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If one comes to the truth then as it were then I am Cawrala

Barre, the person I am speaking about is someone whose eyes

and heart have followed you since she first saw you. Without a

doubt she belongs to you, body and soul, even though you do

not know it. Day and night, in her sleep and when awake, she

dreams of you. Her love and affection for you have entered

her bowels and flesh. It is because of this that she can take no

sustenance.

Cawrala Barre was born around 1893 in the town of Xiis which

is in the Savaag region of Somalia, of the shores of the Gulf of

Aden. As a young girl she stayed in the town during the dry

season of the year and most of her days were spent in the

interior of the country where her father tended his modest

herds.

Xiis lies at the foot of the Cal Mountains, which are part of the

Golis range. These mountains extend as far as Karin Bosasa

and Boorane and if one moves inland, the stony plateau they

reach Harranx, while towards the east, they stretch towards

Baargaal, those on the eastern side of Karin they are called the

Cal Maskaad. Surad Mountains, standing above Xiis, is 28,000

meters. It is famous for frankincense, gum, the sap of the

euphorbia tree, mastic and other products derived from other

aromatic plants

Remains of past ages, objects which people used to gather,

monuments and mounds so large, one could confuse them for

houses. Places where treasures were hidden, bewildering and

at the same time beguiling. Caves with amazing carved walls.

Wandering round Daalo one cannot help moving as if in a

trance. In this magical place rain falls in the morning even in

the dry season. All sorts of glorious birds, some picking berries

and others offer entertainment in form of their singing and

playful antics. The clamor of frogs and the sky lark calling out

from far away……real magic!

It was in this region where Cawrala was brought up. Nothing

about her could be scorned. Her complexion was dark brown

with a shading of red. Her stature was medium with a slim waist

and a mane of soft brown shoulder length hair, clear eyes with

their black pupils were resplendent with a radiance defying

description. Her eyebrows met above her long bridged nose.

as she lay on the deck some three paces

from the male passengers.

The ship rolled and as she moved into

the open sea, the roll increased. At about

seven

O’clock, as the evening meal was being

served by the ship’s boys, Calimaax

started a bantering conversation with

Nuurcise..

He said, ‘You seem to be greatly

troubled. What was it that made you

undertake a journey on this evil sea?

Why did you not stay with your family

at Guudmare and milk your she-camel

Saaqa and the rest of them. In your place

I would not have set out on this jinn

ridden sea just to clutch at the ship’s

sides and make those puking noises

aah!aah!Still I am not really surprised

that you are here, for it was hunger and

lack of clothes that drove you on to

these wastes for sure! What did you get

in Aden as guest food? How many bags

of provisions and how many complete

sets of clothing are you taking back to

the family? You must surely have been

on a visit to a relative-perhaps the son of

your maternal cousin?’

Calimaax’s words distracted Nuurcise

from his sufferings.

“Cali,’ he replied, ‘do you not realize that

you are a weak townsman? How can you

have anything to tell a man from the

interior like myself? Do you have even

as much strength as there is in the finger

of a young one boy old just old enough

to carry a weapon? Who could, by God,

ask you to help them go on a trek or take

the animals to get water in the harsh dry

season? Let people find out if you are

worthy of their praise. If you insult

country people and say they are simple

and lack good clothes then let me tell

you that everything you get in the town

comes from the country.. Have you not

ever heard of this poem that the Sayyid

wrote?’

The provisions and clothes that which

keep people busy in towns’

Bustling and trading, are merely the

lifeless wealth brought in from outside

If the town is cut off from the interior,

the angel of death soon comes on his

errands

The captain of the ship joined in and

supported Nurciise. He told Cali to leave

Knur alone and stop talking about the

interior. He said, “you cannot match the

eloquence of Nuur as he will drown you

in proverbs, poems and sayings.’

Another man, Magar, broke in and said,

‘You captain, and Nuur are as different

as day and night. Why are you taking

his side while you know that the

townsman goes to school, studies the

Koran and learns about the faith? He can

see the difference between what is

forbidden and that which is lawful. He

stays close the the one who lives next to

him as a friend. You people of the interior

are driven by looking after camels. They

are not even able to differentiate

between that which is lawful property

and unlawful property, What is more,

they molest girls! and don’t they dress

in skins when their clothes wear out?’

The women were so near to where the

men were sitting that they could hear

everything they were saying. They

listened very attentively.

From time to time, in the moonlight, the

eyes of Cawrala and Calimaax met.

Cawrala was moved by some sense of

decorum to lower her eyes while

adjusting her silk head scarf with her

right hand so that it covered most of her

face, then caught the end of it with her

teeth.

Calimaax took up the conversation again.

‘ It seems that, Nuur , the captain and all

the people of the interior think that a

townsman has not the slightest idea of

the old wisdom or that of poetry , that he

could never do justice to the Somali

spoken by the people of the interior.

Well then, let us confront each other

here and now! Listen to this poem I have

composed’…..

‘In truth the shaggy man of the interior

has no knowledge of any other place.

He forgets everything else when the fire

is lit in the morning

Stupidly, he does not even care if his

piece of flesh shows from under his loin

cloth

When God sends a downpour of rain

and the world becomes prosperous,

The milking vessel filled to the brim

with goat milk

, this is followed by a pound of town

food acquired by quest,

and then he and his wife and himself

have such an opinion of themselves,

they might be a government!

There is no scolding, no beating with a

herder’s forked staff

They don’t fight each other

And at such a time if you have any

business to talk to them, you better

think again!’

when Cawrala laughed it was never more

than a smile. She bared just a little

glimpse of her pearl white teeth, so that

at the sides, one could take a glance of

her pointed eye-teeth. To all this must be

added the well rounded calves of her

legs. She was not a person who could be

disregarded as she walked, swinging her

supple arms, her throat marked by

encircling lines of beauty; there were

four of them. One could say that her

beauty had never been seen or heard of

before. She never wore her clothes in a

slipshod way for she used to secure

them in an orderly manner and took pride

in this. She lived in Aden for five years

where she studied the Koran and learned

Arabic. She achieved high standards in

both.

She had a brother called Dalmar and

two sisters, one who was younger than

her. Her parents live partly in Xiis and in

the hills above the town. Her father,

Barre was always boasting about his

Cawrala’s obedience although she could

be very strong willed at times.

Calimaax lived some hundred and fifty

kilometers from Xiis with his brother and

two sisters .their place also lay on the

foot of the cal Madou mountains. Surad

and Daalo are within the same range and

thus their beauty was similar. The

mountains above the Laasgoras branch

off into ranges of different levels. In this

mountainous region Calimaax was

brought up with other youths. He moved

from place to place looking after horses

in other grazing camps , and in this way

he was trained in companionship and

ease in conversation and acquired some

understanding of his manly roles. Later,

as a grown man he took to a sea-faring

life and eventually when he had gained

knowledge, he became highly skilled in

the navigation and handling of ships

THE SAILING VOYAGE AND THE

MEETINGOFCAWRALAAND

CALIMAAX

It is clear that Cawrala and Calimaax were

brought up in the same land. Fate had it

that they were traveling on the same

boat out of Aden. Calimaax ha been there

on a spying mission and Cawrala was

escaping the hot xagcea season. The

ship called Subxaan “God’s glory’left

port on the 25

th

of March 1915. She had

15 passengers on board; 12 men and 3

women, a crew of 20. As was the custom,

bedding mats were spread out for the

women inside the ship’s dinghy which

HAC Kanebu June-Sept 2006

page 3

Since no one had expected Calimaax to

compose such a good poem on a subject

about the people of the interior in such a

short time, the men all clapped and the

women pierced the air with ululations so

loud that the sound reached the others

on board. It had been arranged that tea

be served by the ship’s boys.Cardamom,

cinnamon and other spices were added

to it to enhance the flavour. They

celebrated Calimaax’s excellent poem and

support for his side in the argument.

Cawrala could not contain herself and

excitedly told the other women to keep

quiet and let her speak. “How eloquent

this man is! How clever! Composing all

that poetry at will! When I first set foot

on this ship I knew that he must be the

outstanding son of an outstanding man.

He is handsome, which makes his other

qualities even more valuable! I hate

people of the interior and anything to do

with them. My father is sending me to a

man in the interior, someone who owns

many camels. A widower, who was once

married to a sister of mine. He does not

know a thing about anything!’ She

declared and slyly added, ‘Not even how

to go to sleep! That poem this young

man has recited about scolding and

beating with a stick made me hate them

even more.’

A married woman called Saluugla asked

her if she was not worried about her

father cursing her if she refused to marry

the man. Cawrala answered that she

would seek the blessing of a sheikh who

lay buried at Magdur. His blessing was

more powerful than any other curse. ‘

Even if my father brought down the sky I

would never marry a man I do not love.

Someone whose behaviour and

manliness I am not sure about and do

not know. I shall never marry a man who

is too proud to call me by name, but

prefers to call me ‘the one who belongs

to the family; or the one who has bee

looking after my children.’

Saluugla then asked her, ‘What is love,

Cawrala?’