1877
The Ottoman scholar
Afrikaans, written in Arabic
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Published in 1877, Abu Bakr Effendi’s Bayan al-Din sets Afrikaans down in Arabic script. It is among the earliest books in the language. Effendi is buried at Tana Baru.
A language in another script
Bayan al-Din is an Afrikaans work written using Arabic letters. Its place among the earliest Afrikaans books puts Cape Muslim scholarship within the written history of the language.
Buried at Tana Baru
Effendi is buried at Tana Baru, where Tuan Guru also lies. The cemetery was closed in 1886, and a burial was carried out there in defiance of that order.
Scholarship and everyday speech
Religious scholarship and the language of daily life met on the page: an Afrikaans text in Arabic letters, written for readers who spoke the one and read the other.
From the page to the place
Plan a visit
Tana Baru cemetery
Top of Longmarket Street, Bo-Kaap
Tana Baru holds the graves of scholars including Tuan Guru and Abu Bakr Effendi, as well as the memory of resistance to the cemetery’s closure. These histories make it an important companion to a visit to Auwal Masjid. The slope above Bo-Kaap gives a sense of the neighbourhood’s setting, but approach first as someone entering a burial ground.
Visiting detailsConfirm access and opening times before setting out.