16 - Praise and Prestige: The Significance of Elegiac Poetry among Muslim Intellectuals on the Late Twentieth-Century Kenya Coast

Summary

Introduction

Swahili poetry was used for various functions which included, inter alia, social functions, political activities and inculcating and disseminating Sufi tradition. During the funeral ceremonies of prominent intellectuals, elegiac poetry was recited by their peers paying tribute to their departed fellows. A salient feature of the poetic heritage on the Kenya coast is Muslim women's contribution in composing poems. This chapter explores these poetical trajectories and highlights patterns of poetical heritage on the late twentieth-century Kenya coast.

The main argument of this chapter is premised on the fact that poetic culture, particularly elegiac poems, is considered to be a cultural asset among ʿulamā’ on the Kenya coast. It was transmitted through an intellectual chain that passed from one generation to the next, which ensured continuity of their cultural heritage over time. Elegiac poems composed by learners reflected adoration of their mentors who represented the apex of literary heritage along the Kenya coast. The mentor– learner connection served as a breeding forum to mentor as well as ‘manufacture’ future poets. This chapter shows examples of intellectually linked scholars-cumpoets and illustrates some of their poetical works.

‘Ulamā’ on the Kenya coast, particularly the traditionalist ‘Alawiyya scholars, revered poetic culture that seemed to be part and parcel of their daily intellectual life. This chapter focuses on the poetical works of ‘Alawiyya scholars and their students, who established a scholarly network that formed a constellation of reputed poets linked by an intellectual chain on the Kenya coast giving examples of various poems composed by the ‘Alawiyya ‘ulamā’. These ‘ulamā’-cumpoets were born and bred locally albeit their masterly poetical skills in composing artistic poems of high degree were recognised and admired by their peers along the Kenya coast and beyond. The chapter will highlight the traditionalist ‘Alawiyya poets, who enjoyed considerable prestige in the poetic culture on the Kenya coast. The chapter will illustrate examples of elegiac poems composed by two renowned ‘Alawiyya ‘ulamā’, Sayyid Ali Badawī and Ustāḍ Muḥammad b. Saʿīd al-Biḍ, who are arguably among the most profound writers of poems and prose along the Kenya coast. In addition to the ‘Alawiyya ‘ulamā’, the chapter will also demonstrate the dwindling role of the reformist Salafī ‘ulamā’ in the poetical culture on the Kenya coast.