Utenzi wa Shufaka (
Swahili
Swahili may refer to:
* Swahili language, a Bantu language official in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and widely spoken in the African Great Lakes
* Swahili people, an ethnic group in East Africa
* Swahili culture
Swahili culture is the culture of ...
: "Poem of Mercifulness") is an
utenzi Utenzi or utend̠i is a form of narrative poetry in Swahili language, Swahili. Its name derives from the fact that it usually describes heroic deeds, like the medieval European ''Chanson de geste, gesta'' (lit. "deeds"). ''Utendi'', plural ''tendi'' ...
(classical narrative poem) in
Swahili literature
Swahili literature is, generally speaking, literature written in the Swahili language, particularly by Swahili people of the East African coast and the neighboring islands. It may also refer to literature written by people who write in the Swahili ...
. It is composed of 285 stanzas of four lines of eight-syllables each. The poet-narrator of utenzi offers details of his lineage but never identifies himself.
The only old manuscript of the poem known is held in the library of the
German Oriental Society in
Halle Halle may refer to:
Places Germany
* Halle (Saale), also called Halle an der Saale, a city in Saxony-Anhalt
** Halle (region), a former administrative region in Saxony-Anhalt
** Bezirk Halle, a former administrative division of East Germany
** Hall ...
. This copy, which is written in
Arabic script
The Arabic script is the writing system used for Arabic and several other languages of Asia and Africa. It is the second-most widely used writing system in the world by number of countries using it or a script directly derived from it, and the ...
, was sent by Ludwig Krapf from Africa (most probably,
German East Africa
German East Africa (GEA; german: Deutsch-Ostafrika) was a German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included present-day Burundi, Rwanda, the Tanzania mainland, and the Kionga Triangle, a small region later incorporated into Mozam ...
) in 1854. The poem was published in 1887, followed by a
Latin-script
The Latin script, also known as Roman script, is an alphabetic writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greece, Greek city of Cumae, in southe ...
transliteration in 1894 by Carl Gotthilf Büttner.
Jan Knappert
Dr. Jan Knappert (January 14, 1927, Heemstede – May 30, 2005, Hilversum, Netherlands) was a well-known expert on the Swahili language. He was also an Esperantist, and he wrote an Esperanto-Swahili dictionary.
Knappert translated many literary a ...
offered the first
English translation in 1967, though he also introduced a number of significant mistranslations.
The original title is Chuo cha Utenzi ("A book of poetry in utenzi meter"). This was changed by Büttner to a title he felt was more descriptive.
Plot
A long time ago, the
angels
Gabriel and
Michael had an argument. Both agreed that in the distant past
humans were kind and compassionate towards each other. However, while Gabriel held that this was still true, Michael argued that humans had lost the quality of compassion. To settle the dispute, they agreed to carry out a test.
The two descended to
Medina, where Gabriel appeared at the
mosque as a severely ill man and Michael appeared in the
marketplace as a physician. The townspeople pitied Gabriel and offered him money to go find a healer. Gabriel said that he knew of one and took them to Michael. Michael stated that he could cure Gabriel but only with the blood of a
sacrifice
Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly exi ...
d young man, in particular a seventh son who was the only surviving after his six siblings had died in infancy. The only man fitting the description was Kassim, the son of the wealthiest man of the village. The townspeople agreed and explained to Kassim's father, who agreed but said his wife must agree. His wife agreed, but said that Kassim must also agree, which he did. Michael then stated the father must be the one to
kill his son. Sorrowing, the father does so. The angels vanish, leaving the townspeople to prepare a burial.
In
Heaven
Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...
, Michael agrees with Gabriel that humans still possess exemplary compassion. The angels appeal to
God to resurrect Kassim. God grants permission and the angels return to the town as different person, who return to Kassim's family and say that they are hungry and thirsty. The bereaved father tells his wife to prepare food and drink. Gabriel invokes God to bring all seven of the sons to life and the whole town celebrates. The angels return to Heaven, where they
prophesy that in the future humans will lose their compassion and become obsessed with their physical well-being and material wealth. The poet concludes by stating that this prophecy has been fulfilled.
Significance
Jan Knappert
Dr. Jan Knappert (January 14, 1927, Heemstede – May 30, 2005, Hilversum, Netherlands) was a well-known expert on the Swahili language. He was also an Esperantist, and he wrote an Esperanto-Swahili dictionary.
Knappert translated many literary a ...
stated that ''Utenzi wa Shufaka'' was important because of its age and because it is one of the most remarkable pieces of Swahili literature, though he did not elaborate on why he thought it was remarkable.
In 1920, Alice Werner wrote:
It is difficult to relate this '' pic' seriously in English but, strange as it may seem, it has certain pathos
Pathos (, ; plural: ''pathea'' or ''pathê''; , for "suffering" or "experience") appeals to the emotions and ideals of the audience and elicits feelings that already reside in them. Pathos is a term used most often in rhetoric (in which it is c ...
in the original. The emotions of the parents are dwelt on at great length, and the poem is enormously popular especially among Swahili women.
See also
*
Swahili literature
Swahili literature is, generally speaking, literature written in the Swahili language, particularly by Swahili people of the East African coast and the neighboring islands. It may also refer to literature written by people who write in the Swahili ...
*
Utenzi Utenzi or utend̠i is a form of narrative poetry in Swahili language, Swahili. Its name derives from the fact that it usually describes heroic deeds, like the medieval European ''Chanson de geste, gesta'' (lit. "deeds"). ''Utendi'', plural ''tendi'' ...
*
Abraham and
Ishmael in Islam
References
* Hamza Mustafa Njozi
"Critical Artistry in Utenzi wa Shufaka" ''Nordic Journal of African Studies'' 8(1): 117-129 (1999)
Utenzi