Abdillahi Suldaan Mohammed "Timacadde" ( so, Cabdilaahi Suldaan Maxamed, ar, عبد الله سلطان محمد) was a Somali

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

. He was among the most prominent bards of his day.

Biography

Timacade was born in 1920 in the small town of Galooley, situated near

Gabiley Gabiley ( so, Gabiley, ar, غابيلي), also known as Gebiley, is a city in the Maroodi Jeex region of Somaliland. Gabiley is located 58 km west of Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland. It is in the center of the Gabiley district, bounded ...

in British Somaliland, now ( Somaliland). He hailed from the Jibril Abokor, a

Sa'ad Musa The Sa'ad Musa or Saad Musa ( so, Sacad Muuse, ar, سعد موسى, Full Name:'' Saad ibn Musa ibn Zubayr ibn Abd al-Raḥmān ibn ash- Shaykh Isḥāq ibn Aḥmad'') is a northern Somali clan. Its members form a part of the Habr Awal clan of ...

sub-division of the

Habr Awal The Habr Awal, also contemporarily known as the Subeer Awal, and alternately romanized as the Zubeyr Awal ( so, Habar Awal, ar, هبر أول, Full Name: '' Zubeyr ibn Abd al-Raḥmān ibn ash- Shaykh Isḥāq ibn Aḥmad)'' is a major clan of ...

Isaaq The Isaaq (also Isaq, Ishaak, Isaac) ( so, Reer Sheekh Isxaaq, ar, بني إسحاق, Banī Isḥāq) is a Somali clan. It is one of the major Somali clans in the Horn of Africa, with a large and densely populated traditional territory. Pe ...

clan that predominantly inhabits the

region. In Galooley, Abdillahi Suldaan attended the local Qur’anic school. In his early teens he started composing and reciting poetry (initially, he could neither read nor write). His father and mother died when Abdillahi was very young. In 1936, Abdillahi Suldaan migrated to

Harar Harar ( amh, ሐረር; Harari: ሀረር; om, Adare Biyyo; so, Herer; ar, هرر) known historically by the indigenous as Gey (Harari: ጌይ ''Gēy'', ) is a walled city in eastern Ethiopia. It is also known in Arabic as the City of Saint ...

, where he worked in a restaurant owned by one of his uncles. After having spent some time in

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

and

Djibouti Djibouti, ar, جيبوتي ', french: link=no, Djibouti, so, Jabuuti officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red ...

in the 1940s and 1950s, he returned to Gabiley and took part in the independence movements against the then ruling

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

administration of the former British Somaliland

protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over most of its int ...

. Timacade was famous for his numerous poems, particularly his one euphoric

paean A paean () is a song or lyric poem expressing triumph or thanksgiving. In classical antiquity, it is usually performed by a chorus, but some examples seem intended for an individual voice ( monody). It comes from the Greek παιάν (also πα ...

to liberty that marked the 26 June 1960 celebrations of Somaliland's independence from the British and pending reunification with

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

5 days later to form the Somali Republic. In the mid-1960s, he joined the Somali Democratic Union (SDU) and became its main poet, continuing his anticlanist themes. He later refused to vote in the 1967 elections and welcomed the October 1969 coup d'état.

Later years

In his fifties, Timacade suffered from a throat illness. He was eventually taken to Jomo Kenyatta Hospital in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, to undergo a number of treatments. Timacade died on 6 February 1973 in Kalabaydh, Somaliland. He was buried in Gabiley.

References

* Qaran News
The life and times of Cabdilahi Suldaan Timacade
* Saylici Press
Gabaygii calanka ee Timocade: Kaana Siib kana Saar
{{DEFAULTSORT:Timacade, Abdillahi Suldaan Mohammed 1920 births 1973 deaths Somalian poets 20th-century poets Somalian male writers 20th-century male writers People from Maroodi Jeex

Biography

Later years

See also

References