The Collected Works of Nana Asma'u. of which I get this poem from, do not include the original Fulani in text, but instead the original handwritten manuscripts written by Nana Asma'u herself, in this case without vowels. An attempted transcription by a person not versed in Ajami, even if they speak Fulani, already is a fruitless endeavour. If any Fulani from Futa Toro is willing to try it, please contribute to humanity's collection of knowledge.

In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
May God's blessings be upon the noble Prophet.
An elegy by the righteous, pious, and ascetic woman Asma' bint al-Mujaddid [daughter of the reformer Dan Fodio]
May god have mercy on them both, for her brother, the Commander of the Faithful, Muhammad Bello, may God have mercy on him

I rely on God the Enthroned, the Pure, the Omnipotent, to help me to accept what He has inflicted on me.
May He help in my loneliness.
Only God can ease this loneliness, for He is All-Powerful.
God the Almighty can work all things.

I rely on the most excellent of morotals, I invoke peace upon him, the exemplary one the best of the best without limit.
Also, on his relatives and companions may there fall the peace of him whose guidance illuminates our path.

Calling on him, I weep and compose this poem
Shedding tears for the passing of the Caliph I seek to soothe my heart
In this world of sadness and confusion I relive the loss of my Shaykh.

I am alone, missing the eternal love, the companionship
Of my brother, we were confidantes,
He was my mentor; I shall never have that again.
I cannot tell all, but will explain some points

Restless and agitated I turn again to God the Pure on whom I rely
I weep over my prayer beads
And when I try to sleep, I toss and turn
In grief as I remember Bello.
May God reunite us with him

Reunite me with him in the realms of Heaven.
Oh God most Holy, Gravious, you can do this.
My sins terrify me
But I still hope for your mercy
For your generosity is limitless

I am like a small chicken
Whose mother died, leaving him living forlornly
Or like someone abandoned in the wilderness.
Howling until his ears are closed forever.
God alone can wipe away my grief.

I am like an abandoned infant,
Left piteous and vulnerable,
Like a mother and father, he cared for me,
That is how I remember him.
Only the grace of God can help me

He helped me in every respect as far as my religion and my worldly affairs,
Everything, God knows, and so do the people.
He was my teacher.
He helped all people with their affairs.
He had concern for their welfare and he did things according to Religion.

He was upright, exceedingly generous, patient
He spread learning and explained matters.
He was wise, he can turn back prodigals
And used his wits to remedy any situation.
Oh GOd help us, for You are merciful.

In his day he was unique in his status
Among scholars and non-scholars alike.
He assuaged people's grief and fears,
He was a refuge, a haven in our time. Listen to what I say.

He had a fine character,
He was merciful to the poor,
He honoured and befriended people
He was gracious to strangers and generous to them
Looked after their interest, fed them
It was his nature to be very generous.

He was never ill-tempered, he was pleasant to everyone;
Only if the law was broken did he become angry.
In that case he was inplacable and could not be appeased.
When he regained equanimity, he was calm.
Those were his characteristics from his boyhood.

Oh God bestow on him your blessings,
Your mercy and perfume him
In his grave with Your favours;
Light up his tomb, give him honor
For the honor of he who brings good tidings, I make my plea.

On the day of Resurrection may he be saved
By the grace of the Propher
And drink from the pool,
And be taken to Paradise the abode of the Prophet.
By the grace of Ahmad.

May he see the face of the Prophet the Chosen One,
And may he be with those who see God's Majesty.
May he be united with his father and mother and all Muslims
Who have followed Muhammad's way
In the name of Prophet our leader.

Let us pray that God will help us now that Bello is gone
And give victory to his successor.
May he have a long life
And defend religion, as Bello did
In the name of Prophet, I make this plea.

My poem is completed. May God accept it.
I give thanks
And invoke blessings on the Prophet,
His Companions and his Saints.
I ask for enlightenment through the Prophet.

Know that Bishruna is the year of the Hyrah of the Prophet
To al-Madinah, the date is fixed.
Count and see, take care. Reflect.
You know where he went,
And remember "God is our helper." Here the poem is complete.

Based on the Introduction in the Collected Works of Nana Asma'u by Mack and Boyd, and A Deconstructive Analysis of Nana Asma’u’s “Elegy for Bello” by Isa Bin Harun, plus own analysis.

This poem follows the long-established Arabic genre of Marthiyya, the elegy, that predates Islam. It follows the conventions of the qasida family of poetry, with praise/pain sequences and single rhyme sequences, with a single rhyme and a fixed metre.

If you look at the Fulani Ajami, you notice that there are many arabic loanwords, and that Arabic scholars could at least understand the tone of the text. This is for similar reasons as to why languages like Vietnamese have a large Cantonese lexicon, Thai having a big Sanskrit borrowing, or why most English words are of foreign origin. Many concepts from Arabic that didn't have Fulani words would simply be written by their Arabic equivalent, and many Fulani words were replaced by Arabic in literature to seem more prestigious.

Like other Marthiyya's, the beginning 3 lines of the poem are the proclamations taken directly from the Qur'an. The Basmala, divine praise upon God, it is the text that begins the Qur'an. The Ṣalāt, which is the traditional praise upon the Prophet Muhammad. And the Rithā', a personal mourning directed to God.



The poem as an elegy is about the sense of desolation that Asma'u felt after the death of Muhammad Bello, her brother. It describes him as a person and as a teacher who was most important to her intellectual and spiritual development. This is the only time Asma'u has ever discussed her teachers in her writing, showing how Bello was one of the most influential people in her lifetime.

Bello was ill for months prior to his death, hence Asma'u would have had time to prepare for his death, but nevertheless she was devasted to lose her close companion. It is one of Asma'u's most poignant elegies.

The Basmala/Salat/Ritha sequence is not only tradition but also establishes the text as more of a sacred speech and not a private lament, she uses this sacred speech to ask Bello to be granted in the Prophet's favour, invoking the soteriological route (intercession). This is because of Asma'u's family being steeply into the Sufism prevalent in the Qadiriyya order, which explains the concern with baraka and intercession. This is also why she argues for him being both a ruler and saintly guide.



Rhyming is common among Arabic literature, and the rhyming couplets is exactly what Nana Asma'u does. The specific form she uses per stanza is two consecutive couplets with the same rhyme, and a closing line. Hence, each stanza follows an AA AA B sequence typical of Arabic poetry. The exact A rhyme varies per stanza, but every single B in the stanza ends in -ir, tying the entire text together into one cohesive poem.



Other poetic devices used are anaphora (entire stanzas starting with an and clause help mnemonic recitation by recounting lists), multiple similes and metaphors ("like a little chick whose mother died", "like an abandoned infant", these perform the functions of registering grief at a personal level and also inviting communal sympathy by using universal imagery), hyperbole and magnification (praising Bello through maximal lists is a praise-poetry method that recreates the subject for posterity, which is both a political and personal message).

Asma'u doesn't focus on her own grief for Bello but also for all of the Ummah (people) that benefitted from the virtues of generosity and friendliness that Bello had, so she's not condoling herself but others as well.



Howver Isa Bin Harun notes that the first 8 stanzas of the poem are dedicated to the expression of the situation that Asma'u herself finds after the death of the Caliph Bello. The description of his personality later also reflects herself as a Fulani woman with Islamic values, implicitly narrating her own values to continue living by such good qualities she learned from him.

Hence she uses a double narrative situation, employing first-person to show her previous experiences, and resorting to a third person through Bello to project her present and future determination. In a way, a reflection of herself through the "metaphoric man".

By celebrating this metaphoric man, which he has snuck exalted character and good virtues in both religious and social aspects of human endeavour, the poet also celebrates herself and takes herself beyond the ordinary sphere.

The Elegy parallels those of classical Islamic verse, possibly that of the North African poet Abu 'Ali-Hasan ibn Mas'ud al-Yusi, who her father admired and copied from greatly. Another source is one of the most famous Arab female poets, al-Khansa, and her elegies for her brothers, however there is no direct correlation in Asma'u's elegies.

It is unknown which of the poems was written first, the Arabic or Fulfulde version. The Fulfulde version unlike the Arabic version has clear line breaks that seperate the couplet rhyming, however the Arabic version has them as one line. The translation keeps the Arabic format