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- Permanent Link:
- http://digital.soas.ac.uk/LSMD000193/00001
Material Information
- Title:
- Letters to W. Hichens (MS 47797a)
- Series Title:
- Hichens Collection :
- Creator:
- Kijuma, Muhammad ( Author, Primary )
Mazrui, Al-Amin Bin Ali Mazrui ( contributor )
Muhammad bin Abdalla Rudeni ( contributor )
Kijuma, Muhammad ( contributor )
Mazrui, Al-Amin Bin Ali ( contributor )
Muhammad bin Abdalla Rudeni ( contributor )
- Publication Date:
- 1907, 1933, 1935, 1936 AD (1325, 1352,1354, 1355 A.H.)
- Language:
- Swahili
- Materials:
- Paper ( medium )
- Technique:
- Handwritten manuscriptHanwritten with black ink, bounded on a red and brown small volume
Notes
- Abstract:
- This manuscript contains 8 letters and one essay addressed to Hichens from Muhammad Kijumwa, Sheikh Alamin bin Ali Mazrui and Mohammed bin Abdalla Rudeni. The first three letters are by Kijumwa; the second one is transliterated and typed in MS 253028a (letter 8) with substantial errors as many words are either omitted or misread if compared with the original. For instance, the first line of the second paragraph of the transliterated version reads ‘zitano’ instead of ‘z(v)itabu’. The third letter, to be found transliterated and typed in letter 5 of MS 253028a, is a reply following Hichens letter dated 18th May 1932. Kijumwa informs Hichens that he is enclosing two Miraji, one of them a Nathra (prose) and the Other an Utenzi (poetry). In some instances, Kijumwa uses the southern dialect, also known as Standard Swahili, because better known to Europeans. For instance, on line 17 of page 1 he uses the word ‘tembo’ rather than ‘ndovu’, for elephant. Kijumwa discusses issues related to Hamziyya, Al-Inkishafi, Alfiya, and information on the life of Barasisi. Kijumwa ‘s letters are followed by two letters by Mohammed Abdalla Rudeni from Lamu. Rudeni was told by Mr Whitton, of Lamu Custom Agency, that Hichens wanted historical information on Lamu, as well as old poems. In the first letter, Rudeni asks Hichens to specify the type of information he wishes to receive. In the second letter he says that he is sending an old nyimbo and some old mashairi. A loose page is inserted within the two letters, of unknown author. The researcher suggests that it may have been written by Kijumwa. Finally, there are two letters and one essay by Sheikh Alamin bin Ali Marzui. The first letter, in Arabic script is followed by a typed transliteration, and says that information about Barasisi is enclosed. In fact, the letter is followed by an essay on the life of Barasisi. The information are drawn from the book ‘Al-Majalisu Assaniya’, in Arabic, from which much information has been directly translated by Sheikh Alamin himself. The researcher has noted that there are variations of same words in different letters by Sheikh Alamin. Possibly, the author had found different ways of writing untranslatable Arabic words. Sheikh Alamin had studied extensively the adaptation of Arabic script into Swahili. ( en )
- General Note:
- Biographical information: Muhammad Kijumwa was born circa 1855 in Lamu. He was a poet, scribe, performer, calligrapher, carpenter, taylor and sculptor who taught his daughter, Helewa, the craft of decorative woodcarving. He assisted many European 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 member of Lamu society. -- Sheikh Alamin bin Ali Mazrui was born in Mombasa in A.D 1891 (A.H. 1308) and died in A.D. 1947 (A.H. 1366). -- He was, and still is, considered one of the greatest scholar of Islamic religious science, in East Africa, and was appointed chief Kadhi (Muslim judge) of Kenya in 1937. -- During his life he wrote many books about Islam, literature, and the history of the Coast. His most important contribution was to provide Islamic religious books to the people of East Africa, in Swahili. -- His book ‘The History of the Mazrui Dinasty of Mombasa’ was translated by J.McL Ritchie and published by Oxford University Press in 1995. -- In 1932 he began the publication of the weekly newspaper in Arabic and Swahili called Al-Iswlah. -- He also began to translate the Qur’an, of which some parts have been published. -- He left many unpublished manuscripts, including a very relevant study of Swahili prosody, in which he gave a neat classification of the poetic forms for the study of Swahili poetry.
- General Note:
- Date of Composition: 1907, 1933, 1935, 1936 AD (1325, 1352,1354, 1355 A.H.)
- General Note:
- Languages: Swahili (Arabic script)
- General Note:
- Dialects: KiAmu and KiMvita
- General Note:
- Donated by Mrs E. Hichens, 22 June 1945
- General Note:
- Extent: 12 leaves
- General Note:
- Incipit: Ilaa janaabi al-shshaykhi al-muhibbi al-akrami al-mukarrami al-wafiyyi Bwana Hichens. Sallamahu allahu taalaa
- General Note:
- VIAF (name authority) : Kijuma, Muhammad : URI http://viaf.org/viaf/43775563
- General Note:
- VIAF (name authority) : Mazrui, Al-Amin Bin Ali Mazrui : URI http://viaf.org/viaf/39558103
- General Note:
- VIAF (name authority) : Mazrui, Al-Amin Bin Ali : URI http://viaf.org/viaf/39558103
- General Note:
- Africa -- Eastern Africa -- Swahili Coast
- General Note:
- Scribe: Kijuma, Muhammad
- General Note:
- Scribe: Mazrui, Al-Amin Bin Ali
- General Note:
- Publication information: Harries, Lyndon. 1964. The legend of the Monk Barsis -- a Swahili Version. African Language Studies 5: 17-33.
- General Note:
- Publication information: Knappert, Jan (ed). 1964. Utenzi wa Barasisi wa Saidi bin Abdallah Masu’udi. Swahili 34 (2): 28-37.
- General Note:
- Publication information: Knappert, Jan. 1999. A Survey of Swahili Islamic Epic Sagas. Lewiston, New York; Queenston, Ontario; Lampeter, Wales: Edwin Mellen Press; pp. 39-41
Record Information
- Source Institution:
- SOAS University of London
- Holding Location:
- Archives and Special Collections
- Rights Management:
- This item is likely protected by copyright. Its status has yet to be assessed.
- Resource Identifier:
- MS 47797 ( SOAS manuscript number )
MS 47797a ( SOAS manuscript number )
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