# Sheikh Ahmed Gabyow (Sheekh Axmed Gabyow)

> Sheikh Ahmed Gabyow: masafo poet whose 1891 verse against Italian rule is called an early call for Somali nationalism.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/people/ahmed-gabyow/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## Who was he?

Sheikh Ahmed Gabyow, also known as Sheekh Axmed Abiikar or Sheikh Wacdiyow, was a Somali poet and religious leader ([Wikipedia, Ahmed Gabyow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Gabyow)). He lived on the coast north of Mogadishu in the first decades of Italian rule (same source). He was known for masafo, a form of Somali poetry usually composed by religious men, and produced several dozen such poems (same source).

## The 1891 poem

Wikipedia records that he recited a poem at the end of June 1891 after fighting at Cadale and [Warsheikh](/en/regions/warsheikh/) in which an Italian naval lieutenant and Italian colonial troops were killed ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Gabyow)). The poem, which calls on Somalis to resist colonial rule "for future generations", is described as an early call for Somali nationalism (same source).

His grandson, Mohamed [Sheikh](/en/regions/sheikh/) Gabiow, later became a Somali Youth League minister (same source).

This page records events without taking sides.

## In short

A coastal religious poet whose 1891 verse is remembered as an early call to resist Italian rule.

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