Mohamed Ibrahim Warsame Said, widely known by his childhood nickname Hadraawi, was one of the greatest Somali poets of all time. He was certainly the most famed Somali poet since the mid 1900s. He will remain the Somali poet of this century and beyond.

As an adult, he was a prolific producer of poems and songs, a known soldier of the voiceless and a fierce voice of poetic political critique in Somalia, especially against the postcolonial elite who have ruled the country since independence in 1960. He was an advocate for peace in the war-torn country.

As a 10-year-old student of Arabic, however, he was better known for chatting to his fellow students than learning the holy Koran with them. His tutor labelled him “Abu Hadra” (the father of talk), which, for Somalis, became his widely used nickname Hadraawi.

He composed poems about such crucial themes as a dictatorship, social justice and family values. His most distinguished and, perhaps, best poem will be remembered as Hooyo (Mother) which later became a popular song for all mothers.

His words resonated with Somalis living throughout the world and he was fêted at international literary events. But it is at home in Somalia, the land of poets, that his voice truly lives on in people’s minds.

Early years

Somalis have been blessed with poets of all sorts and, in the popular imagination, it is often said that every 50 years Somali society produces a tremendous poetic talent. This was the case since the precolonial period. British explorer Richard Burton, who travelled through the Somali territory in 1854, described the Somalis as “a nation of poets”.

Born in 1943 into a pastoralist family on the nomadic outskirts of Burco, the second largest town in the former British protectorate of Somaliland, Hadraawi began his childhood in a critical place at a critical time. It was an era of nationalist revival when the Somali people instigated demands for freedom and independence from various colonial powers.

Read more: https://theconversation.com/hadraawi-the-most-famed-poet-in-somalia-the-land-of-the-poets-189472