Elmi Boodhari

Elmi Boodhari (Somali: cilmi ismaaciil liibaan, Elmi Ismail Libaa, Arabic: علمي اسماعيل ليبان‎‎) was born in near the border between Ethiopia and former British Somaliland in 1908. He is considered to be one of the greatest composers, poet who wrote some of the best love poetry in the Somali language.

He is widely known in the Somali world for his love poems that he wrote to a girl named Hodan that he fell in love and met in Berbera.

Boderi was working at a bakery shop in the port city of Berbera when one day has the story goes came in a beautiful woman by the name of Hodan Abdi who he fell for from the first moment.

Bodari began to write her countless romantic poems, and in one of his poems he spoke of once seeing Hodan’s naked body, which is considered a serious offense in those times given and still is, even so that he was poor and broke, and many other elements that stood in the face of him marrying her.

Hodan Abdi got married and that caused his heart to be broken and its said that he died from love.

His death place is called Batalaale Beach and has become a catch-phrase for Love in Somali language.

She is altogether fair: Her fine-shaped bones begin her excellence; Magnificent of bearing, tall is she; A proud grace is her body’s greatest splendor; Yet she is gentle, womanly, soft of skin. Her gums’ dark gloss is like unto blackest ink; And a careless flickering of her slanted eyes Begets a light clear as the white spring moon. My heart leaps when I see her walking by, Infinite suppleness in her body’s sway. I often fear that some malicious djinn May envy her beauty, and wish to do her harm.

— From “Qaraami” (Passion), as presented by Margaret Laurence in A Tree for Poverty.