Poem of the First Màggal (Wolofalu Màggal gu Njëkk gi)
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| Title | Poem of the First Màggal (Wolofalu Màggal gu Njëkk gi) |
| Author or Owner | Serigne Mor Kayre (author), Mame Mor Kayre (owner, grandson of the author) |
| Subject | Commemoration, Màggal, Touba, Muridiyya, Wolof Metaphors |
| Content | The document is a poem dealing with the first annual religious celebration of the Muridiyya of Senegal, known as Màggal or Magal. The event was led by Sëriñ Moodu Mustafaa Mbakke also known as Serigne Mouhamadou Moustapha Mbacké, Hamdil Mustafaa, Hamdi or Amdi. He was the oldest son of Shaykh Ahmadu Bamba who became the first Caliph of the Muridiyya Sufi order after his father’s death. The poem celebrates Moustapha’s successful organization of the first commemoration of Shaykh Ahmadu Bamba’s exile to Gabon in 1895. It highlights the preparations of the celebration and describes the atmosphere during the day. It also conveys the religious fervor, cheerfulness of disciples and the diversity of the people who made up the crowd on that day. To illustrate the successful organization of the event, the poet compares it with the day of Tabaski (Wolof for ʿĪd al-Kabīr) and the day of pilgrimage in Mecca. The poem celebrates the devotion of Moustapha, his kindness and generosity that mirror the virtues of Shaykh Ahmadu Bamba. It also situates Touba as a city of the same caliber as Medina and Mecca. Readers will note metaphors in the poem comparing Murid Islamic traditions to agriculture and farming, the celebrations in Touba to a cinema, God to an ocean and the Murid order without Mustafaa’s leadership to a local board game called yoote. Finally, the poem reveals the tensions and struggles in the Murid order after Bamba’s death and reiterates how Mustafaa’s leadership, especially his establishment of the Màggal, paved the way for the modern Sufi order to emerge. |
| Genre | Poem |
| Language | Wolof |
| Script | Wolof Ajami |
| Manuscript condition | Unbound manuscript, due the poor conservation condition some pages and note pages are hard to read |
| Type | Handwritten |
| Publisher | Unpublished |
| Provenance | Touba, Senegal |
| Source Reference | Fallou Ngom, Yeneen mbindum Serigne Mor Kayre, British Library, EAP334/14/1: https://eap.bl.uk/archive-file/EAP334-14-1 See also: https://open.bu.edu/handle/2144/3827 |
| Access condition and copyright | These materials are subject to copyright and are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 License, which permits non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. For use, distribution or reproduction beyond these terms, contact Professor Fallou Ngom (fngom@bu.edu). |
| Contributors | Fallou Ngom, Daivi Rodima-Taylor, Elhadji Djibril Diagne, Cheikh Mouhamadou S. Diop, Gana Ndiaye, Martin Aucoin, Eric Schmidt, Alison Parker, Frank Antonelli, Shawn Provencal, and Mark Lewis. |
| Required citation information | Fallou Ngom (PI), Elhadji Djibril Diagne, Cheikh Mouhamadou S. Diop, Daivi Rodima-Taylor, Martin Aucoin, and other contributors. 2022. “Poem of the First Màggal.” https://sites.bu.edu/nehajami/the-four-languages/wolof/wolof-manuscripts/wolofalu-maggal-gu-njekk-gi/ |
Manuscript
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Transcription and Translations
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Multimedia