Editor’s note: An iconoclast like Saado is a rarity.  But this one was ours. A poet, an artist and a brave human right activist. She was a mother, a sister and a daughter to a whole nation. Her velvety voice, we hummed, whether singing about a lost love or a besieged nation. She stood erect for the voiceless. She was a gift to us and we lost her too soon. We will mourn her loss for years to come. As we try to make sense out of her futile killing, WardheerNews will share with you our esteemed reader, a series of  tribute about our fallen hero from  our dedicated contributors, scholars and Artists.

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By Prof Lidwien Kapteijns

Innaa Lillahi wa inna ilaihi raji’un.

For many Somalis, especially those who were in their teens and twenties in the 1960s and 1970s, the singers, poets, songwriters, and musicians of the era of 1955-1985 are cherished cultural symbols. They represent the vibrant youth culture of this era and symbolize its hopes for national unity and for ways of being ‘modern’ that were grounded in the best of the Somali cultural heritage and Islamic religion. Irrespective of the political wrongs and social ills that were part of the realities of this period, the cultural contributions of this artistic generation brought joy and hope for the future to Somalis of diverse backgrounds and circumstances.

In this generation of artists, singers such as Xaliima Khaliif Magool, Maryan Mursal, Fadumo Qaasim, Axmed Naaji Sacad, Xasan Aadan Samatar, Maxamed Suleebaan – to mention just a few names – Saado Cali stands especially tall. The reasons for this include the fact that she was the first Somali woman (or one of the first) to participate in a famous cycle (silsilad) of political poetry; this was the Deelleey, which was started by Gaariye at the end of 1979 and discussed the worrisome political conditions of the time.  It is currently available from a range of Somali websites.

Second, in a time when women almost exclusively sang song texts authored by men, Saado Cali also composed (and publicly claimed the authorship of) her own song texts, including the love songs “Afgarad,” “Juuq Gab,” and “Yaa ku Warramay.”  Other women artists such as the multi-faceted Maryan Mursal and the gifted Hibo Nuura continued this trend at a slightly later time, after the large exodus of Somalis in 1988 and 1991.

Third, Saado showed special courage in the last months of the Barre regime, when she agreed to sing Cabdi Muxummed’s song “Land Cruiser” in front of top members of President Barre’s military regime; this in spite of the fact that the song was a sharp and sarcastic critique of the political elite. How can you indulge in Land Cruisers while you go to the international community begging for food for the increasingly impoverished Somali people?

Here I would like to highlight two songs. The first is “Xamdi” (“Xiisaha Kalgacalkeenna”), a wedding song of the 1970s that couches its blessings for the new couple both in traditional cultural and religious terms and in individual desire and emotion whose expression in song were at the time a modern phenomenon (Women’s Voices, 14, 203). The second song is “Juuq Gab” (“Naftaydaa kuu jirrabanoo”), about a woman struck speechless by her inability to ascertain whether her love is reciprocated.

The song texts presented below were transcribed by the late Maryan Omar Ali and myself. The songs themselves are available on YouTube Xamdi – new version and  traditional version and Juuq Gab.

For further information about Saado, see the program prepared in 2010 by Khadar Maxamed Haashi, “Waa Tuma Saado Cali” (“Who is Saado Cali?). For more reading and listening about the popular songs in general, see for example the recent audio-program by Afropop worldwide  and the books by John Johnson (Heellooy, Heelleellooy: the development of the genre heello in modern Somali poetry, 1974), M.D. Afrah (Fan-masraxeedka Soomaalida, 1987), and Lidwien Kapteijns (Women’s voices in a man’s world, with Maryan Omar Ali, 1999). Maxamed Cabdillaahi Riiraash of RTD Djibouti has made a number of very informative programs about the popular song and Somali orature more generally.

May the legacy of Saado Cali and the generation of artists of whom Saado was such an outstanding member be an inspiration for Somali cultural unity and peace.

Lidwien Kapteijns
Wellesley College

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Xamdi (Praise)

Voice: Saado Cali and Maxamed Axmed Kuluc

Words:  Maxamud Tukaale

Saado: Xiisahaa kalgacalkeenna
            Xaasha ee guurkeenna
            Xeryo samo ku waarkeenna
            Sidii Xaawo iyo Aadan
            Rabbi baa isu keen xulay
            Waa xaal innaga weynoo
            Xagga samada laga qoray
            Duqay xeer aqoonliyo
            Xer Alliyo shiikh baa
            Xirsigana inoo xidhay
            Rabbigeenna Xaakim ahee
            Xilo iga kaa dhigay baan
            Kun jeer ku xamdiyayaa 

Kuluc: Is xaqdhawrka labadeenna
            Xuralcaynta quruxdeeda
            Xabiibkii u helay qaybta
            Sidii  Xaydar iyo Faadumo
            Rabbi baa isu keen xulay
            Waa xisaab dhammaatiyo
            Xad aan laga tallaabayn
            Xuquwaalid ducadi iyo
            Xaajo odayo gooyeen baa
            Xurmo lagu mutaystaa
            Rabbigeenna Xaakim ahee
            Xilo iga kaa dhigay baan
            Kun jeer ku xamdiyayaa 

Saado: Xulaha heedhe labadeenna
            Xiddiggeenna nuurkiisaa
            Xannaanaynta reerkeenna
            Is xiiqaanka labadeenna
            Xishmaddeenna lagu maqal
            Isu xaadhan laabteenna
            Qalbigana xasuustiisa           
            Xeeldheerida jacaylkeenna
            Jidhkaa i xadantoodoo
            Xubnaha isu gooyoo 
             Rabbigeenna Xaakim ahee
            Xilo iga kaa dhigay baan
            Kun jeer ku xamdiyayaa 

Kuluc: Xikmad iyo aqoonteenaa
            Xarragadii arooskeenna
            Xornimo isku dhaqankeenna
            Xalaal weeye barakaleh
            Xoolaha aan maalnaa
            Xagga nolosha raaskeenna
            Waa xayaato qiimaleh
            Aqal wada xaddaayada ah
            Dadab xidhan ayaad geli 
            Gogoshuna xariir tahay
            Rabbigeenna Xaakim ahee
            Xilo iga kaa dhigay baan
           Kun jeer ku xamdiyayaa

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Juuq Gab (“Speechless”) 

Words: Saado Cali (1989)
Voice: Saado Cali

Naftaydaa kuu jirrabanoo
Waxay haysa jamashada
Adaan kuu jeellanahayee
Jacayl baad igu abuurtay
Ma jiifsado cawadii
Dharaartii ma joogi karo
Dhinacaad iga jirtaa
Qalbigu ii jiidayaa
Ha yeeshee dan bay horjoogta
Jir baa igu helay bannaan
Jar baan ka lushaa khatar ah
Talaa iga jaahwareersan
Jid aan u baxanaan hayn
Jahadii baa iga halloowday
Haddaan kuu jeedin lahaayoo
Jabka kuu sheegi lahaa
Awood baan jirin xaggaygoo
Afkii baa juuqda gabay 

Jirrada miyaad ila qabtaa
Miyaad jeer qudha is tidhi
Jalleeco kalgacalkuyee 

Adaa sida jawharaddii ah
Jiridda adigaa i dhigee
Jawaab waafiya i siiyoo
Jaahaaga sidaan u rabo
Ma ii jirisaa
Macaanoow macaanoow
Ma ii jirisaa