SWAHILI: Shairi hili lilitungwa kwa ajili ya siku ya ukimwi duniani inayokua tarehe moja mwezi wa December kila mwaka. Shairi hili lilikaririwa katika la Mwanaarafa mwaka wa 2014 ili kuwajuza wanajamii juu ya madhara ya ukimwi. Wanawake walio olewa pia wana jukumu la kuwaridhisha mabwana zao ndio wasiende nje kutafuta na kueneza gonjwa hilo.<br>ENGLISH: This poem was composed for the national HIV day, on the 1st of December every year. It was recited at Mwana Arafa in 2014 to alert the community on the dangers of the disease and in order to create awareness. Married women also have a responsibility which is to keep their husbands satisfied so they do not seek out and spread the illness from or with other women.
SWAHILI: Hili ni shairi la utumbuizo lililokusanywa na Ustadh Mau kutoka kwa wanawake wa Shella. Walimuandikia Ustadh Mau shairi hili kwenye karatasi. Utumbuizo kama huu hupitishwa kutoka kizazi kimoja hadi kingine, kutoka kwa mama hadi kwa mwanae. Ustadh Mau alikusanya mashairi haya kuyahifadhi kwa vizazi vijavyo fahari ya kiswahili na waAmu. Shairi hili limeandikwa na mwanamke kwa jina la Binti Rahmaan Sultan ila mtunzi mwenyewe hajulikani.<br>ENGLISH: This poem is a lullaby collected by Ustadh Mau from women in Shela. They wrote it down on paper for Ustadh Mau to keep, as these lullabies are passed on from generation to generation, from mother to daughter, meaning they know it by heart. Ustadh Mau sought out the lullabies to document and preserve this particular aspect of Swahili, coastal and Lamu heritage. It was part of a competition (mashindano) on lullabies. The women who participated were gifted kanga for their participation. This piece was written down by a woman who went by the family name of Binti Rahmaan Sultan. The original composer of the poem is unknown.
SWAHILI: Waraka huu uko na mashairi manne tofauti: Ukimwi (ukurasa 1-3); Harusi (ukurasa 4); Harusi Mombasa (ukurasa 5-6); Maombolezi (ukurasa 7-8). Ukimwi ni kuhusu hatari ya maradhi ya Ukimwi, Harusi and Harusi Mombasa ni mashairi ya harusi yaliyoandikiwa wanandoa tofauti na Maombolezi ni shairi la maombolezi lililoandikiwa Hamid Khalfan aliyefariki juu ya uzee.<br>ENGLISH: This manuscript contains four different poems: Ukimwi (pages 1-3); Harusi (page 4); Harusi Mombasa (pages 5-6); Maombolezi (pages 7-8). Ukimwi is about the dangers of HIV/AIDS. Harusi and Harusi Mombasa are both wedding poems written for different couples. Maombolezi is a mourning poem for Hamid Khalfan from Lamu who passed of old age.
SWAHILI: Mashairi ya harusi yaliyoandikwa na Ustadh Mau. Mashairi haya yanashauri jinsi ya kuwa na amani na ndoa zinazodumu. Kwa mfano ni kutomuacha mwenzako kuendelea na hasira ikiwa umemuudhi na kumuomba msamaha badala ya kumuacha na hasira.<br>ENGLISH: Various wedding poems written by Ustadh Mau. The poems all advice on how to keep a peaceful and long-lasting marriage. Examples are to not let your partner continue in their anger when one has wronged them and to ask for forgiveness instead of letting the partner sit in their anger.
SWAHILI: Ustadh Mau alialikwa katika warsha ulioandaliwa na RISSEA (Research Institute of Swahili Studies of Eastern Africa) iliyokuwa Mombasa. Aliombwa atayarishe maombi akaonelea atunge shairi la dua. Katika shairi hili anawaomba wasomi wakuze na waendeleze lugha ya kiSwahili, umuhimu wa kiSwahili na jinsi tutakavyo jihusisha na Kiswahili.<br>ENGLISH: Ustadh Mau was invited to a workshop organized by RISSEA (Research Institute of Swahili Studies of Eastern Africa) in Mombasa. He was asked to prepare something for the workshop and decided to write a prayer in the form of a poem. In this poem he urges the learned and educated to expand and enhance the Swahili language, the importance of Swahili and how we should actively engage with Swahili.
SWAHILI: Hili ni shairi la harusi aliloandikiwa mwanamume aitwae Mahdi. Linaongelea wasia wa harusi kama umuhimu wa kuoneshana mapenzi kati ya mke na mume ndio mapenzi yaweze kuregeshwa baina yao. Shairi hili lina beti ishirini na nne.<br>ENGLISH: This is a wedding poem that was written for a man named Mahdi. It contains general marriage advice, such as making sure to show love in order for that love to be reciprocated between man and wife. This poem has 24 stanzas.
SWAHILI: Jini la Faza liliandikiwa watu wa kijiji cha faza kilichoko kisiwa cha Pate. Kulikuwa na uvumi unaozunguka kijijini kwamba kuja jini linalosumbua watu ndani ya majumba yao wakati wa usiku. Baadhi ya watu waliingiwa na uoga hadi wakaamua kulala familia nzima ndani ya chumba kimoja. Ili kupunguza wasiwasi, Ustadh Mau aliandika shairi hili na kulikariri Faza. Shairi lenyewe linaomba Mungu awalinde kutokana na mashetwanii na afunge milango ya akhera ili majini wasipitie milango hayo na kuingia dunia yetu.<br>ENGLISH: The jinn of Faza was written for people of Faza town on Pate Island. There were rumours (uvumi) going around town that a jinn (spirit) was harrassing people inside their houses during the night time. Some people in town were so scared they resorted to having the family sleep in one room together. In order to reduce this fear, Ustadh Mau wrote this poem and recited it in Faza. The poem asks God to protect and save us from bad spirits and to close the doors from the spiritual world so the jinns may never enter through our own doors again.
SWAHILI: Shairi hili limeandikiwa Fatima, binti yake Ali Bilal aliyemuomba Ustadh Mau amtungie shairi hili kuhusu wasia wa ndoa. Ustadh Mau na Ali Bilal walikua kwenye chuo kimoja madrasa. Shairi hili linazungumzia mafunzo muhimu unapoingia kwenye ndoa, kama vile, kuchumga hisia zako kutokumiliki. neno 'miuya' limetumika kuashiria bahari inapochafuka kwa lafudhi ya KiAmu. Ndoa inafananishwa na bahari iliyochefuka kwani zote zina wakati wa juu na chini na tunazipitia hizi nyakati kila mda.<br>ENGLISH: This is a poem written for Fatima, the daughter to Ali Bilal who asked Ustadh Mau to compose a poem on his behalf containing marriage advice. Ustadh Mau and Ali Bilal were classmates at the same madrasa. The poem discusses necessary lessons to remember when stepping into married life, such as not letting your emotions take you over. In the poem the word 'miuya' was used, which is how rough waters are sometimes described in the Kiamu dialect. Marriage is thus compared to rough seas, as both can have rough patches to work through from time to time.
SWAHILI: Hili shairi lilikua ombi la mke kuandikiwa mume wake Khalid aliyekua anategemewa kuanza safari ya kwenda kuhiji Makkah. Kwani wakati huo msafara ulikua mrefu na wenye shida nyingi. Shairi hili linadhamiriwa kama la kusema kwaheri iwepo mumewe akose kurudi nyumbani. Shairi hili linaonyesha mapenzi na nia njema kwa mume wake asafiri na kurudi salama na Mungu amsaidie safarini kwake.<br>ENGLISH: This poem was written as a request from a wife to her husband Khalid, who was about to make the holy pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj). As travel was long and much more difficult during this time. The poem serves as a final goodbye in case the husband might not make it back home. It expresses love and well wishes for the husband to travel and return safely and for God to help him on the way.
SWAHILI: Shairi hili linasisitiza juu ya umuhimu wa Turathi zetu. Haswa linazungumzia madhara ya Bandari ya Lamu na madhara yake kwa utamaduni wa Lamu. Linazungumzia jinsi wakaazi wa Lamu halisi walivyopungua kwa sababu ya kuingia kwa watu wasio waAmu halisi kupitia mashirika ya Bandari ya Lamu.<br>ENGLISH: This poem emphasizes on the importance of heritage. More specifically, it is about the effect that the Lamu Port has had on local Lamu culture. It discusses the issue of locals becoming fewer and fewer in Lamu Town with the arrival of non-local people entering through this port.
