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- Permanent Link:
- http://digital.soas.ac.uk/LSMD000066/00001
Notes
- Abstract:
- This section contains three versions of the Hadithi ya Yusuf, written and scribed by Muhammad Kujumwa in c. 1913AD-1332AH [the last version, MS 354, was scribed by Ahmed bin Abdalla bin Mohammed]. Kijumwa scribing skill is at its best here, which makes the reading very easy and pleasant. Also, Kijumwa being the author of the story expands with his creative imagination the purely religious content of the story that we find in the Qur’an and the Bible. Kijumwa additions reflect aspects of Swahili culture that are not contained in the original. Kujumwa also, as noted by Abd Egl in hi PhD study of Kijumwa work, adds at stanza 161 the invocation’ O, Listener for the ones crying for help. O, Helper for the ones appealing for aid. O, The One who relieves the grief of the grieved ones. This invocation is to be found in an original source for this story, which suggests that Kijumwa took that source as the basis for his translation into Swahili. AnOther version of the same hadithi (also referred as Kisa) is to be found in Hichens MS 228624. Hichens version was given to him by Alice Werner who received it from Kijumwa, in 1937, in Lamu. The three versions contained here were given to Allen by Bi. Zaharia of Lamu in1938. The first poem has 755 stanzas and 55 Aya of the Qur’an, whereas the second one has 791 stanzas and 57 Aya, like the last one. ( en )
- General Note:
- Biographical information: Muhammad Kijumwa was born circa 1855 in Lamu. He was a poet, scribe, peformer calligrapher, carpenter, tailor and sculptor who taught his son, Helewa, the craft of decorative woodcarving. He assisted many Eurpoean scholars of Swahili literature, including William Taylor, Alice Werner, Carl Meinhof, H.E. Lambert, William Hichens, Ernst Dammann and John Williamson, and was a well-known character in Lamu.
- General Note:
- Date of Composition: circa 1913 AD (circa 1332 A.H.)
- General Note:
- Languages: Swahili (Arabic script)
- General Note:
- Dialects: KiAmu
- General Note:
- Poetic Form: Utenzi
- General Note:
- Incipit: Mwando wangu kukutubu ina la mola wahhabu hadithi ya Yaakubu- nimependa kuwambiya
- General Note:
- See also SOAS University of London manuscript MS 228624 (Hichens collection) dated 1937 and given to Hichens by Alice Werner
- General Note:
- Donated to SOAS in 1982
- General Note:
- Archival history: Mss given to Allen by Bi. Zaharia of Lamu
- General Note:
- VIAF (name authority) : Kijuma, Muhammad : URI http://viaf.org/viaf/43775563
- General Note:
- Africa -- North Africa -- Egypt
- General Note:
- Scribe: Kijuma, Muhammad
- General Note:
- Scribe: Ahmed bin Abdalla bin Mohammed
- General Note:
- Publication information: Abou Egl, Mohammad. 1983. The life and works of Muhamadi Kijuma. PhD thesis, SOAS, University of London.
- General Note:
- Publication information: Knappert, Jan. 1964. Four Swahili Epics. Leiden, p. 6 and pp. 9-58.
- General Note:
- Publication information: Knappert, Jan. 1968. Brief survey of Swahili literature. London: School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Centre of African Studies, pp. 35-36.
- General Note:
- Knappert, Jan. 1999. A Survey of Swahili Islamic Epic Sagas. Lewiston, New York; Queenston, Ontario; Lampeter, Wales: Edwin Mellen Press; pp. 159-164
Record Information
- Source Institution:
- SOAS University of London
- Holding Location:
- Archives and Special Collections
- Rights Management:
- This item is believed to be in the public domain
- Resource Identifier:
- MS 279888-Vol.7 ( SOAS manuscript number )
Mss 351-354 ( SOAS manuscript number )
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