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- Permanent Link:
- http://digital.soas.ac.uk/LSMD000326/00001
Material Information
- Title:
- Utenzi wa Sitina Aisha (MS 380532a)
- Series Title:
- Knappert Collection :
- Creator:
- [s.n.]
- Publication Date:
- [n.d.]
- Language:
- Swahili
- Materials:
- Paper ( medium )
- Technique:
- Typescript manuscript on thin paper, with a few notes in red ink
Notes
- Abstract:
- The utenzi can be described in three parts. First, the preparatory stanzas in which the poet announces his intentions, makes the customary request for writing materials and invokes God (stanzas 1-5); then the narration on how Mohammed came to be married to Aisha (stanzas 6-53); finally, and probably reflecting the poet’s main intention, the story of how Aisha was slandered and how her innocence was declared by God. The poem includes two Qur’anic verses: 24:11 on the punishment of slanderers and 24:22 on not retaliating against them. The poem introduces Mohammed after the death of his first wife, as he wonders whom he should marry. He is visited by the angel Jibril, who brings a leaf (from a tree in heaven: ‘jani la peponi’) that shows the face of Aisha, the daughter of Abu Bakr. The angel tells Mohammed that he and the girl have already been married by God. Mohammed does not recognise the girl, and he learns Aisha’s identity by showing the leaf to women. Abu Bakr first objects to Mohammed’s intention to marry his daughter, saying that she is young and could not be a suitable wife for Mohammed, but the Prophet explains that the matter has been decided by God. Abu Bakr sends Aisha to Mohammed, ostensibly on an errand. In the course of their encounter, Aisha becomes angry, and she returns to Abu Bakr to complain about Mohammed’s behaviour. Mohammed follows and quiets Abu Bakr’s anger at his daughter; and Aisha, in this second encounter, gladly accepts their marriage. Sources for this part of the poem are unknown. The next part, which narrates the story of Aisha’s slander and vindication, agrees in all but small details with the ‘Hadithu al ifk’ in Sahihu al-Bukhariy. It tells how Aisha was chosen from among the Prophet’s wives (by drawing lots) to accompany Mohammed to battle, how she was unwittingly left behind by his party as they returned; how a rumour began that she had been unfaithful to Mohammed with the member of his party who brought her to him; and how God vindicated Aisha in Qur’anic verses revealed to Mohammed. Differences between the story narrated by the utenzi and ‘Hadithu al-ifk’ are slight. They include Aisha’s learning of the slander, which in the utenzi occurs at her parents’ house and in the hadith takes place at night near the quarters of Mohammed’s wives; her father’s reaction when Mohammed asks her about the rumour; and the name of the man who propagates the rumour discrediting Aisha. In the utenzi the verses from God are brought by Jibril, while in the hadith they come solely through Mohammed’s revelation. A note may be added concerning stanza 73, where the last member of Mohammed’s party spies Aisha asleep from a distance. In ‘Hadithu al-ifk,’ the man sees ‘sawada insanin,’ literally ‘the blackness of a person,’ meaning a human figure. In the utenzi, he sees a person in black clothes: ‘nguo nyeusi.’ It is possible that the Swahili represents a literal (and in effect inaccurate) rendering of the Arabic phrase. ( en )
- General Note:
- Date of Composition is unknown
- General Note:
- Languages: Swahili (Roman script)
- General Note:
- Dialects: KiGunya; KiTikuu and KiBajuni
- General Note:
- Poetic Form: Utenzi
- General Note:
- Extent: 16 leaves
- General Note:
- Incipit: Pachiyani zinjifuri, na wino mwema khiyari, na kalamu ya sifuri, ilonjema kwandikiya
- General Note:
- Archival history: This may be the typescript that came into the possession of the East African Swahili Committee from Sir Mbarak Ali Hinawy. (See Knappert 1964.)
- General Note:
- Asia -- Arabian Peninsula -- Saudi Arabia -- Al Madinah Province -- Medina Governate -- Medina
- General Note:
- Purchased from Dr. J. Knappert, March 1993
- General Note:
- Publication information: Dammann, Ernst. 1940. Dichtungen in der Lamu: Mundart des Suaheli. Hamburg: Friedrichsen, DeGruyter and Co.
- General Note:
- Publication information: Knappert, Jan (ed). 1964. Utenzi wa Mwana Ayesha. Swahili 34 (1): 130-140.
- General Note:
- Publication information: Knappert, Jan. 1999. A SuKnappert, Jan. vey of Swahili Islamic Epic Sagas. Lewiston, New YoKnappert, Jan. k; Queenston, OntaKnappert, Jan. io; LampeteKnappert, Jan. , Wales: Edwin Mellen PKnappert, Jan. ess; pp. 44-45
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 380532 ( SOAS manuscript number )
MS 380532a ( SOAS manuscript number )
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