In This Fragile World

Annachiara Raia, Ph.D. (2018), is assistant professor in African Literature at Leiden University (The Netherlands). Specialised in Swahili Muslim textual traditions and interested in the question of archive and collection, she is currently researching on vernacular print networks in the 20th-century Indian Ocean. Clarissa Vierke, Ph.D. (2010), is professor of Literatures in African Languages at Bayreuth University (Germany). She is an expert of Swahili poetry, manuscript cultures and has been working on travelling texts in East Africa and literary entanglements with the Indian Ocean.

• ForewordList of FiguresAbbreviationsNotes on ContributorsIntroductionAnnachiara Raia and Clarissa VierkePart 1 Poetry as Intellectual PracticeUstadh Mahmoud Mau, Mtu wa watu (“A Man of the People”): Poet, Imam, and Engaged Local IntellectualKai Kresse and Kadara SwalehShaping and Being Shaped by Lamu Society: Ustadh Mau’s Poetry in the Context of Swahili Poetic PracticeJasmin Mahazi“Born on the Island”: Situating Ustadh Mau’s Poetic Practice in ContextClarissa VierkeSeeking ʿilm on Lamu: Ustadh Mau’s Library and Services for the Benefit of His CommunityAnnachiara RaiaHow Ought We to Live? The Ethical and the Poetic in Ustadh Mahmoud Mau’s PoetryClarissa VierkeMabanati in Search of an Author: Portable Reform Texts and Multimodal Narrative Media among Swahili Muslim CommunitiesAnnachiara RaiaPart 2 Poems by Ustadh MauIntroduction to Part 2Jamii: Topical Issues on Lamu1 Amu (“Lamu”)2 Bandari ina mawimbi (“The Port Makes Waves”)3 Jahazi (“The Dhow”)4 Tupijeni makamama (“Let Us Embrace”)Ilimu: The Importance of Education1 Mwalimu (“Teacher”)2 Kilio huliya mwenye (“Change Begins at Home”)3 Kiswahili (“Swahili”)4 Za Washirazi athari (“The Influence of the Persians”)Huruma: Social Roles and Responsibility1 Mama msimlaumu (“Don’t Blame My Mother”)2 Jilbabu (“Veil”)3 Mchezo Wa Kuigiza (“Play”)4 Haki za watoto (“Children’s Rights”)5 Wasiya wa mabanati (“Advice to Young Women”)Matukio: Biographical Poems1 Hafi asiye timiwa (“No One Dies Before His Time Is Up”)2 Mlango “The Door”Maombi: Personal Poems of Supplication1 Hapo zamani za yana (“Once Upon A Time”)2 Tunda (“Fruit”)3 Kipande cha ini (“Piece of My Liver”)4 Mola zidisha baraka (“God Increase Your Blessings”)5 Yasome na kukumbuka (“Read and Remember”)References of Part 2Index