Timacadde (Cabdillaahi Suldaan Maxamed)

Who was he?

Cabdillaahi Suldaan Maxamed, known as Timacadde, was described by Wikipedia as one of the leading Somali poets of his day (Wikipedia, Abdillahi Suldaan Mohammed Timacade). Geeska describes his best known line as still a slogan of Somali nationhood (Geeska, Mahbub M. Abdillahi, 9 April 2025).

Early life

He was born in about 1920 in the small town of Galooley, near Gabiley, in what was then British Somaliland (Wikipedia). He went to the local Quranic school. His parents died when he was very young (same source).

He began to compose and recite poems in his early teens, before he could read or write. In 1936 he moved to Harar, where he worked in an uncle's restaurant. He spent time in Ethiopia and Djibouti in the 1940s and 1950s, then came home to Gabiley and joined the movement for independence (Wikipedia).

The flag poem

Somaliland became independent from Britain on 26 June 1960, and joined the south five days later to form the Somali Republic. Timacadde marked the day with a poem of joy (Wikipedia).

Its best-known line is "Kaana siib, kana saar", "take down that one, raise this one". It speaks of lowering the colonial flag and raising the Somali flag (Geeska 2025). Geeska writes that the line "has remained a slogan for Somali nationalism" and that the poem became a powerful symbol of the shared joy of that time (same source).

See also independence and union, 1960.

Against clan division

In the mid-1960s he joined the Somali Democratic Union and became its main poet. His poems kept speaking against clan division (Wikipedia). He refused to vote in the 1967 elections and welcomed the change of government in October 1969 (same source).

Last years

In his early fifties he fell ill with a throat disease and was treated at Kenyatta Hospital in Nairobi. He died on 6 February 1973 at Kalabaydh and was buried in Gabiley (Wikipedia).

How he is remembered

Somali poets who followed, such as Hadraawi, grew up with his verse. Geeska warns that Somalis are losing access to this poetic heritage (Geeska 2025). See Somali poetry.

In short

A poet who wrote the verse read when the flag was raised at independence.