Somali poetry (maanso): the forms, the great poets and why it still matters

A nation of poets

The Canadian writer Margaret Laurence lived in the Somali north in the early 1950s. Her first book, A Tree for Poverty (Nairobi, 1954), was a collection of Somali poems and stories in English (Margaret Laurence, Orlando, Cambridge). She is credited with calling Somalia a "nation of bards" (Somali literature, Wikipedia, backup).

For most of history Somali was not written. Poems were the archive. They were memorised, passed on and quoted in councils. The historian Said S. Samatar showed how poetry drove politics and resistance in his book Oral Poetry and Somali Nationalism (Cambridge University Press, 1982; cited by Wikipedia).

The rules: metre and alliteration

Every line of a Somali poem must alliterate. The poet picks one sound, and a word in each half-line must start with it. Samatar calls this hikaad (Orwin, "Alliteration in Somali Poetry", 2011, cited by Wikipedia). The poem also follows an unwritten metre, counted in syllables.

The main forms (Ismaaciil Galaal, 1970, cited by Wikipedia; Samatar, WardheerNews):

• Gabay: the long, serious poem, 14 to 16 syllables a line. Used for politics, war, peace and wisdom.
• Geeraar: short lines of 7 syllables. Traditionally recited on horseback, often in war.
• Jiifto: 7 syllables, a slower, reflective metre.
• Buraambur: poetry composed and performed by women.
• Heello and hees: song forms. Work songs (for watering camels, grinding grain, churning milk) and modern songs.

Samatar lists six forms of maanso: gabay, geeraar, jiifto, weeglo, guuraw and buraambur (WardheerNews).

Great poets

Sayyid Mohammed Abdullah Hassan (1856–1920). Leader of the Dervish resistance, and called a master of eloquence by Samatar. His poems were weapons in a twenty-year struggle (Samatar 1982, cited by Wikipedia). See the Sayyid and the Dervish state.

Cilmi Boodhari. Known for love poems to Hodan Abdulle, unlike the war themes of his time (Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi, Culture and Customs of Somalia, 2001, cited by Wikipedia).

Timacadde (Cabdillaahi Suldaan Maxamed, 1920–1975). Born near Gabiley. At independence in 1960 he recited a poem whose line about lowering the colonial flag and raising the Somali flag became a national slogan. The scholar Ahmed Ismail called him "the greatest Somali poet of the 20th century". He also wrote against clannism (Geeska, 2025; Roma Tre archive).

Hadraawi (Maxamed Ibraahim Warsame, 1943–2022). Born in Togdheer. Wrote more than 200 poems and the words of more than 70 songs. He was jailed for five years from 1973 for his poetry. In 2003 he walked across the Somali lands on a peace caravan. He died in Hargeisa on 18 August 2022. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said, "We have lost an icon" (VOA, 2022).

Gaarriye (Maxamed Xaashi Dhamac, 1950–2012). In 1979 he began the Deelley, a chain of poems all alliterating on the letter D. Forty-nine poets joined it, one of them a woman. They debated the nation and its troubles in verse (Ali Mumin Ahad, study of the Deelley debate, Peter Lang, 2015).

Poetry today

Poems now travel by radio, recordings and phones as well as by memory. The Hargeysa Cultural Centre, opened alongside the Hargeisa International Book Fair, works to collect and keep them (Rift Valley Institute). But Geeska warns that many works have been lost to "time, war, displacement, and the fading memories of its custodians" (Geeska, 2025).

Why it matters

Poetry is how Somalis argued, made peace and called each other to unity for centuries. The poets who carried the banner did it with words. See Somali music and the Somali language.