- published: 14 Apr 2011
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The Darod (Somali: Daarood, Arabic: دارود) is a Somali clan. The father of this clan is named Abdirahman bin Isma'il al-Jabarti, but is more commonly known as Darod. In the Somali language, the word Daarood means "an enclosed compound," a conflation of the two words daar (compound) and ood (place enclosed by wall, trees, woods, fence, etc.).
The Darod population in Somalia lives principally in the north, with a presence in Kismayo in addition to the southwestern Gedo region. Outside of Somalia proper, there are various Darod sub-clans in the Ogaden and the North Eastern Province (currently administered by Ethiopia and Kenya, respectively), as well as Yemen. Several sources, including the Canadian Report of the Somalia Commission of Inquiry, indicate that the Darod is the largest Somali clan. However, other sources such as the CIA and Human Rights Watch indicate that the Hawiye is the largest Somali clan.
According to early Islamic books and Somali tradition, Muhammad ibn Aqil's descendant Abdirahman bin Isma'il al-Jabarti (Darod), a son of the Sufi Sheikh Isma'il al-Jabarti of the Qadiriyyah order, fled his homeland in the Arabian Peninsula after an argument with his uncle. During the 10th or 11th century CE, Abdirahman is believed to have then settled in northern Somalia just across the Red Sea and married the daughter of the Dir chief, which is said to have given rise to the Darod clan family.
Clean puncture and now she's gone
but her spell still carries on
Can't touch no one, can't get out of my shell
She left me burning in this lonely hell
Through the restless night souls wander holding on
Through these cold nights that never come to dawn
She's still my enslaver
Where's the heart that I gave her
My sweet enslaver
I hate her
Shades drawn growing lunacy staring,
staring from the abyss ahead
Longing for the sight of the face that I hate
grinding teeth, raising the dead
I get so scared of the cruel dreams I see,
scared of her shadow coming to claim me
She's still my enslaver...
I hear voices, whispers of resurrection
Sounds like tombstones corroding
Laid my love to sleep with heart impaled
but I can't escape this dark forebonding