Miraji; Utendi wa Mwana Kupona; Utendi wa Kumsifu Mtume; Utendi wa Aisha (Mss 432-433)
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Material Information

Title:
Miraji; Utendi wa Mwana Kupona; Utendi wa Kumsifu Mtume; Utendi wa Aisha (Mss 432-433)
Series Title:
Allen Collection : Poems about the Prophet Mohammed and various Swahili Religious poems
Creator:
Ali wa Salimu ( Author, Primary )
Mwana, Kupona, 1810-1860 ( contributor )
Publication Date:
Language:
Swahili
Materials:
Paper ( medium )
Technique:
Handwritten manuscript : Handwritten copy in black ink,

Subjects

Subjects / Keywords:
Islam ( LCSH )
Swahili poetry ( LCSH )
Gender role
Sex role ( LCSH )
Marriage ( LCSH )
Religious belief
Religious practice
Social structure ( LCSH )
Education of women
Religious history
Legends ( LCSH )
Imani za kidini
Uislamu
Kiswahili mashairi
Faith ( LCSH )
Elimu ya wanawake
Islam -- Customs and practices ( LCSH )
History -- Religious aspects ( LCSH )
Islam -- History ( LCSH )
Women -- Education ( LCSH )
Muḥammad, Prophet, -632 ( LCNA )
Prophet Mohammed
Gabriel (Archangel) ( LCSH )
Jibril
Mwana Heshima binti Sheikh
Genre:
Poem
Utenzi
Poetry ( LCTGM )
Spatial Coverage:
Africa -- Kenya -- Lamu County -- Eastern Africa -- Pate -- Pate Island
Coordinates:
-2.13753 x 40.99714

Notes

Abstract:
The first poem contained in this manuscripts is the Utenzi wa Miraji that narrates, in 664 stanzas, the Prophet’s journey from Mecca to Jerusalem, and from Jerusalem to Paradise. This is a Swahili epic based upon a well known book of Sunni traditions entitled ‘Mishkatu ‘l-Masabih. The Miraji is followed by the famous poem by Mwana Kupona binti Msham entitled ‘Utendi wa Mwana Kupona’ in which Mwana Kupona instructs her daughter, Mwana Heshima binti Sheikh upon wifely duty. The poem is however not complete. Afterwards, we found a mainly unreadable poem praising the Prophet Mohammed, followed by a long poem in the Utendi form about the marriage between the Prophet Mohammed and his second wife Aisha. Both these poems are incomplete. Fianlly, there is anotehr pome in the Utendi form praising the Prophet Mohammed. This poem uses each letter of the Arabic alphabet as ending syllable. ( en )
General Note:
Biographical information: Mwana Kupona binti Msham, 1790-1860, was a native of Pate who lived in Lamu. She married Bwana Mataka, who belonged to an old Siu family; he was the son of Sheikh Baraka bin Muhammadi bin Omari. On her deathbed, Mwana Kupona dictated her poem to her only daughter, for whose instruction it was composed. Her daughter, who was known in Lamu as Mwana Heshima binti Sheikh, lived from 1841 to 1933.
General Note:
Date of Composition: 1858 AD1274
General Note:
Languages: Swahili (Arabic script)
General Note:
Dialects: KiAmu and KiPate
General Note:
Poetic Form: Utenzi
General Note:
Extent: 81 leaves
General Note:
Incipit: Bismillahi Jalali-nandiliza awwali-miraji yake rasuli-kuonana na jaliya
General Note:
Donated to SOAS in 1982
General Note:
See for Miraji SOAS University of London manuscripts MS 53497 (Hichens), 279888-306, vol. 2 and 279888-339, vol. 6 (Allen).<PARAGRAPH>See for Utendi wa Mwana Kupona Mss 380548, 380531 (Knappert), 34882, 53508 (Hichens).
General Note:
Other copy: SOAS University of London microfilm: M1008, reel 15
General Note:
VIAF (name authority) : Mwana, Kupona, 1810-1860 : URI http://viaf.org/viaf/55052255
General Note:
Africa -- Eastern Africa -- Kenya -- Lamu County -- Pate -- Pate Island
General Note:
Africa -- Eastern Africa -- Kenya -- Lamu County -- Lamu -- Lamu Island
General Note:
Asia – Israel -- Jerusalem District -- Jerusalem
General Note:
Asia -- Palestine -- Jerusalem Governate -- Jerusalem
General Note:
Asia -- Arabian Peninsula -- Saudi Arabia -- Makkah Province -- Makkah Al Mukarramah Governate -- Mecca
General Note:
Africa -- Eastern Africa -- Kenya -- Lamu County -- Shela
General Note:
Publication information: Allen, J.W.T. 1971. Tendi. London: Heinemann Educational, pp. 55-78.
General Note:
Publication information: Biersteker, Ann. 1991. Language, poetry and power: a reconsideration of Utendi wa Mwana Kupona. In Faces of Islam in African Literature, ed. by Kenneth Harrow, pp. 59-77. Portsmouth, New Hampshire: Heinemann; and London: James Currey.
General Note:
Publication information: Harries, Lyndon. 1962. Swahili Poetry. Oxford: Clarendon Press, pp. 70-86.
General Note:
Publication information: Hichens, William and Alice Werner. 1934. Advice of Mwana Kupona upon the Wifely Virtue. Medstead, Hampshire: Azania Press.
General Note:
Publication information: Sheikh, Amina Abubakar and Ahmed Sheikh Nabhany (eds). 1972. Utendi wa Mwana Kupona na Utendi wa Ngamia na Paa. (Sanaa Ya Utungo I). Nairobi: Heinemann.
General Note:
Publication information: Mulokozi, M.M. 1999. Tenzi Tatu za Kale. University of Dar-es-Salaam Press.
General Note:
Publication information: Khatib, M.S. 1985. Utenzi wa Mwana Kupona. Mulika, 17, 46-52.
General Note:
Publication information: Senkoro, F.E. M. K. 1988. Mwana Kupona Nana: Utenzi wa Mwana Kupona. In Ushairi: Nadharia na Tahakiki. Dare-es-Salaam University Press
General Note:
Publication information: Werner, Alice. 1917. The Utendi of Mwana Kupona. Harvard African Studies 1: 147-181.
General Note:
Publication information: Knappert, J. 1967. Traditional Swahili Poetry. Brill, Leiden, pp.201-238
General Note:
Publication information: Knappert, Jan. 1979. Four Centuries of Swahili Verse. London: Heinemann, pp. 210-217.
General Note:
Publication information: Knappert, 1999. A Survey of Swahili Islamic Epic Sagas. Lewiston, New York; Queenston, Ontario; Lampeter, Wales: Edwin Mellen Press; pp. 32-33.
General Note:
Publication information: Knappert, 1971. Swahili Islamic Poetry. Brill, Leiden

Record Information

Source Institution:
SOAS University of London
Holding Location:
Archives and Special Collections
Rights Management:
This item may be in the public domain. Its status has yet to be assessed.
Resource Identifier:
MS 279888-Vol.10 ( SOAS manuscript number )
Mss 432-433 ( SOAS manuscript number )