Wake up, Mr. President. Wake up!
By Bashir Goth
Wake up, Mr. President. Wake up! Don’t be deceived by your cozy palace, the luxurious sofas and the glorification by your lackeys. No Mr. President, if your cronies tell you everything is fine and people are enjoying their life, it is not true. Sometimes, Mr. President you need to stretch your legs and go out walking in the countryside. It is not only good for your health, but it is good for your governance. Because, Mr. President, you will find the truth, the naked truth. The truth that thousands of nomadic people, living from Jidhi to Cali Xaydh, have lost their entire herds in devastating rains and cold waves of weather that hit the area. Tens of people have lost their sight, while many others are suffering from hypothermia. These people, Mr. President, are still in the mercy of nature. Just like sitting ducks, they are waiting nature to decide their fate. They have no clothes, no shelter, nowhere to seek refugee. Their children, suckling mothers and elderly people have nothing to eat and nothing to protect them from the biting cold and torrential rains.
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Qudbigii Suugaanta: A tribute to Hassan Sheikh Mumin by Bashir Goth

Language fails me in trying to write a tribute to an eminent and enigmatic playwright like Hassan Sheikh Mumin. A man of unfathomable and versatile philosophy, a superbly creative and lucid style, a prophetic vision and cultural connoisseur who dived to the deepest depths of the language and adorned words with different hues and layers of meaning.

But instead of trying to capture the essence of his works and his personality in prose, a risk that I will engage in sometime in the future, I found it easier now to resort to Somali poetry, which comes as natural as drinking milk as Hassan has brilliantly expressed in his “…Afkii Qalaad ha moodin, Carrabku qaldi maayee, sidii caanaha qudhqudhiyaay.”

It is therefore, by turning to the beauty of the Somali language, a language that Hassan has fashioned and enriched through his brilliant dramas, mesmerizing melodies and masterly knowledge that I will try to describe the literary void that his departure has created.

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Tixdan oo aan ka tiriyey geeridii Abwaan Xasan Sheekh Muumin waxay taataabanaysaa kaalintii suugaaneed ee uu abwaanku kaga jiray halabuurka Soomaaliyeed. Xasan wuxu ahaa tiirarka ugu waaweyn ee riwaayadyahanka Soomaaliyeed, isaga oo si gaara ugu tilmaanaa doorka uu ka qaato wacyigelinta, gaar ahaan dhiirri gelinta tacliinta iyo naqdiga aafooyinka bulshada. Wuxu ahaa nin afka ku xarragooda oo sarbeebtiisu xambaarsan tahay falsafad gundheer oo uu si farshaxanimo leh uu uga soo mullaaxdo suugaanta hiddaha iyo dhaqanka. Xasan wuxu ku geeriyooday magaalada Oslo, Norway, 16 January 2008, waxana lagu aasay magaalada Boorama, Somaliland, 26 January 2008. 

Qudbigii suugaanta
 
Duniyeey qadaraleey
Qabar xumi ma oolee
Maantana qab baa dhacay
Qaylaa habeen timid
Ababshihii qoraalkiyo
Qodinkii aqoontiyo
Qudbigii suugaantiyo
Gorod baa la qaadoo
Qaddarkii haleeloo
Qalinkiisi joogsaday 

***

Qorraxduu ahaa iyo
Qaxootiga madaw iyo
Qorfuhuu ku lee’daa
Qalbigay maroorshoo
Hiygaan ka qawdhamay 

***
Allaylehe qod baa dhacay
Qaran baa habeensaday
Afka qiimihiisiyo
Suugaantu qurux iyo
Waxay qara lahayd iyo
Qudbigeedii baa tegey
Qalinkiyo tawaadii
Quudinaayey baa lumay 


***
Af Soomali qurux badan
Oo qaayo loo dhilay
Far xariira lagu qoray
Qudbigii hadduu tegay
Ayaa soo qormaynoo
Sidii qayli darartiyo
Qaabil caanaheedii
Waayeel qulbaayiyo
Qudhqudhsiin dhallaankii 

***
Murtideena qaniga ah
Sheekooyin qaydhiin
Sida aale qadaw iyo
Qooqaani roobi iyo
Qodaalkii dhulkeenii
Ku quwaystay oo baxay
Yaa qaniini oo jabin
Oo quud macaan iyo
Qumbo malab ka fuuqsani 

***
Quruumaha wixii dhacay
Ilaa qaafo soo jiray
Taariikhda qaabka ah
Qasnadeeda yaa furi
Oo luul ka soo qubi
Ayaa dheeman qaaliyaa
Kolba meel ka soo qodi
Kuul qubatay caynkeed
Qawyada habeenkii
Kolba qaar ka soo heli 

***
Ayaa qaaxo iyo cudur
Huuryo iyo qaniiniyo
Xumihii qarsoonee
Nin dantii quminayaa
Ku qadhaabanaayiyo
Wixii qooma aadmiga
Ee qabkiisa dhaawaca
Ayaa qeexi oo dhili
Oo sarbeeb ku kala qali 

***
Yaa jacayl ku qaydaran
Buuraha qarkoodiyo
Qod laalay ku yaaliyo
Hulo qaabo-qawsayn
Dabayluhu qulqulayaan
Tixa loo qiyaasiyo
Qormo macallin weyn iyo
Liishaan ku soo qaban
Sida kuul qardhaasa leh
Qalanjooyin loo bogay
Qoortooda soo sudhi
Qalbigooga soo luli 

***
Inta uu Qurbaankiyo
Quraan ruuggu ducadiyo
Qaadkiyo lubaankiyo
Meerinaayo quulada 

***
Inaguna qushuuc iyo
Hawraar u qalantiyo
Gaby qiimo weyn iyo
Aan qasiido goynoo
Dikri aan u qaadnee 

***
Qummanow saciidiyo
Xaddiyo qalweeyoo
Beylow qaraamida
Soo qabo halkeedoo 

***
Qalabkuu jecelaa iyo
Kamankii ha quustoo
Muusigu ha qululoo
Qaaliyada dhulkeeniyoo
Oslo qoorigeediyo
Qoomka soo koraayiyo
Qaaradaha ha gaadhoo 

***
Codkii qaaligiiyuu
Qururxdiisa joojuu
Qajeel soo gardaadshiyo
Hibo ha ugu qaadee 

***
Mawliidow qormeeyoo
Xadhig bilan ka qaadoo 

***
Qabnadii warkiisiyo
Sheekadiisa qubantii
Xertii gaacidaydaay
Kaalayoo ila qalindara. 

- By Bashir Goth, 23 Jan. 2008.
- Email: bsogoth@yahoo.com
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Fiiro Gaara: Halabuuurka iyo fanaaniinta aan magacdooda tixda ku xusay waa dad saaxiibaday ah oo aan murti-wadaag hore lahayn iyo qaar jacaylka suugaanta iyo fanku na kulmiyey. Waxaanay kala yihiin:

1.     Siciid Cabdillaahi Iimaan: Waa Abwaan ku nool dalka Imaaraadka Carabta horena aan uga wada qayb galay silsiladdii Xaamiim.

2.     Daahir Maxamuud Xaddi: waa Abwaan ku nool Somaliland ahna Guddoomiyaha Waxbarashada Gobolka Awdal, horena aan uga wada qayb galay silsiladdii Xaamiim.

3.     Dr. Cabdiraxmaan Bayle: waa nin aan jeclayn in lagu tilmaamo Abwaan laakiin suugaanta curiya, ururiya oo jecel, waana dhaqaale yahan ka shaqeeya Bangiga Afrika, dhawaana wuxu tiriyey heesta Qaylo Dhaan ee uu u tiriyey tiiraanyada Calanka Soomaaliyeed haysata.

4.     Axmed Xasan Caynaan (Mawliid): waa fanaan ku xeel dheer tumista kamanka, waana ninka uu Xudaydi yidhi waxan ku wareejay dhaxalkii kamanka, wuxuna ku nool yahay Imaaraadka Carabta.

5.     Hibo Maxamed Hoddoon (Hibo Nuura): waa fanaanada caanka ee ku soo baxday riwaayaddii Shabeel Naagood ee Xasan Sheekh Muumin sameeyey. Hibo iyada ayaa qaaday heesaha ugu badan ee Xasan tiriyey, waxaanay ku soo kortay guriga Abwaanka yaraanteedii.

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© 2008 Awdalnews Network

Book review: Whose World Is It Anyway? The Fallacy of Islamophobia
Author: Shamis Hussein
Reviewed by: Bashir GothGiven the deluge of writings prompted by the war on terrorism or the Clash of Civilizations as some may like to believe, I could have easily dismissed the above title as another cliché of one of the countless hordes of Muslim apologetics and Al-Qaeda sympathizers who see light in every crime committed by Muslim extremists and evil intention in every action that comes from the West.

But one thing that enticed me to flip through the pages of the book before I even committed myself to seriously reading it let alone reviewing it was the author’s name: Shamis Hussein, a Somali woman’s name. It is therefore the idea of a Somali woman taking on the neo-conservative heavyweight thinkers and modern scholarly connoisseurs such as Bernard Lewis, Samuel Huntington, Francis Fukuyama and Charles Krauthammer to mention only a few that raised my curiosity.

Another catching point was the author’s claim of objectivity in an innovative way by describing herself as being a daughter of a judge imbued with an egalitarian background and a strong sense of law and justice. Equally appealing also was the way she set the tone for her ensuing argument with a classical Somali poem that vividly describes the disastrous results of arrogance, which in the author’s eyes is symbolized by Bush-Blair alliance against the Muslim world.

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