Dhoodaan
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Cabdullahi Macallin Axmed, Dhoodaan (born 1941 in Dollo Zone Died April 2013[1]) was a Somali poet. [2]
A well-known Somali poet Abdullahi Moalin Ahmed “Dhoodaan” died aged 72 in the city of Harar. He was one of the pioneers of Somali language poetry and arguably one of the greatest poets of the last century. He was born within a family of shepherds from the Somaali Galbeed, he could not have a formal education.
Born to a nomadic pastoralist family, he had what could have been speech and language delay disorder at an early age. Young Dhoodaan during those years was a very shy, quiet, and observant child, many thought he will never speak again. Not surprising for a nomadic society that had little knowledge of disorders or its diagnosis techniques. Little did they know what was boiling under his prolonged silence and like a volcano he erupted. What followed was a miracle, not only was he able to speak but was able to do so flawlessly through poetry. He spoke elegantly and with ease, unusual for a child, yet what people didn't understand was where he acquired such a skill.
Poetry did not run in his blood line, in fact none of his family history was known for poetry. But because he didn't have the ability to speak at an early age, he compensated it through observation. He made sense of his surroundings by silently constructing words in his mind. This would later become poetry, and through this poetry he would later speak about the issues facing his community; whether it was famine, war or love. He did not shy away from challenging the status quo, and the leaders of his community. From that point, it was clear that he was not an ordinary young boy, but a legend in the making.