Fallou Ngom on Translating the Ajami Poetry of Sëriñ Mbay Jaxate
Beyond African Orality: The ‘Ajami Poetry of Sëriñ Mbay Jaxate brings the African literary world into focus, which has long remained on the sidelines of global scholarship. Translated by Professor Fallou Ngom, the 60 poems penned by one of the most celebrated Sufi poets of Africa, this book introduces us to the poetic ingenuity surrounding Sëriñ Mbay Jaxate’s work. By presenting original handwritten poems alongside copies produced by local scribes, the book invites readers, especially those unfamiliar with African ‘Ajami language, to appreciate their rich diversity, forms, and aesthetics.
In this interview, Dr. Ngom reflects on the significance of these texts and what they communicate about the intellectual culture of the continent, African communities, and how this set of translations supports the preservation of the Ajami language and recognition of its speakers.
What motivated you to work on this translation?
The 60 poems I translated in this book are part of over 5000 pages of texts written in Wolof Ajami (Wolof language written with an enhanced form of Arabic script) that my research team and I digitized in 2011, thanks to a grant from the British Library Endangered Archives Programme. Several factors motivated me to select the 60 most significant poems by Sëriñ Mbay Jaxate (c 1876-1947) and translate them into English. These factors included my desire to correct the common yet false idea that Black Africa only has oral traditions and to make the rich insights hidden for centuries in the works of great African poets accessible worldwide.
How did you preserve the poet’s voice and cultural meaning when translating Ajami poetry across languages and scripts?
Translating the poems was not easy. It took me over a decade to complete the transcriptions and later the translations. As a native Wolof speaker who has worked with Wolof Ajami texts for nearly twenty years, I possess advanced literacy skills and deep knowledge of Wolof society’s history and culture. However, my skills were insufficient to translate the poems, as he wrote in a Wolof dialect of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. So, I had to collaborate closely with local elders who understand his language, proverbs, maxims, riddles, and other figures of speech. Given the cultural and linguistic differences between English and Wolof, my first major decision in the translation process was whether to prioritize the content and sacrifice the aesthetic qualities of the poems, or to focus on the aesthetics and lose some of the content. I chose a balanced approach, aiming to translate the ideas the poet intended to convey while preserving as much as possible his voice, style, rhythm, figures of speech, and cultural flavor. When I couldn’t do this fully, I resorted to footnotes to provide additional context. In this way, I was able to capture the poet’s voice, preoccupations, and artistic creativity.
What does Ajami poetry reveal about the communities and intellectual traditions that produced it?
His Ajami poems capture every aspect of rural Wolof farming communities from his time. To communicate more effectively with his audience, he used many metaphors from local animals, plants, livestock, farming activities, planting and harvesting seasons, sports like wrestling and target shooting, hunting, culinary traditions, and the climate. Unlike his peers, who often shifted between classical Arabic and Wolof, Mbay Jaxate chose to minimize Arabic influences in his work, favoring rural Wolof words to connect better with his agrarian African audience. As a moralist and keen social critic, he carefully observed his community and the events around him. He wasn’t afraid to speak truth to power, especially to leaders who failed in their duties. His poems addressed men and women, young and old. He advised local leaders and mentored the young and the old through special poems he called dénkaane (Wolof: special counsel). He praised those who deserved it and criticized those who didn’t, regardless of their social standing. His work shows that he disliked hypocritical, arrogant, and judgmental people who minded others’ business and looked for faults in others. His work demonstrates that Ajami has been a major source of knowledge in Africa.
In what ways might this translation benefit the Ajami language and its speakers?
These translations are important for both Africans in the content and those in the diaspora for several reasons. Many are unaware of the existence of great poets and scholars in their communities who wrote in African languages using the enriched Arabic script called Ajami. This is because works of Ajami writers are not included in the modern school curriculum inherited from the colonial era. Therefore, these translations provide them with unique educational opportunities to reconnect with their cultures and learn important lessons from their eminent scholars, such as this poet, who emphasizes the pursuit of moral excellence, human decency, and the appreciation of diversity.
What do you hope readers take away from your translation of Ajami poetry?
I hope readers will learn from the book that there are literary figures like Shakespeare in many African societies. The poet, Mbay Jaxate, is just one example from the Wolof community. The Mandinka, Hausa, Fula, and other groups also have their own notable literary figures. I also hope these translations will expand their understanding of literature beyond the work of Europhone writers. Translating and making available worldwide the chefs-d’oeuvre of great Ajami poets such as Mbay Jaxate will help decolonize knowledge production about Africa and challenge stereotypes about the continent, as well as the extremist ideologies that now threaten peaceful coexistence in the continent and beyond.
To know more about Dr. Fallou’s new book, click here.
Professor Fallou Ngom is the Research Group Leader for the African Ajami Library’s archival project. Dr. Ngom is a Professor of Anthropology at the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), Former Director of the African Language Program and Former Director of the African Studies Center at Boston University. His research interests focus on the intellectual written histories of Africa, the interactions between African languages and non-African languages, the adaptations of Islam in Africa, and Ajami literatures (records of African languages written in enriched forms of the Arabic script) in Africa and the diaspora. . His book previous book Muslims beyond the Arab World: The Odyssey of ʿAjamī and the Murīdiyya (Oxford University Press, 2016), won the 2017 Melville J. Herskovits Prize for the best book in African studies.