Utendi (The Book of Mwana Kupona) stanzas 1-11 - Mwana Kupona

1.

Attend to me my daughter

unworthy as I am of God’s award

Heed my last instructions

for it may be that you will apply yourself to them.

2.

Sickness has seized upon me

and has now lasted a whole year

I have not had a chance to utter

a word of good advice to you.

3.

Come forward and set yourself 

with ink and paper

I have matters at heart

that I have longed to tell you.

4.

Now that you are near

Write, In the Name of God

name of Him and the Beloved

together with his Companions.

5.

When you have thus acknowledged

the Name of God the Mighty

then let us pray for His bounty

as God shall deem fit for us.

6.

A son of Adam is nought

and the world is not ours

nor is there any man

who shall endure for ever.

7.

My child, accept my advice

together with my blessing

God will protect you

that He may avert you from evil.

8.

Take this amulet that I give you

fasten it carefully upon a cord

regard it as a precious thing

that you may cherish it with care.

9.

Let me string for you a necklace

of pearls and red coral

let me adorn you as a beautiful woman

when it shines upon your neck.

10.

For love let me give you a clasp

a beautiful one without flaw

wear it upon your neck

and you shall perceive benefits.

11.

While you shall hold to my counsel 

my child, you shall escape trouble

you shall pass through this world

and cross over to the next.

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Mwana Kupona [Mwana Kupona binti Msham] (died c. 1865) Kenya

Translated by Lyndon Harries

Source: Oral Literature in Africa, Ruth Finnegan, World Oral Literature Series 1, Open Book Publishers, 2012