in ode to the constant use of the letter ‘d’. The poets’ skilful use of the Somali language drew the crowds to the claims of nationalism’s superiority over the savagery of tribalism
“This love-affair with oral traditions follows Somalis wherever they are in the diaspora”
Perhaps the most famous exposition of the power of poetry in recent Somali history is the case of Sayyid Muhammad Abdallah Hasan, an Islamic scholar who fell foul with the British in Northern Somalia. Angered by foreign influence in Somali lands, he established a Dervish order which aimed to oppose the British, Ethiopian and Italian forces. His poem ‘Defeat of the Infidels’ was conveyed via recitation to many clans in the hope of them joining his rebellion. Such was the potency of his words, the allure was too great for even some that disliked his religious views. The success of the Sayyid was only curtailed by an RAF military campaign in 1920 otherwise his Somali unification attempt- described by British author Margaret Laurence as ‘reminiscent of Homer… in its drama grandeur and gore’- may have lasted.
But with ubiquitous proverbs and facetious riddles, poetry is only one of many linguistic arrangements that animates both the language and its people. This variety of devices means messages are often delivered with similarly acute blitheness and profundity. The best illustration of this is the abundance of proverbs (maahmaah) used in everyday speech that capture the essence of a situation; they’re used sagaciously in the case of sayings like ‘absence of knowledge is absence of light’ to emphasise the importance of learning. More light-hearted sayings also tend to depart timeless wisdoms such as ‘only he who does not know a lion can take a sheep from him’- a saying that exposes some heroism as being borne of obliviousness.
This love-affair with oral traditions traverses the ages as well as follows Somalis wherever they are in the diaspora, many children are told tales of ‘Egal Shidaad’ (the coward), and dheeg deer (a cannibalistic woman)- Somali fables that impart life lessons as well as engrave an idyllic nomadic setting to the tales. It is this cultural heritage which is now the canvass for more recent practitioners of the timeless tradition.■
