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to resurrect Kassim. God grants permission and the angels return to the town as different person, who return to Kassim's family and say that they are hungry and thirsty. The bereaved father tells his wife to prepare food and drink. Gabriel invokes God to bring all seven of the sons to life and the
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young man, in particular a seventh son who was the only surviving after his six siblings had died in infancy. The only man fitting the description was Kassim, the son of the wealthiest man of the village. The townspeople agreed and explained to Kassim's father, who agreed but said his wife must
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as a physician. The townspeople pitied
Gabriel and offered him money to go find a healer. Gabriel said that he knew of one and took them to Michael. Michael stated that he could cure Gabriel but only with the blood of a
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were kind and compassionate towards each other. However, while
Gabriel held that this was still true, Michael argued that humans had lost the quality of compassion. To settle the dispute, they agreed to carry out a test.
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that in the future humans will lose their compassion and become obsessed with their physical well-being and material wealth. The poet concludes by stating that this prophecy has been fulfilled.
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was important because of its age and because it is one of the most remarkable pieces of
Swahili literature, though he did not elaborate on why he thought it was remarkable.
31:. It is composed of 285 stanzas of four lines of eight-syllables each. The poet-narrator of utenzi offers details of his lineage but never identifies himself.
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in the original. The emotions of the parents are dwelt on at great length, and the poem is enormously popular especially among
Swahili women.
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agree. His wife agreed, but said that Kassim must also agree, which he did. Michael then stated the father must be the one to
69:("A book of poetry in utenzi meter"). This was changed by BĂĽttner to a title he felt was more descriptive.
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125:, Michael agrees with Gabriel that humans still possess exemplary compassion. The angels appeal to
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translation in 1967, though he also introduced a number of significant mistranslations.
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The only old manuscript of the poem known is held in the library of the
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seriously in
English but, strange as it may seem, it has certain
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whole town celebrates. The angels return to Heaven, where they
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50:) in 1854. The poem was published in 1887, followed by a
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had an argument. Both agreed that in the distant past
46:, was sent by Ludwig Krapf from Africa (most probably,
104:as a severely ill man and Michael appeared in the
54:transliteration in 1894 by Carl Gotthilf BĂĽttner.
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201:"Critical Artistry in Utenzi wa Shufaka"
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42:. This copy, which is written in
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205:Nordic Journal of African Studies
100:, where Gabriel appeared at the
23:: "Poem of Mercifulness") is an
156:It is difficult to relate this
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152:In 1920, Alice Werner wrote:
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36:German Oriental Society
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65:The original title is
199:Hamza Mustafa Njozi,
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96:The two descended to
77:A long time ago, the
207:8(1): 117-129 (1999)
174:Swahili literature
58:offered the first
48:German East Africa
29:Swahili literature
147:Utenzi wa Shufaka
17:Utenzi wa Shufaka
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188:Ishmael in Islam
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52:Latin-script
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106:marketplace
194:References
111:sacrificed
215:Category
168:See also
132:prophesy
184:Abraham
86:Michael
82:Gabriel
60:English
21:Swahili
221:Utenzi
179:Utenzi
161:pathos
123:Heaven
102:mosque
98:Medina
90:humans
79:angels
25:utenzi
40:Halle
186:and
84:and
73:Plot
127:God
121:In
38:in
217::
203:,
19:(
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