The Somali language, part of the Cushitic branch of the Afro‑Asiatic family, has been central to Somali identity across Somalia, Somaliland, Djibouti, Ethiopia’s Somali Regional State, and northeastern Kenya. Its transformation began in 1972 when the Latin alphabet replaced Arabic script, a milestone achieved by the Somali Language Commission under President Mohamed Siyaad Barre. Literacy campaigns, Somali‑language education, and the Somali Academy of Science and Arts sparked a golden era for Somali literature in the 1970s. Civil war in 1991 shattered these gains, dispersing scholars and weakening institutions. Yet regional support from Djibouti and Ethiopia helped keep Somali literacy alive, culminating in the 2013 creation of the Regional Academy for the Somali Language. Figures like Mohamed Dahir Afrah and poet Mohamed Ibrahim Warsame ‘Hadraawi’ preserved Somali’s literary tradition, with Hadraawi earning renown as the “Somali Shakespeare.” Today, Somali faces unprecedented challenges: English’s dominance in education, diaspora influence, and declining print culture threaten its purity and usage. Younger generations increasingly pepper Somali speech with foreign words, while fewer read classic Somali works. Hadraawi’s passing reminds us that protecting language, literature, and cultural heritage is essential to Somalia’s unity, identity, and nation‑building.