International Istiqama Muslim Charitable AssociationScholarly paper archive

The Omani Imprint on Traditional Swahili Poetry: A Study of Material Features and Civilizational Values

al-Athar al-ʻUmānī fī al-Shiʻr al-Sawāḥilī al-Taqlīdī: Dirāsah fī al-Malāmiḥ al-Māddīyah wa-al-Qiyam al-Ḥaḍārīyah

الأثر العماني في الشعر السواحلي التقليدي: دراسة في الملامح المادية والقيم الحضارية

Wāʼil Nabīl Ibrāhīm ʻUthmān
أ.د. وائل نبيل إبراهيم عثمان
Conference: The Second Istiqama International Conference: Omanis and the Swahili World — Influence and Interaction — Mombasa, 2026
Romanized conference title: Muʼtamar al-Istiqāmah al-Duwalī al-Thānī: al-ʻUmānīyūn wa-al-Sawāḥilīyah bayna al-Taʼthīr wa-al-Taʼaththur
Language of the paper: Arabic — this page presents the English metadata layer.
Permanent citation ID: MHF-MOMBASA2026-004

Abstract

This study treats the deep historical and literary roots binding Omanis to the inhabitants of the African coast, concentrating on the reflection of the material features of Omani civilization in traditional Swahili poetry, and examining the organic interpenetration of Omani and Swahili literature so as to move beyond the conventional view that confines influence to the linguistic dimension alone. The research seeks to answer a central question: how was traditional Swahili poetry able to become a vessel for the material features and civilizational values that Omanis carried to East Africa? The importance of the study lies in its illumination of the Arabisation of Swahili literature in form — through prosody and rhyme — and in content, through the reflection of the streams of Omani urbanity and civilisation, thereby documenting a historical period in which Omanis were the pioneers of intellectual renaissance on the coast.

Keywords

Swahili poetryOmani influenceComparative literatureMaterial cultureProsodyEast Africa

How to cite

ʻUthmān, Wāʼil Nabīl Ibrāhīm. "al-Athar al-ʻUmānī fī al-Shiʻr al-Sawāḥilī al-Taqlīdī: Dirāsah fī al-Malāmiḥ al-Māddīyah wa-al-Qiyam al-Ḥaḍārīyah" [The Omani Imprint on Traditional Swahili Poetry: A Study of Material Features and Civilizational Values]. Paper presented at Muʼtamar al-Istiqāmah al-Duwalī al-Thānī: al-ʻUmānīyūn wa-al-Sawāḥilīyah bayna al-Taʼthīr wa-al-Taʼaththur, Mumbāsā, 2026. MHF-MOMBASA2026-004

Catalog record

Romanization follows the ALA-LC Arabic table used by the Library of Congress and the British Library. The original Arabic is carried in the parallel MARC 880 fields, linked by subfield $6 — the standard treatment for non-English resources.

Show the MARC 21 record
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=242  10$aThe Omani Imprint on Traditional Swahili Poetry: A Study of Material Features and Civilizational Values$yeng
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=500  \\$aConference theme (in Arabic): المحور الثالث: الأثر العربي في السواحلية.
=520  3\$aThis study treats the deep historical and literary roots binding Omanis to the inhabitants of the African coast, concentrating on the reflection of the material features of Omani civilization in traditional Swahili poetry, and examining the organic interpenetration of Omani and Swahili literature so as to move beyond the conventional view that confines influence to the linguistic dimension alone. The research seeks to answer a central question: how was traditional Swahili poetry able to become a vessel for the material features and civilizational values that Omanis carried to East Africa? The importance of the study lies in its illumination of the Arabisation of Swahili literature in form — through prosody and rhyme — and in content, through the reflection of the streams of Omani urbanity and civilisation, thereby documenting a historical period in which Omanis were the pioneers of intellectual renaissance on the coast.
=546  \\$aText in Arabic; title also romanized (ALA-LC); abstract and keywords in English.
=653  \0$aSwahili poetry
=653  \0$aOmani influence
=653  \0$aComparative literature
=653  \0$aMaterial culture
=653  \0$aProsody
=653  \0$aEast Africa
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