SOAS Research Online

Abstract

The thesis sets out to examine the Hausa Islamic verse category known as Wa'azii, "Admonition", as it devolopod from ca. 1800 to ca. 1970. It proceeds as follows: Fourteen poems are selected from the main category of Wa'azii. They are then divided into the following sub-categories, which are arranged under "Parts". Part I: "General Wa'azii", that is, poems concerned with religious warning and admonition in general, Two chapters are devoted to the sub-category, each of which deals with two poems. Part II: "The World's character and remembering death". Two chapters are devoted to this, each of which deals with two poems. PART III; "The Signs of the Coming of the Hour and the Mahdi", One chapter is devoted to this, which deals with two poems. Part IV: "The Resurrection, the Judgement and the description of Divine Punishment and Reward". Two chapters are devoted to this, each of which deals with two poems. Each poem is presented with an Introduction, giving its provenance and including a preliminary discussion of its form, content, language and style. This is followed by the Hausa text of the poem, with critical apparatus in the form of notes which support and amplify the discussion on form, language and style in the Introduction. An English translation of the Hausa text then follows, annotated with reference to content, literary and folkloric background etc. This annotation supports the discussion on content in the Introduction. Part V of the thesis is the "Conclusions". This draws together the main points and issues raised in the preceding chapters. It reflects on the significance of the category of Wa'azii as a whole and seeks to draw general conclusions that can be applied to this category of Hausa Wa'azii Verse.