El-hadji Lamine Bayo Manuscripts
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The collection contains manuscripts dealing with different religious and non-religious topics. Some are short and others are long. The issues discussed in the documents include divination, special prayers and techniques to address specific problems, and panegyric poems praising Prophet Muḥammad. Several languages are used in the manuscripts: Arabic, Mandinka, Fuuta Jalon Fula (Pular), Wolof, and French.
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Item Kanjamaalu Kitaaboolu III: Collection of Multilingual Ephemeral Texts IIIBayo, El-hadji LamineContains a collection of several ephemeral texts written in Arabic, Mandinka, and Fuuta Jalon Fula Ajami (Pular). One of the texts included deals with Istikhāra (special prayers used in Islamic divination) with glosses in Mandinka, a letter in Fuuta Jalon Ajami, and personal notes in Mandinka Ajami.Item Item Kanjamaalu Kitaaboolu II: Collection of Multilingual Texts IIBayo, El-hadji LamineContains a collection of ephemeral texts written in Arabic, Mandinka, and Fuuta Jalon Fula Ajami (Pular). They contain prayers and techniques used to deal with people's preoccupations, including relationships between men and women. The ingredients of the recipes include prayers and numerological formulas written in classical Arabic. The instructions on how to use the recipes are written in Mandinka Ajami, as customary. This collection also includes a religious poem in Mandinka Ajami.Item Kandoolu Kitaaboolu III: Collection of Bilingual Texts IIIBayo, OusmaneContains a collection of bilingual ephemeral texts in Arabic and Mandinka Ajami. The documents contain prayers and techniques used to deal with people's preoccupations, including protection from Satan, desire for fame, divination, and heath issues. The ingredients of the recipes include prayers and numerological formulas written in classical Arabic. The instructions on how to use the recipes are written in Mandinka Ajami, as customary.Item Kandoolu Kitaaboolu II: Collection of Bilingual Texts IIBayo, El-hadji Lamine; Bayo, OusmaneContains a rich collection of bilingual ephemeral texts in Arabic and Mandinka Ajami. The documents deal with prayers and techniques used to address people's preoccupations, including immigration to Europe, increasing one's knowledge, love and heath issues. The ingredients of the recipes include prayers and numerological formulas written in classical Arabic. The instructions on how to use the recipes are written in Mandinka Ajami. This collection also includes a very old poem in Arabic.Item Kanjamaalu Kitaaboolu I: Collection of Multilingual Texts IBayo, El-hadji LamineContains a collection of personal correspondances, notes, and some financial records. Arabic, Mandinka, Wolof, and French are used in the documents. Besides the documents in Mandinka Ajami, there is a letter in French, a document in Wolof Ajami dealing with the blessings in a poem by Shaykh Ahmadu Bamba (1853-1927), and an image of Serigne Saliou Mbacke (1915-2007) who served as the fifth Caliph of the Muridiyya Sufi order of Senegal.Item Kandoolu Kitaaboolu I: Collection of Bilingual Texts IBayo, El-hadji Lamine; Bayo, OusmaneContains a rich collection of ephemeral texts. They deal with prayers and techniques used to address people's preoccupations, including health and travel-related issues. The ingredients of the medicinal recipes that are believed to be potent (including prayers, magical squares and numerological formulas) are written in classical Arabic, while the instructions on how to use them are generally written in Mandinka Ajami. This collection also includes a historical document that lists several prominent scholars and kings who lived in different parts of Casamance.Item Suukuwo Kitaaboolu: Collection of PoemsBayo, OusmaneContains a collection of several poems. The first one, which is short, is written in Mandinka Ajami and deals with friendship. The other ones are in Arabic. Some poems have bilingual glosses in Arabic and Mandinka Ajami.Item Jumaloo: Resolving ProblemsBayo, OusmaneContains a collection of several small manuscripts with recipes and remedies to address people’s problems. The social preoccupations that the manuscripts seek to address include: infertility among women, how a man can make himself attractive to a woman he loves, success in work, luck, and protection, among other things. As customary among Senegambian Muslims, the ingredients of the medicinal recipes that are believed to be potent (including prayers, magical squares, formulas, and long strings of esoteric letters) are written in classical Arabic, while the instructions on how to use them are written in Mandinka Ajami. The collection includes an old Arabic poem with a colophon. It also contains a page of Arabic verses that Shaykh Ahmadu Bamba (1853-1927), the founder of the Muridiyya, recommended people to recite seven times when they face challenges they want to resolve. These verses are followed by a brief explanation of their utility in Wolofal (Wolof Ajami). This document reveals the interactions between Mandinka and Wolof scholars of Senegambia and their multilingualism. The manuscript was digitized at Hotel Nema-Kadior, Ziguinchor, Senegal.Item Biniiboo: Celebrating Prophet MuḥammadBayo, Mouhamadou Amine; Bayo, OusmaneContains a collection of several panegyric poems (Arabic: Madḥ) praising Prophet Muḥammad. The poems celebrate his struggles, virtues, and success in the nascent days of Islam. They are written in Arabic with interlinear and marginal glosses in Mandinka Ajami and Arabic. The more recent glosses are written with a blue pen. There are several colophons in the poems that indicate their authors. Mouhamadou Amine Bayo wrote one of the poems, and his son Ousmane Bayo wrote the other. Ousmane Bayo is the father of the current owner of the manuscript (El-hadji Lamine Bayo). The poem written by Ousmane Bayo has more extensive interlinear and marginal glosses in Mandinka and Arabic. Red ink is sometime used to highlight key words. The documents were digitized at Hotel Nema-Kadior, Ziguinchor, Senegal.Item Duwaaraŋ Kummaayariŋoolu: Special PrayersBayo, OusmaneA short Mandinka Ajami manuscript, which contains special prayers and techniques used to address specific problems. The manuscript includes names of Prophets, the companions of Prophet Muḥammad, and angels. The manuscript was digitized at Hotel Nema-Kadior, Ziguinchor, Senegal.Item Ramuloo: DivinationBayo, Ousmane; Unknown; Bayo, Ousmane (scribe)The manuscript is a copy of a divination manual in Mandinka Ajami. Divination is popular in Muslim Africa. It is known in Mandinka communities as Ramuloo (from Arabic: Khatt al-Raml). Muslim religious leaders regularly offer divination services to people (Muslims and non-Muslims alike) who want to learn about various aspects of their future or find solutions to their anticipated social challenges. The manuscript consists of several sections. The start of each section is marked with words in a box. Both Western and Arabic numerals are used as pagination throughout the manuscript. The Arabic numerals are placed on top and the Western numerals at the bottom of each page. The manuscript was digitized at Hotel Nema-Kadior, Ziguinchor, Senegal.