Poetry

In Naming the Dawn, Djiboutian writer Abdourahman A. Waberi turns inward, offering a contemplative collection of poetry that explores faith, memory, language, and the search for spiritual understanding. Moving between intimate personal reflections and broader cultural and historical questions, the poems examine how individual lives are shaped by inherited traditions, sacred texts, and the landscapes in which we grow up. Islam and its poetic heritage occupy a central place in the collection. Waberi engages with the Quran, the history of Muslim thought, and the work of great poets, considering how religious traditions can nurture both personal reflection and openness to others. Alongside these spiritual explorations, he writes about his mother, his wife, and his unborn child, weaving family relationships into a wider meditation on time, mortality, and belonging. Rooted in the landscapes and cultural history of the Horn of Africa, the collection brings together the personal and the universal. Through lyrical, introspective language, Waberi seeks to preserve fleeting moments and reconcile the different histories that make up an individual identity. Naming the Dawn ultimately becomes an invitation to approach faith with curiosity, embrace cultural complexity, and discover the extraordinary significance hidden within everyday life.