Mwana Kupona binti Msham (born on
Pate Island
Pate (Paté) Island () is located in the Indian Ocean close to the northern coast of Kenya, to which it belongs. It is the largest island in the Lamu Archipelago, which lie between the towns of Lamu and Kiunga in the former Coast Province. Th ...
, died c. 1865) was a
Swahili poet of the 19th century, author of a poem called ''Utendi wa Mwana Kupona'' ("The Book of Mwana Kupona"), which is one of the most well-known works of early
Swahili literature.
Relatively little is known about her life. Her grandson Muhammed bin Abdalla reported in the 1930s that Mwana Kupona was born on Pate Island, and that she was the last wife of
sheikh
Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik and Shaikh, shak—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonly designates a chief of a ...
Bwana Mataka, ruler of
Siu (or Siyu), with whom she had two children. Mataka died in 1856; two years later, Mwana Kupona wrote her famous poem, dedicated to her 14-year-old daughter Mwana Heshima. Mwana Kupona died around 1865 of uterine
hemorrhaging
Bleeding, hemorrhage, haemorrhage or blood loss, is blood escaping from the circulatory system from damaged blood vessels. Bleeding can occur internally, or externally either through a natural opening such as the mouth, nose, ear, urethra, vag ...
.
''Utendi wa Mwana Kupona''
The poem dates to about 1858 (year 1275 of the
Islamic calendar
The Hijri calendar ( ar, ٱلتَّقْوِيم ٱلْهِجْرِيّ, translit=al-taqwīm al-hijrī), also known in English as the Muslim calendar and Islamic calendar, is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 or ...
), and is centered on the teachings and advice of Mwana Kupona to her daughter, concerning
marriage
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...
and wifely duties.
[Extracted in ]Margaret Busby
Margaret Yvonne Busby, , Hon. FRSL (born 1944), also known as Nana Akua Ackon, is a Ghanaian-born publisher, editor, writer and broadcaster, resident in the UK. She was Britain's youngest and first black female book publisherJazzmine Breary"Let' ...
(ed.), ''Daughters of Africa
''Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Words and Writings by Women of African Descent from the Ancient Egyptian to the Present'' is a compilation of orature and literature by more than 200 women from Africa and the African diaspora, ...
'', Cape: 1992, pp. 67–69. Despite the seemingly secular subject, the book is prominently
religious
Religion is usually defined as a social system, social-cultural system of designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morality, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sacred site, sanctified places, prophecy, prophecie ...
and even
mystical
Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in u ...
, and it has been compared to the
Biblical
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
''
Book of Proverbs
The Book of Proverbs ( he, מִשְלֵי, , "Proverbs (of Solomon)") is a book in the third section (called Ketuvim) of the Hebrew Bible and a book of the Christian Old Testament. When translated into Greek and Latin, the title took on different ...
''. A few lines of the poem are dedicated to the author herself:
References in culture
* The
Kenya
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, national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
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, capital = Nairobi
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, largest_city = Nairobi
, ...
n writer and Swahili literature scholar
Kitula King'ei
Kitula (; literally translated the "place of linger") is a village in Suomusjärvi, Salo, in Southwest Finland, along regional road 110 (Old Turku Road). It is the administrative center of the former municipality of Suomusjärvi, where local se ...
published in 2000 a
children's book
Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader.
Children's ...
entitled ''Mwana Kupona: Poetess from Lamu'', based on the work and life of Mwana Kupona.
See also
*
Swahili literature
Notes
References
* Kitula King'ei
"Aspects of Autobiography in the Classical Swahili Poetry: Problems of Identity of Authorship" ''Folklore'', vol. 16, 2001.
{{Authority control
Swahili-language writers
Kenyan women writers
1860s deaths
Year of death uncertain
Year of birth unknown
19th-century Kenyan women writers
19th-century Kenyan writers