|
|
- Permanent Link:
- http://digital.soas.ac.uk/LSMD000301/00001
Notes
- Abstract:
- The poem narrates a story in which Hussein, the grandson of the prophet Mohammed, extols the prophet’s family. Mohammed arrives at the home of Fatuma saying he feels unwell. He asks for a cloak -- ‘kishamia’ -- in which to wrap himself. Mohammed’s grandson Hasan soon approaches Fatima and says that he detects a fine scent, at which Fatima explains the presence of Muhammad. Hasan goes to Mohammed and enters the kishamia; he is followed by Hussein, Ali and Fatima herself. The poet introduces each member of the family with lengthy praise. The angel Jibril asks permission to descend from heaven. He greets Mohammed and enters the cloth. Hussein praises the family, including himself, at length. This poem contains fewer stanzas than the version in MS 380739. ( en )
- General Note:
- Biographical information: MS 390739a gives Mwenye Mansab’s date of birth 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 awfully 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.
- General Note:
- Date of Composition is unknown
- General Note:
- Languages: Swahili (Arabic script)
- General Note:
- Extent: 16 small pages
- General Note:
- Incipit: Naanda mwando kutamka, mwando wangi bismillahi, na rrahmani kiandika, nayo ndiyo swahihi
- General Note:
- Purchased from Dr J. Knappert
- General Note:
- Other copy: The same poem, with alterations, is found in SOAS University of London manuscript MS 380739, ‘Kishamia’
- 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 -- Swahili Coast
- General Note:
- Scribe: Ali Omar, Yahya, 1924–2009
- General Note:
- Publication information: Dammann, Ernst. 1940. Dichtungen in der Lamu Mundart des Suaheli. Hamburg, pp. 276-284.
- General Note:
- Publication information: Harries, Lyndon. 1958. Maulid Barzanji: the Swahili abridgement of Seyyid Mansab. Afrika und Ubersee 42: 27-40.
- General Note:
- Publication information: Knappert, Jan. 1963. The poem of the robe. Swahili 33 (2): 55-60.
- General Note:
- Publication information: Knappert, Jan. 1968. Brief Survey of Swahili Literature. London: Centre for African Studies, SOAS, University of London, 26.
- General Note:
- Publication information: Knappert, Jan. 1987. Four Centuries of Swahili Verse. London: Heinemann, pp. 201-202 and 204-207.
- 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. 145-146
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 380067 ( SOAS manuscript number )
MS 380067c ( SOAS manuscript number )
|
|
