The Hausa Code of World - Life: A Paremiological
Muhammed Lawal Ahmed, Ahmadu Bello University


The Goal of life: Zaman Lafiya (peace)
To start with, not withstanding their somewhat sceptic view about the seriousness of world-life, yet the Hausa hold that:
Zaman Duniya Iyawa ne - World living is a matter of ability

That is to say, although life might be tough, capricious, uncertain, etc an expert can nevertheless manouvre his way and get the best out of life. In short, the Hausa agree that world- life could be meaningful if a serious measure is taken into consideration. i.e. competence.
In the following proverbs, the Hausa therefore, underscore peace as the chief goal of life:
Zaman Lafiya ya fi zama dan Sarki -
Living in peace is worth more than being a prince.

By this proverb, the Hausa suggest that no matter what position one might have attained,
- be one a prince, which is virtually at the peak of Hausa political hierarchy – if one has no peace, the power is of little value. The Hausa do not only agree that peaceful life is above any political power but also agree that peaceful living is above any material acquisition in the proverb:
Zaman lafiya ya fi gara –
Peaceful living is worth more than wedding commodities (That a bride takes to groom’s house)

Considering the importance the Hausa people attach to the size and variety of food items and other essential commodities with which a bride is taken to her groom’s house, to the extent that a bride and her parents are jeered at for taking their daughter with insubstantial amount of `Gara’ to the groom’s house, one can boldly say that really the Hausa revere Zaman lafiya, peaceful living, for favouring it over gara.
Thus, although power and material possession are the most important things that humans scramble for, the Hausa believe that Zaman lafiya, peaceful living is the cardinal companion that one should strive to obtain.
In the same vein the Hausa hold that to attain Zaman lafiya there are certain important preconditions. Hence, it is agreed among the Hausa that for one to achieve Zaman lafiya one has to learn to control one’s mouth, i.e. One should be careful and be wary of what one utters –
Alamarin duniya iyawa ne, ka ji ka kama bakinka –
World affairs is a matter of control, (as) you hear (about something) you should hold (control) your mouth.

Nevertheless, this does not mean one should not talk of, or report things that happen day by day, but in the contrary, the proverb warns man to weight what to say, how to say it and
Baki (Shi) kan yanka wuya –
It is the mouth that severes the neck

That is to say one should watch one’s utterances and guard one’s tongue against heedless talking for it may even cause one’s death.
So far, this discussion has tried to demonstrate that being watchful of what one says is a criterion for peaceful living – the fundamental goal of the Hausa on Earth.
However, that alone is not the alpha and omega of attaining Zama lafiya. What then are the codes for peaceful living? For instance what should one say and when? How should one behave as an individual and as a member of the society? Attempt to answer these questions would be the pre-occupation here as follows. Knowledge - Ilmi
The Hausa hold that to live in peace in this complex, complicated and unpredictable world one should be knowledgeable i.e Sani or ilmi, which is vividly captured in the following proverb.
Ilmi gishirin Zaman Duniya – Knowledge (is) the salt of the world living

Here, the importance of knowledge in leading a successful life is compared with that of salt in food. It is with knowledge that one would know what one should do and when. No matter how delicious and palatable a dish might look, if it does not contain salt (in whatever form) it will not be satisfying. This is also the case with knowledge – for no matter one`s efforts, material acquisition and or power, without knowledge everything is of limited value. This is why the Hausa say:
Rashin Sani ya fi dare duhu –
Lack of knowledge is darker than night.

That is, to say without knowledge one would only be groping in darkness without achieving one’ s desires nor living in peace. The Hausa similarly, though, comparatively describe lack of knowledge thus:
Rashin sani kaza ta kwana kan dame da yunwa –
(For) lack of knowledge a fowl spent a night over a bundle (of corn hungry)

By analogy, lack of knowledge, as is put in this proverbs, deprives one from achieving what one aims to achieve. However, to the Hausa, the value of knowledge lies in the usage, this they say: Amfanin sani aiki da shi –
The value of knowledge lies in its usage Patience and endurance (Hakuri/Jimiri)
Consequently, in Hausa view, at every moment in life and in any situation one should be keen to ponder and utilize one’ s knowledge in dealing with matters, be they good or bad in this capricious world, even though doing so is not an easy task. This is why the Hausa believe that for a successful life one should beside knowledge, imbibe Hakuri, patience and perseverance.
Hakuri Maganin Zaman duniya –
Patience is the secret of world living i.e patience pays.

The proverb suggests that patience and perseverance are the key to every affair. In other words, no matter what, with patience, one would undoubtedly overcome problems and eventually triumph – this is why in another proverb dealing with the indispensability of Hakuri in achieving success it is said:
Hakuri mai tad da rabo - Patience (Perseverance) leads to success

Similarly, the Hausa are of the opinion that patience is affluence, for without it (patience) even if one possesses the whole world one may still not be contented. This is contained in.
Mahakurci Mawadaci - The patient (is) the affluent
The proverb is in essence saying that though power and wealth are more glaringly termed as the symbols of affluence, in the real sense Hakuri is affluence because without patience and perseverance they are not achievable. In other words, patience is synonymous with success.
To further stress the importance of Hakuri in unraveling the knotty life, the Hausa add that: Abin da ruwan zafi ya dafa idan an yi hakuri na sanyi ma zai dafa.
Whatever is boiled in the hot water, with perseverance, the cold water will also boil. By this, the Hausa underpin the relevance of perseverance in dealing with issues i.e no matter the length and difficulty of an affair, with perseverance one would succeed just as things are eventually boiled with cold water. Moreover, with patience and perseverance, one can attain the impossible, unattainable.
Mai hakuri shi yakan dafa dutse –
(It is) the patient that boils bits of rocks.
Patience and endurance in addition to knowledge are not enough to carry one through the odds and snares of the unpredictable, capricious, world-life. One is further advised to cling to Gaskiya in order to attain Zaman Lafiya good living. Honesty, Truth, Objectivity (Gaskiya)
Gaskiya as an ethical concept is indeed a broad term that covers truth, honesty, sincerity, faith, fairness and objectivity. This is why Gaskiya is a pre-requisite for any worldly undertaking – without it one blurs oneself and one’s effort even if initially posed as if to meet success, sooner or later the `marage’ would either be withered away or lack solidity and substance. This is so, because only Gaskiya, truth endures the test of time. A dade ana yi sai Gaskiya – (Only) truth (and honesty) endure while:
Karya fure take ba ta `ya’ya –
A lie (falsehood) (only) blossoms but bears no fruit, but forever

In this opt quoted proverbs while truth with honesty are said to excel and stand the test of time, falsehood (lie) which is likened with karya, a flowering tree found in Hausaland, bears no fruit. In other words no matter how attractive and blossoming falsehood may look, the end result will not lead to fruition as the karya tree also bears flowers only without bearing any fruit. Falsehood as against truth is also aptly described as:

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