Issue No. 802

Berbera - The City of Tragic Love

Last Saturday, 15 March, a young man named Mohamed Jama Gahnug doused himself in fuel and set himself ablaze in Berbera, Somaliland, after – though accounts differ – being ignored by his girlfriend. Just a couple of days later, in the same city, another man, Ali Mohamed Abdalle, consumed poison following an argument with his partner. Both men survived, though Gahnug suffered severe burns, and Abdalle is still recuperating in the hospital. The two men’s extreme reactions to rejection in just a handful of days have reignited widespread discussions about love and tragedy in Berbera – after all, is Berbera not the quintessential home of tragic love, the city of Elmi Boodhari’s epic ancient romantic tale?

Legend has it that Elmi, a baker in the 1930s, died from heartbreak after being denied his beloved Hodan Abdulle Walanwal because her family rejected him for being from the “wrong” clan. The poetry inspired by his inability to realise his love for Hodan remains some of the most-quoted in the much-loved and respected genre of Somali romantic literature. His verse has endured over the decades and inspired waves of Somali music in both topic and style, including influencing those like Abdullahi Qarshe, who spearheaded the Heello and Balwo genres that are less formulaic than the Gabay poetry. Elmi was also different from his poetic contemporaries for another principal reason – the eschewing of tribal violence and camels in his poetry to solely focus on his love for Hodan. The attempted suicides in Berbera have cast fresh light upon the pressures imposed on Somali youth by societal expectations about love and courtship in contemporary society.

Elmi Boodhari's story, immortalised in his own poetry and oral tradition as half folktale, half reality, is often romanticised as a tale of tragic romance that began in a bakery. It is said that Elmi could have never imagined that one single glance would unravel his life,  but when Hodan walked into his bakery, the poet known as the 'Father of Somali Love Poetry' became infatuated at first sight. Unfortunately for Elmi, they were never able to be together, since they were from different clans and her wealthy family considered him unworthy. Boodhari’s subsequent heartbreak inspired him to compose many of his most famous poems about unrequited love. Among these were 'Hubiyey Kaygiiye' (I Have Confirmed What's Mine), a controversial ode to Hodan's beauty with the intimate descriptions of her naked body – crossing societal boundaries.

To some extent, the story of Elmi Boodheri and the recent incidents in Berbera reflect the highly gendered dimension of Somali society. Traditional expectations of masculinity often emphasise control, responsibility, and the ability to provide for their loved ones. For young men who feel unable to meet these expectations—whether due to romantic rejection, familial pressure, or social exclusion—the resulting sense of failure can be devastating. These same patriarchal norms affect women, albeit in different ways, especially when bearing the brunt of male frustration through domestic abuse or being forced to accept marital choices in conformity with notions of family ‘honour’. Today, Boodhari is widely celebrated as an icon of romantic love, but many of his contemporaries considered him a lovelorn fool and ridiculed him for his pathetic dedication to Hodan. 

Elmi did not commit suicide; rather, it is part of the lore that he succumbed to heartbreak and passed away in 1941. Fast forward to today, one of the young men in Berbera, on the other hand, attempted to choose a much more violent and public end by lighting himself on fire—an act of attempted suicide, which is haram (forbidden) in the Islamic faith. Where Elmi's story and poetry portray a fatally internalised form of grief, the attempted suicides in modern-day Berbera project more self-destructive expressions of despair that are suggestive of a wider crisis of alienation and disorientation among contemporary Somali youth.

For many young Somalis, the pressure to conform to expectations from their societies—whether in matters of love, marriage, or gender roles—can be immense. And when these pressures then mix with personal desires, the results can often be a sense of hopelessness and disconnection. For some, this manifests as violence or self-harm, acts that defy both cultural norms and religious teachings in Somali society but have become normalised to some degree after decades of war and the lingering destabilisation of social structures. 

The story of Elmi Boodheri and the recent Berbera attempted suicides are not merely tragedies but can be viewed as a symptom of a society struggling with change. The youth of Boodhari’s generation were expected to internalise their pain, and he has earned enduring renown for translating his feelings of heartbreak and loss into lyrical metaphors to serve as a way of emotional release. However, today's youth seem to be trapped by, or fear, tradition and thus respond to their despair with more overtly destructive acts—be it self-immolation or violence towards others. Rather than romanticising these events, we must view them as part of a broader conversation about the challenges of belonging and how to navigate identity in a changing world.

The Somali Wire Team