Oumar Sy is the custodian of the manuscripts recorded in his name and collected from the town of Ndioum (Senegal). The Sy collection includes 10 small unbound manuscripts and documents. The material was mainly authored by popular Pulaar Sufi poet Oumar Sy, but some of the files are copies of Ajami poems originally composed by pioneering Pulaar poets such as Hamet Sy (custodian's teacher). One manuscript is authored by the custodian's friend, Ahmed Tijān Bah. The manuscripts are mainly about Sufi praise poetry in panegyric style, focusing on hagiography of Prophet Muhammad, Islamic history, and several genealogies around the Tijaniyya Sufi order. The 10 files are of varying sizes, ranging from manuscripts as big as 50 pages to paper stacks as small as 2 pages. Sy’s collection is critical because, it a rare example of written Pulaar Ajami that can be located in Fuuta Tooro today.
Oumar Sy est le dépositaire des manuscrits enregistrés à son nom et collectés dans la ville de Ndioum (Sénégal). La collection Sy comprend 10 petits manuscrits non reliés et des piles de papier. Le matériel a été principalement écrit par Oumar Sy, mais certains des fichiers sont des copies de chansons islamiques pulaar désormais célèbres composées à l'origine par des poètes pulaar pionniers tels que Hamet Sy (son professeur). Un manuscrit est rédigé par l'ami du dépositaire, Ahmed Tijān Bah. Les manuscrits concernent principalement la poésie de louange soufie dans un style panégyrique. Les 10 fichiers sont de tailles différentes, allant de manuscrits de 50 pages à des piles de papier aussi petites que 2 pages.
Extent: The collection includes 10 unbound small book manuscripts.
Custodial history: Oumar Sy, the current custodian, is the original owner of the collection. Oumar Sy is an active Islamic poet who has been composing and singing Pulaar oral Islamic poetry since the 1980s. This collection is the outcome of his years of learning poetry and eventually of composing his own while traveling in the Senegal river valley region.
Arrangement: The manuscripts were packed in suitcases without a specific arrangement or order. The custodian, Mountaga Ba, was responsible for the upkeep and organization of the material.
Author(s)/Creator(s): Oumar Sy; Ahmad Tijān Bah.
Scribe(s): Oumar Sy; Ahmad Tijān Bah, Hamet Sy.
Related countries: Senegal; Mauritania; Saoudi Arabia.
Related regions: Islam.
