Cilmi Boodhari

Cilmi Ismaaciil Liibaan (1908 – 1941), popularly known as Cilmi Boodhari, was a Somali poet and pioneer in the genre of Somali love poems. He is known among Somalis as the King of Romance (Boqorkii Jacaylka).

He was born near the border between Ethiopia and Somaliland in 1908. He is known for his love poems to a girl named Hodan Cabdulle that he met while working at a bakery in Berbera. Hodan married another man, and it is said that Cilmi died from heartbreak.

Cilmi Boodhari differed from poets of his generation by eschewing tribal war and vengeance themes, instead focusing entirely on love. His poems were seen as unconventional and scandalous at the time, but his work heavily influenced Somali music pioneers such as Cabdullaahi Qarshe, who founded the Balwo and Heello genres.

His selected poem “Qaraami” was translated by Margaret Laurence in her book A Tree for Poverty.