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- Permanent Link:
- http://digital.soas.ac.uk/LSMD000186/00001
Notes
- Abstract:
- This portion of MS 47779 contains a version of the Maulid al-Azabi that has an introduction and six sections. Within the Maulid, each Swahili verse follows its Arabic original. The introduction treats the benefits of reading the Maulid, such as protection at home from fire and from thieves. The first section of the Maulid praises and thanks God; the second treats the lineage and birth of the Prophet Mohammed; the third (at the beginning of which listeners stand) eulogizes the Prophet; the fourth treats Mohammed’s adoption by Halima; and the fifth describes the miiraj, the Prophet’s miraculous journey to the heavens. The sixth section is a prayer. The scribe’s small handwriting and his use of Arabic script may present challenges to the reader. ( en )
- General Note:
- Biographical information: SOAS manuscript MS 380739a gives the date of birth of Sayyid Mansab bin Abdirrahman (Mwenye Mansab) 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 terribly 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. -- Knappert (1971) reports that the author in Arabic, Muhammad al-Azabi, described his own work as a poetic rendering of the prose maulid of Imam as-Sayyid Ja’far al-Barzanj
- General Note:
- Date of Composition is unknown
- General Note:
- Languages: Swahili (Arabic script)
- General Note:
- Dialects: KiAmu
- General Note:
- Extent: 8 pages
- General Note:
- Incipit: Taitia kati ya wasifuo, henda kazipata tatuko zao, ila sitoyua kwa lugha yao, tanena Kiamu mutafahama
- General Note:
- Donated by Mrs E. Hichens, June 1945
- General Note:
- The name ‘Al-Azabi,’ rather than ‘Al-Arabi’ or ‘Al-Azbi,’ is used here based on Knappert (1971). See that publication for a version of the poem similar to that contained in SOAS University of London manuscript MS 380561a. See also MSS 380561a and 380553a.
- General Note:
- Sayyid Mansab bin Abdirrahman is also sometimes spelled "Masab bin Abdirrahman" and "Sayyid Mansab bin Abdulrahman" or "Sayyid Abubakar bin Abdulrahman bin Abubakar" as well as "Mwenye Mansab".
- General Note:
- Africa -- Eastern Africa -- Kenya -- Lamu County -- Lamu -- Lamu Island
- General Note:
- Scribe: Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Yunus Al-Sa’di
- General Note:
- Publication information: Knappert, Jan. 1971. Swahili Islamic Poetry, Vol. 1. Leiden: E.J. Brill; pp. 102-131.
- General Note:
- Publication information: Harries, L. 1958. Maulid Barzanji. The Swahili Abridgement of Seyyid Mansab. Afrika und Ubersee, 42: 27-39.
- General Note:
- Publication information: Dammann, Ernst. 1940. Dichtungen in der Lamu Mundart des Suaheli. Hamburg, pp. 276-284
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 47779 ( SOAS manuscript number )
MS 47779e ( SOAS manuscript number )
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