Oral Poetry from Africa
A Hausa Praise-Poem from northern Nigeria, in praise of Galadima Dauda who ruled in the mid-thirteenth century. This is a good example of the simplest and oldest kind of Praise-Poetry, in which the hero’s memory is preserved in a brief description packed with meaning.
Champion of the axes of the south,
Champion of the young men of the south…
A Hausa praise poem (see also Rano), Bawa Jangwarzo was ruler (1777–1795) of Gobir, one of the seven original Hausa kingdoms. He is chiefly remembered today for sponsoring Usman dan Fodio (1754–1817), the Islamic reformer, who encouraged literacy and scholarship for both men and women, and who, after his expulsion from Gobir by Bawa’s successor, founded the city-state of Sokoto.
Causer of terror, chief of iron ore,
Son of Alasan, owner of the drum…
A Hausa example of something that happens across West Africa, but is not often recorded. A singer accosts a prominent person in public, in this case a merchant, and begins praising him. But the praises are ambiguous, and unless the singer is rewarded, they slip into savage satire.
There is no god but Allah,
this is the praise of Allah…
A Hausa Praise-Poem from northern Nigeria. Rano was a chief killed in battle around 1870. The poem’s emphasis is placed very firmly and vividly on Rano’s exploits in battle up to the time of his death.
Sarkin Rano is a beloved of God;
Since he fell in battle, marriage has become unmanageable…
Malam Aliyu na Mangi was the leading poet of the Hausa in the mid-20th century. Born in 1895, within his first year he lost his sight through an attack of measles and smallpox. Despite this, he became a Malam learning by heart the texts required to become an Islamic scholar.
We give thanks to the Lord of the Worlds
for the bounty bestowed on us in no small measure…
A Hausa poem from northern Nigeria. This is an Islamic poem, composed in writing but intended for public performance. The prospect of the day of resurrection is a warning to all who do evil.
Know you that tyranny will be darkness on the Day of Resurrection,
It is the word of the Messenger of God, Muhammed…
