Wise Old Nomads

time to rest

Everything in life has its peak then its glory fades. And we are no different. After a man’s life has reached its pinnacle, having attained all the sagacity and prudence it could, it starts to wane. Soon everything he possesses will start to either diminish or disappear. Whether he likes it or not, the dreaded wrinkles begin their assault on the once handsome face and the inevitability of age becomes certain. Then he starts to walk on threes, and finally on all fours. Like a toddler learning how to walk, the old man staggers and stumbles a multitude times. Hesitant and unable to walk long distances, he becomes confined to his resting place. Rendered immobile and almost out of touch with the community, he rests under the shade of his hut or a nearby tree and awaits any passerby to inform him of the events and news around him. Despite being hungry and weak, he is unable to eat and meals become almost unpalatable to him, except for whatever he could gulp down of camel milk.

As the sun sets everyday, his uncertainties grow – unsure whether he would be fit enough to see the break of dawn. And if he makes it to the daybreak, he becomes even more uncertain of its dusk! He starts to realise that soon, like his friends, he too will share a dark and dismal pit with the insects while the soil gnaws away at his fragile bones. If he was a poet it dawns on him that his friends with whom he would have exchanged banter with are long gone, as Dharbaaxo Jin said:

• Raggiise aan la maansoon lahaa aakhiro u meerye
• Raagihii mudnaa iyo Qamaan mawdkii baa helaye
• Sayyidkii murtida sheegi jirey meel fog buu tegaye

 

• The men I would’ve versed with have left for the hereafter
• Death has caught up with the venerable Raage and Qamaan
• The sagacious Sayyid too has departed to a far away place

In his feeble state, the old man become slightly petulant and develops an unpleasant disposition. The strident wails and laughter of frolicking kids annoys him. He is perturbed by loud noises and disturbances of any kind. Being in an isolated state, he often requires a constant companion to tend to his needs. And if not for a dutiful son or grandson or an unusually compassionate young man or woman to look after him, the old man if often left in his lonesome state.

When the poet Faarax Xasan Cali (farax Afcad) was in a ripe old age, he recited a poem describing the sort of woman he would marry, if he were to do so. He said:

• Caanaha cidey kama bogto oo badey gugeygiiye
• Hadba balaq midaan ii shubeyn waan ka boobsanahay

 

• Cidey’s milks I am not satiated with as my years have increased
• And she who wouldn’t readily pour me [milk] then I am wary of

It is also usual for an old Nomad in this decrepit state to completely lose his eye sight and/or become deaf or become partially sighted or partially deaf. When night falls and others are in deep slumber, he lies awake in his lonesome place twisting and turning, his groans and grunts filling the dark space. he is rendered sleepless at night and restless during the day, waiting for the angel of death to cast a shadow of gloom on his sombre existence.

Sheikh Axmad Gole was an erudite scholar, renowned throughout the Somali lands, particularly Western Somalia, for his understanding of religion. But when old age got to him, he was asked about his state and he replied thus:

 

• Indhihii mid waa jaw                  the eyes, one is completely gone
• Midna jeex yar baa haray           and a portion is left of the other
• Jaaha iyo gacantii                      the face and the hands
• waa wada jirkoodaas                  are but that mere skin
• Dhegihii waxbaa jooga               a fraction is left of the ears
• Waase sii jufmahayaan               But they are deteriorating
• Ushaa ii jifada dheer                  that stick with the steel end
• Waa jimicsigaygii                        is my tool for my exercise
• Gol hadaan ku joogsado             if one a hill is step
• Waan luqun jubaarmaa               I lose my footing and tumble
• Dhul hadaan jadi maago             if on land I decided to walk
• Waa badi jugleeyaa                    I stagger and fall on my bottom
• Jidba geeljireentana                  if on my back I lie
• Dhabarkaa I kala jaba                 my back would break
• Hadaan jimicsi doonana             if I decide to stretch & exercise
• Jiliftaa I kala baxa                      my spine splits into two
• Hadaan jeenan waayana            if nourishment I don’t get
• Sidii inan yar baan jalan            like a toddler I’d whine
• Jil hadii aan qaatana                 and if I swallow a little
• Waa jululuqeeyaaye                 my stomach starts to rumble
• Jirkaygii hufnaanjirey              my once beautiful skin
• Waa meela joolla ah                 is decrepit and old
• Jismigii madoobaa                    my once dark hair
• Hadmaa jookh cad lagu rogey   when was it encased in black?
• Naagihii aan jeelkeenay            the women that I married
• Way I jidi necbaadeen              have started to despise me
• Wiilashaan jeclaan jirey            the sons that I used to love
• Jawaab igama qaadaan             take no response from me
• Odaygu waa jinoobaa               that the old man is possessed
• Waaba lagu jalbeebtaa             they say and secretly gossip
• Jiriidow Allahayow                   Oh Allah, you are Omnipresent
• Kolba joogi meynee                 and we won’t last for eternity
• Jidkii nebig na qaadsiiyoo       guide us to the path of our prophet
• Jahanama hanoo geyn            and keep us away from hellfire

 

….To be continued

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