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161111n^^^^^^^^xx^^^^^^s^^^^^^^^^^^swa^d |
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|a MS 255733 |2 SOAS manuscript number |
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7 |
|a MS 255733c |2 SOAS manuscript number |
| 245 |
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|a Utenzi wa Karneni (MS 255733c) |h [electronic resource]. |
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|a Hichens Collection : Al-Inkishafi and Correspondence. |
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|a Date of Composition is unknown |
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|a Languages: Swahili (Roman script) |
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|a Extent: 13 pages (163 stanzas) |
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|a Incipit: Sasa tawapa ya pili, hadithi ya Sheikh Ali, yeye na Tumwa rasuli, na Karneni pamoya |
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|a The Utenzi wa Karneni begins at the stanza numbered 148 |
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|a From the Hichens Papers via Miss M.C. Bryan (gift), 23 February 1970 |
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|a Africa -- Eastern Africa -- Swahili Coast |
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|a Publication information: Knappert, Jan. 1968. Brief survey of Swahili literature. London: School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Centre of African Studies, p. 26 |
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|a This item may be in the public domain. Its status has yet to be assessed. |
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|a This puzzling narrative poem leaves many questions unanswered. Its central figure is the child Karneni, who shares the name but not the identity of a Qur’anic figure. The relation between events is frequently obscure, and the poem’s origin is also unknown. Like the Others in this manuscript, this poem contains scribing errors. The poet begins by invoking God. He then tells how one day Ali, the uncle of the Prophet, hears a group of non-believers talking about how they would set Muhammed’s clothing on fire if they were to encounter him. One among the group, a four-year-old child named Karneni, accuses the Others of lying. If they encountered the Prophet, he says, they would run away. The boy’s father scolds him. Ali comes forward and announces his faith. When the non-believers refuse to become Muslims, he kills them and tells Karneni to come with him. The child says he cannot, because Ali has killed his family. He tells Ali that he will bring a complaint to Mohammed. Ali picks up the child (stanza 26) and sets off towards Mohammed. Along the way, Karneni removes one of his own rings and conceals it in Ali’s clothes. When they reach Mohammed, Karneni complains about the killing of his family, and Ali confirms the earlier events. Karneni accuses Mohammed of siding with Ali. A duck and a two-headed animal appear, who are the angels Mikhail and Jibrail in disguise. The duck accuses the two-headed animal of eating its ducklings (stanza 47) and demands payment. The two-headed animal vomits up the ducklings and then swallows them again, accusing the duck of desiring ransom more than its own young. When the animals disappear, Karneni says they were not truly animals, as evidenced by two circumstances: they appeared together and departed together; and the accused (the two-headed animal) came ahead of the accuser, a highly unusual circumstance. He predicts the two will return as doves and then accuses Ali of stealing his ring. The angels return, Jibrail as a horse and Mikhail as a peacock. The horse brings an accusation against the peacock that involves a snake looking for its child. Karneni orders the two to return as camels; but the horse replies (stanza 79) that they have come to see Mohammed, not the child. After the animals leave, Karneni falls at Ali’s feet and begs forgiveness for lying about his ring. Karneni becomes Mohammed’s companion. The angels appear in Other guises, and on each occasion Karneni recognises them and addresses them. Mohammed sends Jibrail to ask God about Karneni, but God offers no explanation of the wondrous boy. Ultimately, the story focuses on Mohammed’s marriage to Khadija. When Mohammed is considering this marriage, he asks Karneni’s advice, and the child, on viewing Khadija from afar, says the marriage would not please him, because there is ‘darkness’ in the woman’s heart (stanza 132). Mohammed marries Khadija nevertheless, and one day he finds her crying about a lost ring that, it transpires, was given to her by her former husband. Nothing can replace it, she says. Mohammed wonders whether marriage to a previously married woman is advisable. Karneni reminds Mohammed of his earlier advice. Then Khadija calls Mohammed home and begs forgiveness for her indiscretion. |
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|a Electronic reproduction. |b London : |c SOAS University of London, |c Archives and Special Collections, |d 2016. |f (SOAS Digital Collections) |n Mode of access: World Wide Web. |n System requirements: Internet connectivity; Web browser software. |
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|a Archives and Special Collections. |
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|a History -- Religious aspects. |
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|a Muḥammad, Prophet, -645. |2 LCNA |
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|a ʻAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, Caliph, approximately 600-661. |2 LCNA |
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|a علي بن أبي طالب، الخليفة، 600-661. |
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|a SOAS Digital Collections. |
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|a Swahili Manuscripts Collections. |
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|a William Hichens Collection. |
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|a GBR |b SDC |c African Collections |
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|u http://digital.soas.ac.uk/LSMD000283/00001 |y Electronic Resource |
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|a http://digital.soas.ac.uk/content/LS/MD/00/02/83/00001/00_likelyPUBLICdomainthm.jpg |
