� Islam began as a stranger and will become once
more as a stranger. �
Prophet Muhammad(Peace Upon Him)
In a land of
Ahmeds
Mahammads
And
Mahamoods
There was one called
Michael Mariano
He was the only Muslim
In a land of real mean Munafiqeen
In a land of fake Muslims
He was the only Christian
In a land of so-called Muslims
In sad Somalia
The only real Muslim I had come across was
A Christian
Called
Michael Mariano
In exile
I wondered as I wandered
In Zambia
In 1985
Beside the Zambezi River
I met Michael Mariano
(As the Russians say
A hill never meets a hill
But man is always meeting man!)
Michael was then our man in Zambia
Michael was then our Somali Ambassador to Zambia
Michael welcomed all Somalis with open arms
Michael hosted me during my entire sojourn in Zambia
Michael must have read my mind
For that afternoon
After feeding me a feast
Of a lavish meal
Of roasted goat meat & rice
Of papaya & bananas
Of guava & mangoes
He introduced the postprandial tidbits
By declaring
�I know we Somalis say
A mouth
That has feasted becomes shy
A mouth
That has dined well is rendered
Blind
Dumb
Demure
Diplomatic
Pliable
Agreeable
So Togane
Don�t be demure
Don�t demure
Don�t be diplomatic
Leave
Whatchamacallit
What you call
Devilomocy
For the devil & his disciples
Don�t be shy
Don�t be pliable
Don�t be agreeable
Be like
Mary
Mary
Quite contrary!
Make your mouth meow
Maya!
Make your mouth meow
Nyet!
Like a Soviet sot
Make your mouth meow
Nay!
Nay!
Don�t be mealy-mouthed
Do let me lead you
As a gracious host would lead an honored guest:
Pray do tell me
What was the reaction of the Somali intelligentsia
Languishing
In sad exile
In cold North America
Upon hearing
That I had accepted
This comfortable cozy cushy exile
Under the scorching African sun
This Somali ambassadorial sinecure
>From Papa Doc Afwayne
>From the hyena of Garbaharay
>From the dirty Darod Dictator
>From our superb savage Somali sorcerer?
I beg of you
I adjure you
In the name of our friendship
Speak of what they say
Nothing extenuate.
�Michael
They say
Et tu, Michael!
They say
That you had let the Somali nation down
They say
That like the Faqash
You had betrayed your own Isaaq clan family
They say
That you could have said
No
To the Darod donkey of a despot
As General Mahammad Abshir had
They say
That you had ruined
Your reputation
Your good name
Your impeccable credentials
As a true Somali patriot
They say
That now Afwayne dare laugh & say
After Michael
There is no Somali of significance left
That I cannot corrupt
That I cannot co-opt
That I cannot compromise
That I cannot make co-operate
That I cannot make go along with me to get along in this silly Somali life
They say
That Papa Doc Despot now believes
That every Somali has
Either a price
Or
A breaking point
They say
That now Afwayne can wink & swagger & boast
As LBJ had
And say of you:
I got his prick in my pocket!
His balls too!
As LBJ had said of
Hubert Humphrey
Pray Michael
Tell me
What do you say now
To what the Somali intelligentsia say
Whenever your name comes up?
What the devil has the Darod despot done to you
To make you toe his Marehan-Ogaden-Dhulbahante line?
Michael
What dare you say in your defense now?
�Togane
I dare say this
If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart
Absent thee from Somali felicity awhile
And in this harsh hateful Somali mad MOD world
Draw thy breath in pain
To tell my story
Before
The rest is silence
I dare say
What I had dared say
To the Marehan tin-horn tyrant!
Say to all the Somalis you see
In sad exile
In the Somali Diaspora
That I had accepted the dictator�s deal
Upon these three conditions
Which I believed the dreadful dictator
Would never be able to countenance
Let alone accept
But which he had
To my utter amazement
It is true
You can never predict
What will issue
Out of the Somali bush
Or
Out of the Somali brain
These are the conditions
That I had laid down
This is how I am making the Somali gangster
Run my own gauntlet
&
Dance to these not so loony tunes
(1) That I won�t brook
Any input
Any interference
Any impertinence
Any gaff
Any guff
Any guffaw
>From the blind mouth of the Marehan
>From his foreign minister
>From that Marehan moron
>From Buluq Balaq Bililqsi
>From Humpty Dumb Dumpty
>From the rapist of every Somali woman
Who sought his signature for her passport
(2) That I am going to be a Somali Ambassador
To serve the Somali people
For the express interest of the Somali nation
That whatever happens
Between Papa Afwayne & my Issaaq clan-family
Is none of my f-king business
It is Afwayne�s own lookout
Always remember
I am always on the lookout for the national interest
So
I just won�t get involved
In that blindman�s bluff
In that blind mare�s nest
(3) That I will serve the Somali people as their ambassador
Somewhere east of Suez
Where the palm and not the pine holds sway
Definitely
Not in cold Canada
Not in Our Lady of the Snows
Not anywhere in the world where it snows
My old Somali bones cannot bear
That numbing cold dreadful dust
That would freeze the marrow in my old bones
That is why I am here in Zambia
Doing what no other Somali Ambassador dare do
Serve my Somali people
No matter what crazy clan they claim to come from!
Just one recent example will do
To point this moral
To adorn this tale
Togane
See that umbrella tree
In the middle of this Somali diplomatic mission compound
In this bend of the Zambezi river
A fortnight ago
Three days in a row
I saw a Somali elder sitting under that umbrella tree
On the fourth day
I couldn�t take it anymore
I invited him in
Sat him down exactly where you are sitting now
To hear his story
To hear him say
�I am a Somali
I need a passport
It is the fourth day�
�I heard enough
I walked him to the Embassy offices
In the heat of the African killer noon sun
And gave him the passport
And invited him back in for dinner
He was beside himself with joy
He placed his right hand upon my head
And began to mumble
To shower me with spit-spiced blessings
And recited the Fatiha over me:
In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate!
Praise be to Allah, who the three worlds made.
The Merciful, the Compassionate.
The King of the Day of Fate.
Thee alone do we worship & of Thee alone do we ask aid.
Guide us to the path that is straight.
The path of those whom thy love is great,
Not those in whom is hate,
Nor they that deviate.
Amen.
He spat on his palm
And poured out
All the blessings of the treasures of Fatiha
Upon my Christian head
He was over fond of the Fatiha
The chapter of treasure
He was an honest Abgal
He was from your clan
He was penniless
Anxious to get back home to Somalia
After wondering
After wandering
All over East Africa
The Abgal tortoise had his fill of wanderlust
I gave him all the money he needed to get back home
Whereupon he began to bubble over
With the Fatiha upon his lips
All over again
All over me
Showering me with blessings
Laden & leavened with his spittle
Finally
I could not contain myself
I burst out:
�Look here
My Abgal Friend
I am not a Muslim
I am a Christian
Spare me your Fatihas!
I am what you Somalis call
Gaal Madow!
A black infidel
A coon
A kaffir
A cur
My name is not Mahammad
My name is Michael Mariano
The tyrant who made it impossible for all of us Somalis
To live
In our country
In peace
Is Muslim
As you know
He is called
Mahammad
He is named after your prophet of Al Islam!
The guy who denied you
Your passport in Mogadishu
Is Muslim
His name is
Noor Bithaar
The guy who denied you
Your passport
In Nairobi Kenya
Is Muslim
His name is Mahammad too
The guy who denied you
Your passport
In Kampala Uganda
Is Muslim
His name is Mahammad too
The guy who denied you
Your passport
In Dar es Salaam Tanzania
Is Muslim
His name is Mahammad too
The guy who has been giving you the runaround
Here in Lusaka Zambia
For the last three days
Is Muslim
His name is Mahammad too
Don�t waste your Fatiha upon me
I am a Christian
A follower of The Christ
In whose name
I try to do unto others
As I would have them do unto me
I repeat
My name is
Michael Mariano
I have done for you
What I have done
In the name of my Lord & Master
Jesus Christ
Who teaches me daily
Whispering in my soul
Verily, I say unto you
Inasmuch as you have done it
Unto one of the least of these my brethren
You have done it unto me.
Brother man
Mahammad Somali Abgal
Go in peace
May your journey back home to Somalia be
A safe one
A peaceful one
Godspeed!
�Brother
Michael Mariano
Now I beg of you
Now I adjure you
In the name of all that is good
In the name of all that is decent
In the name of all that is desirable
In the name of all that is holy
In the name of all that is human
Do not become a Muslim
Lest you become
As merciless
As malicious
As mendacious
As murderous
As mindless
As mean
As Munaafaq
As my fellow Muslims!
