The material is part of the personal archives of Serigne Abdou Kane, a student of Serigne Mbaye Diakhate. It consists of documents written by him based upon the poems he memorized and heard from his teacher. Based upon the interview with Serigne Bassirou Kane, the current owner of the material, Serigne Mbaye Diakhate used to ask his students such as his father (Serigne Abdou Kane) to memorize his poems for educational purposes. Thus, the material consists of Serigne Abdou Kane's documentation of the knowledge he accumulated in his studies with Serigne Mbaye Diakhate which he also used as educational materials for other students in his own Qur'anic school in Khourou Mbacke. The themes addressed in the material include, among others, prayers against evil, prayers for a good rainy season and a good harvest, tributes to Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba, advice for good behavior, the importance of local values such as "jom" (honorability/determination), "fulla" (seriousness/rigor), and "kersa" (discretion), and warnings against vanity and other human flaws. The manuscripts are written in different types of paper. Most are written with black ink. The red ink is used for vocalization and to highlight key words. Some pages are not vocalized. According to Serigne Bassirou Kane, his father passed away before finishing the vocalization of some pages.
Physical characteristics of original material: Due to the age of the documents, some pages are hard to read.There are numerous ink stains in the material. Some lines are erased. Some pages are missing and others are destroyed. Some pages are not vocalized.
1 unbound paper manuscript of 259 pages. Date of orginal: c 1970's-2000.
Author: Serigne Mbaye Diakhate. Scribe: Serigne Abdou Kane. Language: Wolof (with some Arabic in religious quotations, prayers, and in the openings and endings of poems). Script of material: Wolof Ajami (Wolofal).
