Character as the whole content of Yoruba ethics, iwa pele and iwa rere, the identity of character with beauty, patience as the source of character, and an ethical system grounded in consequence and community rather than divine command.
The Yorùbá wey dem quote, the proverbs, oríkì, ẹsẹ Ifá, word list headwords, Odù names and citations dey exactly as the corpus record dem, for every language.
Ìwà mean character. Inside Yoruba ethics, e no be say na just one virtue among many, na im be the whole subject matter. Wetin dey make life good, wetin dey make person worthy of praise, wetin dey determine whether person destiny go reach anywhere, and wetin the tradition talk say na the real reason for religious practice, all of dem dey come down to ìwà. The way Wande Abimbola talk am direct: Yoruba people dey see ìwàpẹ̀lẹ́ as the most important of all moral values and the greatest quality wey any person fit get, and the main essence of religious worship for Yoruba people na to struggle develop ìwàpẹ̀lẹ́ .
That last sentence make sense to reason well. Tradition wey the main reason wey dem give for worship na to develop character, no be tradition to dey appease powers wey dey change mind anyhow, wey be wetin missionary description talk say e be. The òrìṣà, the sacrifices, the festivals and the divination dey, as Abimbola read the corpus itself, dey serve to make person turn into particular kind of person.
Ìwà come from the verb wà, to dey, to exist, to dey located inside space and time . Character inside Yoruba, for grammar and for meaning, na form of the verb to dey. Your ìwà na your way of existing, the way you dey inside the world, and this origin of the word no be for decoration. E support the further Yoruba claim say bad character na lack of being, tendency toward nothingness, instead of say e be presence of evil substance . Nobody inside Yoruba thought dey full of evil. Person wey get ìwà búburú, for the tradition own terms, dey less present.
The main forms:
Ìwàpẹ̀lẹ́, from ìwà and pẹ̀lẹ́, gentle, soft, careful. Dem dey usually translate am as gentle character or good character. Pẹ̀lẹ́ na still the normal Yoruba word of greeting and to show sympathy, the word wey you dey tell person wey stumble, and that same feeling dey inside the moral term: ìwàpẹ̀lẹ́ na character wey dey handle people with care.
Ìwà rere, good character, from rere, good. The simpler term.
Ìwà búburú, bad character.
Ọmọlúàbí, the name for the person wey get am. The standard way to break am down na ọmọ tí Olúwa bí, pikin wey the Lord born, or based on the reading wey keep ìwà for mind, pikin wey the lord of character or of existence born . Ọmọlúàbí na the ideal person for Yoruba, and na fully secular achievement in the sense say e dey show for how person dey behave to other people and na dem dey judge am.
The proverb wey carry the claim about beauty:
Ìwà l'ẹwà.
Ìwà (character) l' (na, the contracted copula ni) ẹwà (beauty).
Translator: Global Critical Philosophy of Religion
"Character is beauty." Standard translation wey dey across the literature on Yoruba aesthetics and wey dem quote for the Global Critical Philosophy of Religion entry on ìwà .
The Yoruba na direct statement of identity with the copula, wey get the same grammatical form like to talk say water na life. E no be simile and e no be claim say character be like beauty or say beautiful behavior dey admirable. E dey declare say dem be the exact same thing.
English no fit easily carry this one because English dey keep ethics and aesthetics for separate departments, so "character is beauty" dey read like fine sentiment instead of clear proposition. For Yoruba e be proposition, and Rowland Abiodun build body of work on top am, dey argue say ìwà na the being of an entity, the way e take dey exist, and say ẹwà, beauty, na ìwà make am up . Na this be the foundation of Yoruba art criticism as indigenous discipline: dem dey judge carving by whether e capture the ìwà of wetin dem carve, and na the same standard dem dey take judge person. The important distinction na between ẹwà òde, outside beauty, and ẹwà inú, inside beauty, with the tradition giving more weight to the second one .
Barry Hallen book on Yoruba values dey built on this meeting point. As e work with onísègùn, e discover say morality and aesthetics inside Yoruba discourse no fit separate, and say the purest expression of beauty inside human being na to get good moral character . The bigger finding wey e get dey important for how dem dey read the tradition: moral judgment among the people wey e interview dey individual, reflective and dem do am against criteria wey dem fit explain and defend, wey go against the standing Western assumption say African moral thought na unreflective conformity to inherited rule .
Sùúrù ni bàbá ìwà.
Sùúrù (patience) ni (na) bàbá (father) ìwà (of character).
Translator: Global Critical Philosophy of Religion
"Patience is the father of character." Standard translation .
Bàbá inside this construction mean source, origin, chief, the greatest inside a class. Dem dey use am the same way inside bàbáláwo, father of secrets. To translate am as "father" dey keep the family relationship metaphor but e go lose the sense of being first; to translate am as "source" dey do the opposite. Person need the two.
Sùúrù wide pass English patience. E cover endurance under provocation, readiness to wait, refusal to dey greedy, and to endure hardship without getting bitter, and na the specific virtue wey the Ifá corpus dey treat as wetin dey produce all the other ones. Inside the Ìwà story wey dey below, Sùúrù appear as person wey be Ìwà father, wey turn the proverb to family lineage.
One verse from Ogbè Ògúndá on top the same point:
Ibinu o se niikankan funmi Suuru ni baba iwa Agba to ni suuru Ohun gbogbo lo ni
Ibínú (anger) ò ṣe (no dey do, no dey cause) níkankan (anything at all) fún mi (for me). Sùúrù (patience) ni bàbá ìwà (na father of character). Àgbà (elder) tó ní sùúrù (wey get patience). Ohun gbogbo (everything, all things) ló ní (na wetin e get, e possess).
Translator: Ayọ Salami
Anger brings no profit Patience is the best of human characters The elderly that is patient Would with time possess all he desires
Translation as e dey printed inside di source, wey talk say di material come from Ayọ Salami, Yoruba Theology and Tradition: The Man and the Society (NIDD, 2008), without to mention di name of di person wey translate di individual verse .
Di Yoruba wey dem print here no get tone mark or subdot, wey be normal thing for practitioner publication and e mean say di tonal information don lost. Di gloss for up dey put diacritics from standard orthography; for place wey di verse own tonal pattern bin special, person no fit get am back again from dis source.
Di English wey dem publish loose for two places wey make sense to point out. Sùúrù ni bàbá ìwà dem translate am as "patience is the best of human characters", wey turn claim about origin enter claim about ranking, and e lose di family metaphor wey di whole doctrine stand on top. And ohun gbogbo ló ní talk straight say na him get everything; "would with time possess all he desires" come add both di time and di desires join. Dis one no be scholarly edition and dis corpus flag am as practitioner material instead of academic text. Dem use am here because e reproduce Yoruba originals, wey academic sources wey dey accessible for dis file mostly no do, and readers wey need critical edition suppose go check Abimbola own Ifá: An Exposition of Ifá Literary Corpus and him 1975 Ìwàpẹ̀lẹ́ paper .
Di Ifá story wey Ìwà appear as woman, wey dem dey usually put inside Odù Ogbè Àlàrá, wey dem also dey call Ogbè Òtúrá, and inside related odù, na di main ethical parable for di tradition .
Di narrative, as di sources present am: Ọ̀rúnmìlà dey find way to succeed for life and dem tell am say di only way na to marry Ìwà . For several versions, Ìwà na daughter of Sùúrù, Patience . Ọ̀rúnmìlà marry her. She fine well well, and to stay with her bin dey extremely difficult; e no fit continue with di kind character wey keeping her require, and she leave am . Without her, him life come worse pass as e bin dey before, and e travel go everywhere for di world dey look for her . Di ending different. For one version, e sing say life no possible without her and she come back. For another version, she stay inside ọ̀run with her papa Sùúrù and refuse to come back, but she promise to help am invisibly on condition say e must show good character to every person .
Dis corpus no fit present di narrative inside three-layer translation. Di complete Yoruba text of di Ogbè Àlàrá narrative no dey accessible for any source wey dem consult for dis file, and di corpus no dey reconstruct primary texts wey e never see. Di English summary wey dey up na from published scholarly and reference accounts dem take draw am , and reader wey need di primary text suppose check Abimbola 1975 Ìwàpẹ̀lẹ́ paper, wey be di standard treatment . Confidence on di narrative summary: high. Confidence on any particular wording: dem no claim am.
Wetin di parable dey claim, if person read am carefully:
Character no be wetin follow you from birth; na wetin person dey acquire and e fit leave. To make ìwà spouse instead of property or ordinary trait na deliberate choice of metaphor. Spouse na person wey you must keep by continuing to behave in a particular way, and wey fit pack commot.
To keep am hard and na so e suppose hard. Di story insist on top di difficulty. Ọ̀rúnmìlà, di most wise among di òrìṣà, di one wey witness di making of every destiny, no fit manage am. Na dat one be di reason why dem choose am as di protagonist.
Nothing else dey work without am. Di main question na how to succeed for life, and di answer no be sacrifice or charm or divinity. Na to marry Ìwà.
Di second ending strong pass for ethical side. Where Ìwà stay inside ọ̀run and dey help invisibly on condition of good behavior to all people, di doctrine be say character dey bring him result from far distance, without visible transaction, and di condition no be behavior toward Ìwà but behavior toward everyone. Na general moral obligation wey dem get without any commandment.
Two extra verses from Ogbè Ògúndá inside di same collection show how di tradition dey talk about Ìwà productivity.
E wa womo iwa berere ooo E wa womo iwa berere Iwa gbe dani Iwa pon sehin E wa womo iwa berere
Ẹ wá wo ọmọ ìwà (come see di children of Ìwà) bẹ̀rẹ̀rẹ̀ (plenty well well, dey spread out) o. Ìwà gbé dání (Ìwà carry for arm). Ìwà pọ̀n sẹ́yìn (Ìwà carry tie for back).
Translator: Ayọ Salami
Come see di countless children of Iwa Come see di countless children of Iwa Iwa carry children for her arms Iwa carry children for her back Come see di countless children of Iwa
Translation as e dey printed inside di source, wey dem attribute to di Salami volume .
Gbé dání and pọ̀n sẹ́yìn na di two ordinary Yoruba verbs for how woman dey carry pikin, for arms and tie for back, and di pairing dey domestic and completely concrete. Ọmọ mean both pikin and, by extension, product or result. Di verse dey talk say character dey fertile, say e dey produce, and e use di most ordinary image of productivity wey dey inside di culture take talk am. For society where children na di primary good, to talk say Ìwà get countless children na to talk say character na wetin dey produce di thing wey person suppose value pass.
Di structural claim wey dey very important to state for reader wey train for Christian ethics na say Yoruba ethics no be divine command ethics.
Nothing inside the system dey take the form say: this thing wrong because Ọlọ́dùmarè forbid am. Ten commandment no dey, law wey god reveal no dey, scripture of prohibition no dey, and no òrìṣà dey function as lawgiver. The òrìṣà get their own taboos, èèwọ̀, and these ones plenty and specific well-well, but taboo dey attach to cult, lineage, priesthood or person divination, and to violate one get consequence the same way wey to violate technical condition get consequence. E no dey inside the same category as moral wrong. babaláwo wey must not chop one particular animal dey under condition of im office, no be under moral rule wey tie everybody.
Wetin stand as ground for the ethics instead:
Consequence inside the system. Good character dey bring good outcome and bad character dey bring bad outcome, and dem state the mechanism inside the corpus instead of to promise am for afterlife. Inside the verse from Ọ̀wọ́nrín Ṣẹdín for the same collection, the line talk say na person own character dey pursue am go round . The Yoruba ethical claim no be say punishment dey wait for front, but say character get consequences now.
Community. Ọmọlúàbí na status wey other people dey give. Character dey show for conduct toward others and na dem dey judge am, and Hallen onísègùn assess am based on stated criteria . Segun Gbadegesin point about ẹ̀ni̩yàn carry the same weight: the word dey normative and descriptive at the same time, so person wey dey speak Yoruba fit talk about somebody say im no be ẹ̀ni̩yàn, and the blame for selfishness na say person view stop for im ara, im body, while e ignore wetin im be as ẹ̀ni̩yàn .
Existence itself. Because ìwà come from wà, to exist, to get bad character na deficiency inside person own being. The system deepest sanction dey ontological instead of penal.
Destiny. Character and orí dey reciprocal, and na here the two half of Yoruba anthropology join together.
Bí orí bá gbé ìwà níyàwó, bí ìwà bá gbé orí níyàwó, ayé a máa yẹ ni.
Bí orí bá gbé ìwà níyàwó (if orí take ìwà as wife), bí ìwà bá gbé orí níyàwó (if ìwà take orí as wife), ayé (the world, life) a máa yẹ ni (go dey well-ordered, pleasant, suitable for person).
Translator: Global Critical Philosophy of Religion
"If orí marries ìwà, if ìwà marries orí, life will be well ordered." How dem translate the proverb for the Global Critical Philosophy of Religion entry as "If orí marries ìwà / If ìwà marries orí / Life will be well ordered and pleasant" The Yoruba wey dey above na this corpus supply am in standard orthography from that source English and from standard form of the proverb; confidence: medium on top the exact wording and tonal marking.
The double clause wey reverse the marriage na im be the whole content. None of the two term be the head of the relation. Destiny no dey determine character and character no dey determine destiny; dem dey marry each other, and the marriage must dey mutual make life fit go well. Yẹ hard: e mean to fit, to suit, to become one, to dey appropriate for person. Ayé a máa yẹ ni no talk say life go dey happy or successful; e talk say life go fit you. Na distinct Yoruba formulation of good life be that, and English no get single word for am.
How the tradition actually understand dem, as dem state am plain.
Principle of evil no dey, adversary no dey, no being dey whose function na to oppose good. This one na the deepest structural difference from the Christian framework and na why the Èṣù conflation spoil things so much, wey the Èṣù file talk about.
Evil inside Yoruba thought dey behavioural and relational instead of to be substantial. Ìwà búburú, bad character. Ènìyàn burúkú, bad person. The vocabulary dey describe behavior and how e dey affect other people, and e no dey claim say metaphysical substance dey wey full inside person.
Harm dey happen through beings wey no be evil by nature. Àjẹ́ fit harm and fit protect. Ancestor wey dem offend fit cause trouble. orí wey dem neglect fit hold blessing back. For every case, the being get legitimate place inside the order and the harm dey come from relationship wey spoil, and na why the normal response na diagnosis and repair instead of exorcism.
Eternal punishment no dey and salvation no dey. Nothing inside the system dey organized around to secure post-mortem outcome through belief. Wetin dey at stake na this life, person standing among people, person children, person name after death, and the state wey person take enter ọ̀run.
The consequence for reader wey grow up dey think say this heritage dark na wetin make sense to state plainly. Ethical system wey no get devil, no get hell, no get holy war and no get doctrine say outsiders don condemn to damnation dey structurally less capable to produce some kind religious violence pass the systems wey replace am. That one no be argument say e better pass dem. Na correction of factual claim wey dem make about am.
The three Yoruba terms for destiny, how destiny is received, and the sustained scholarly argument over whether Yoruba destiny is fatalistic, with the case that it is negotiable rather than fixed.
Hallen and Sodipo's finding that the Yoruba distinction between knowing and believing is drawn in a different place from the English one, why that is a genuine philosophical result, and what it exposes about Western epistemology.
Ara, emi, ori, okan and ojiji, the disagreement among scholars about how many elements there are, why "soul" fits none of them, and what Yoruba rebirth and ancestorhood actually claim.
How Yoruba philosophical concepts map and fail to map onto Greek, Christian, Islamic and modern Western categories, and what goes wrong when the translation is made anyway.
Ori as physical head, inner head, personal destiny and personal divinity, why the sources rank ori above the orisa, and the practice of ibori.
The concept that runs from "so be it" at the end of a prayer to the force by which anything happens at all, why both "power" and "life force" are inadequate translations, and how ase works in speech, ritual and art.