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- Permanent Link:
- http://digital.soas.ac.uk/LOAA000081/00001
Notes
- General Note:
- First lines of manuscript: Nanda kutamka ya awali bismillahi, na rahmani kiandika ndiyo sahihi
- General Note:
- Mistari ya kwanza ya hati: Nanda kutamka ya awali bismillahi, na rahmani kiandika ndiyo sahihi
- General Note:
- Mansab, Mwenye = Mwenye Mansab (Sayyid Mansab bin Abdirrahman)
- General Note:
- Scribe: Ahmad Ahmad Badawi (Mwenye Baba)
- General Note:
- Badawi, Ahmad = Ahmad Ahmad Badawi (also known as: Mwenye Baba)
- General Note:
- Handwritten manuscript of unknown date.
- General Note:
- Swahili text inscribed in Arabic script
- General Note:
- Biographical history: This manuscript gives Mwenye Mansab's date of birth as 1223 AH (1808 AD), and that of his death as 1340 (1921); Knappert (1999) gives 1828-1922 AD. Mwenye Mansab was born in Lamu. He was well-known as a man of intense religious devotion who spent his days in Lamu's Rawdha mosque, where he wrote religious poems and translated Arabic religious texts into Swahili poems. He was a respected source of information on questions of religion, known for his ability to respond instantly to queries. Many of his exchanges with questioners are recounted in stories. One concerns his assertion that through good acts people earned themselves houses in heaven ('umejengewa nyumba,' he would tell someone who had acted well). When asked once whether heaven must not be growing awfully crowded with houses, Mwenye Mansab responded that not only did good acts build them, but bad ones tore them down, and in heaven as many houses were being demolished as were being constructed.
- General Note:
- Archival history: From a photocopy of a manuscript held by a school in the town of Mambrui. Yayha Ali Omar obtained it in the UK from a Kenyan visitor.
- General Note:
- Relevant publications: Dammann, Ernst. 1940. Dichtungen in der Lamu Mundart des Suaheli. Hamburg, pp. 276-284. Knappert, Jan. 1963. The poem of the robe. Swahili 33 (2): 55-60. Ibid. 1968. Brief Survey of Swahili Literature. London: Centre for African Studies, SOAS, University of London, 26. Ibid. 1987. Four Centuries of Swahili Verse. London: Heinemann, pp. 201-202 and 204-207. Ibid. 1999. A Survey of Swahili Islamic Epic Sagas. Lewiston, New York; Queenston, Ontario; Lampeter, Wales: Edwin Mellen Press; pp. 145-146. Harries, L. 1958. Maulid Barzanji. The Swahili Abridgement of Seyyid Mansab. Afrika und Ubersee, 42: 27-39.
- General Note:
- Books relevant for source include 'Nur al-Absar' by Muhammad ibn `Ali al-Sabban; As-sharafu al-mu, by Sheikh Yusuf bin Ismail al-Nabahani.
- General Note:
- Scope and content: The poem narrates a story in which Hussein, the grandson of the prophet Mohammed, extols the prophet's family. Mohammed arrives at the home of Fatuma saying he feels unwell. He asks for a cloak -- 'kishamia' -- in which to wrap himself. Mohammed's grandson Hasan soon approaches Fatima and says that he detects a fine scent, at which Fatima explains the presence of Muhammad. Hasan goes to Mohammed and enters the kishamia; he is followed by Hussein, Ali and Fatima herself. The poet introduces each member of the family with lengthy praise. The angel Jibril asks permission to descend from heaven. He greets Mohammed and enters the cloak. Hussein praises the family, including himself, at length. The scribe says that once they are in the shamia, the prophet reads a Qur'anic aya (33:33) to assert the purity of his family. In fact, however, this aya refers to the wives of the prophet and the importance of their rejecting all sinful behaviour. The scribe names various sources for the poem, including most importantly the Hadith al-Kisaa. In the East African coastal context, this poem relates to debate over whether the Sharifu should be respected as having elevated status. Mwenye Mansab was a Sharifu, as his name indicates: 'mwenye,' the northern form of the southern 'mwinyi,' and 'mansab,' indicating he claims this lineage on both his mother's and his father's side; as is the scribe, Ahmad Ahmad Badawi.
- Funding:
- Digitised with funding from the Leverhulme Trust.
Record Information
- Source Institution:
- SOAS, University of London
- Holding Location:
- Archives and Special Collections
- Rights Management:
- This item is in the public domain. Please use in accord with Creative Commons license: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA). High resolution digital master available from SOAS, University of London - the Digital Library Project Office.
- Resource Identifier:
- MS 380739 ( soas manucript number )
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