The verses filed under each Odù are case reports in verse, built to a described eight-part structure, held collectively across practitioners rather than by any one person.
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.
ẹsẹ Ifá (ẹsẹ, wey literally mean foot or leg, but here na verse or stanza) na poem wey dey under one of di 256 Odù. Almost every one of dem dey tell story wey get di same pattern: somebody for past face wahala, consult diviners wey dem call dia names, dem tell am make e do particular offering, e either do am or e no do am, and sometin follow am. Di diviner go dey recite dem until di client stop am for di one wey fit am. Wetin dem dey bring out therefore na precedent case, and di corpus na collection of dat kind cases, wey dem cram for head, arrange with 256 address, and spread across di whole profession instead of say dem write am down anywhere.
Nobody know, and di sources dey give different estimates because na different tings dem dey estimate.
Abimbola report di tradition own figure: "It is believed that each ese has a total of 600 poems associated with it" If pesin read am against di oda tings wey e write around am, wetin e mean na say each Odù get around 600 verses, wey make di corpus reach close to 153,600.
UNESCO documentation give roughly 800 per Odù, note say nobody know di exact number, and add say e "continues growing" Dat one give roughly 204,800.
Di two figures na traditional estimates instead of actual counting, and nobody don verify any of dem by enumeration, because no enumeration dey. Wetin pesin fit talk with confidence na say di corpus reach like one hundred thousand verses or pass so, say no single pesin hold all of am, and say no published collection dey wey come close. Bascom Ifa Divination print several hundred verses; Abimbola Sixteen Great Poems print sixteen long ones.
Di claim say e dey grow dey important. UNESCO talk say di number dey continue to increase, wey mean say di corpus dey open instead of to dey closed. New verses dey enter. Dis one no be fixed scripture.
Abimbola analysis, wey be di standard account, na say "each ese Ifá has eight structural parts out of which four are obligatory and the remaining four are optional" Di eight parts, as e set dem out for inside im Ifá Divination Poetry, na:
Parts 1-3 and 8 na di obligatory ones; parts 4-7 na optional .
Dis division dey do plenty work, and na im be di key to understand how corpus wey big reach dis level dey stay stable for memory across generations.
Abimbola explanation of wetin obligatory mean here dey very clear: di obligatory parts "must be chanted in the same form and, as much as possible within human mental capacity, in the same language," so dat "all Ifa priests within the same Yoruba dialect area would render the obligatory parts with the same accent and the same style of presentation" Di optional parts, on di oda hand, "are chanted by each Ifa priest in his own language," where di priest "has freedom of creation to employ his own language, style and imagery when narrating the story of each poem the framework of which he has learnt from his master"
So each verse get fixed skeleton and body wey fit change. Abimbola talk am directly: "There is therefore a static and at the same time a dynamic aspect to every Ifá poem" , where di static element na di myth-making core and di dynamic element na "the creative and imaginative genius of individual Ifa priests"
Di engineering consequence make sense to explain well. To fix di diviners names, di client name, di occasion, and di moral, while di narration dey free, mean say dem protect di identity and di conclusion of di verse make e no drift, while how dem dey tell di story fit adapt to di audience and di performer. Text wey fixed completely for be harder to memorise and e go fossilise. Text wey free completely no go survive as di same verse across different lineages. Di way dem divide am solve di two problems at once.
Di diviners names for part 1 many times no be ordinary personal names, but na compressed descriptive phrases, sometimes puns on di situation of di case. Dem dey function like case citation just as dem dey function like character list.
Two features dominate. Abimbola: "Two of the most important and characteristic features of Ifa style are repetition and word-play," and "Both of these stylistic features often occur in combination"
Word-play for Yorùbá dey do sometin wey English no fit easily reproduce, because Yorùbá na tonal language and just to change tone alone dey change meaning. Single string of syllables fit carry different meanings wey only tone dey separate, so one line fit mean two tings at once for way wey no get English equivalent. Na why di translation notes for dis file dey repeatedly talk say sometin dey lost: e dey usually lost, and na dis ting e dey usually be.
Abimbola make one argument about function wey pesin fit easily miss and wey make sense to take seriously. Clients dey patronise diviners "not only because of their belief in the predictions and pronouncements of Ifa but also because of the aesthetic enjoyment which they derive from listening to the chanting" For society wey people no dey read and write, to consult diviner na "an important medium of contact with such a highly developed form of poetry," wey dey serve function wey e compare directly to modern novels, poems and films . Divination, among oda tings, na how ordinary people take experience literature.
Di long verses get dia own status. Di ones wey long reach many lines na wetin dem dey call Ifá Nlanla (great poems of Ifá) and dem "regarded as the rare gems of the whole system," wey support one proverb about dia exchange value .
No single pesin hold di corpus. Dis na di single most important structural fact about am, and e get consequences for authority, verification, and wetin fit get lost.
Di minimum requirement for initiation dey well documented: afta di trainee "don learn at least sixteen verses from each of di two-hundred-and-fifty-six Odù join with di sacrifice items and interpretation dem wey follow dem, e fit present imself for initiation" Sixteen verses times 256 Odù na 4,096 verses as entry requirement, with di sacrifice dem and interpretation dem wey dem prescribe join body. Wen you compare am with di total corpus wey reach 150,000 or pass so, priest wey dem just initiate hold just small percentage of am.
Specialist dem dey hold more for dia own area and less for oda places. Post-initiation training dey send di new priest go meet one well-known specialist for anoda place, many times far away, make e for gain deep knowledge for one field . Di result na profession wey knowledge spread and partly overlap: many practitioners sabi di common verses, few people sabi any particular rare one, and di whole total corpus only exist wen you join wetin all of dem sabi togeda.
Dis one get three consequences wey di reader suppose hold tight.
Authority no dey one place. No canonical text dey, no council dey wey fix di corpus, and no single pesin dey wey pesin fit ask wetin verse really mean. Wen disagreement dey between practitioners about verse, e no mean say one person make mistake.
Verification dey happen peer-to-peer. As verses dey overlap between practitioners, dem fit check wetin pesin talk against wetin odas hold, and file 06 describe di mechanisms. Di check na real one but e dey partial, and e dey work best for common verses and worst for rare ones.
Loss dey happen quietly and e dey permanent. Verse wey one elderly specialist hold and die without passing am down don loss, and no record dey say e even exist before. UNESCO rationale for safeguarding rest on dis exact tin: practitioners wey dey grow old, limited resources, and youths wey no dey show interest again under religious pressure . Di corpus fit shrink without anybody fit talk wetin loss.
Note on top di texts and on top my own role. Di Yorùbá texts wey dey below come from Abimbola published editions, wey print di Yorùbá original side-by-side with im English translation. Di digitised copies wey I get na optical scans wey subdots and tone marks often drop or scatter. I don put back di diacritics according to standard orthography for places wey di word clear, and I talk am here instead of to present di result as clean transcription. Anybody wey dey quote dis texts suppose work from di printed editions. Di idiomatic English na Abimbola own published translation and dem give am credit as dat. Di literal glosses na my own, wey I produce from di Yorùbá, and dem mark am like dat. My confidence on top di glosses dey medium; confidence on top Abimbola English dey high.
Dis na di first of di sixteen long poems for Abimbola anthology, and di opening lines show di conventional structure wey dey come in order: di names of di diviners, followed by di client, then di occasion.
Àpá ní ó gbó kòkò igbó, Ó rú ìtànná ẹ̀rù àjẹ́. Òrúrù ní ó wọ ẹ̀wù ẹ̀jẹ̀ kalẹ̀. Ilẹ̀ ni mo tẹ̀ tẹ́ẹ̀ tẹ̀ Kí n tó topọ̀n. Ọ̀pẹ tẹ́ẹ̀rẹ́ orí òkè Níí ya sí ya búkà mẹ́rìndínlógún. A dífá fún Ọ̀rúnmìlà, Wọ́n ní bàbá ò níí bímọ sí ètu Ifẹ̀ yìí. Mo gbọ́ títí, Mo rín wọn, rín wọn.
Translator: Wándé Abímbọ́lá
It is the apa tree which thrives in the forest and produces fearful flowers of wizards. It is the oruru tree which wears a garment of blood from top to bottom. It was on the bare ground that I printed Ifá marks Before I started using the wooden tray for divination. It is the slender palm-tree on hill-top Which branches here and there and has sixteen hut-like heads. Ifá divination was performed for Ọ̀rúnmìlà. It was said that father would never have a child in this city of Ifẹ̀. When I heard, I laughed and laughed at them.
Di first three lines na di names of di diviners, no be to describe di scene. For ẹsẹ Ifá practitioners for di past case dey routinely get name through descriptive phrases, and here di phrases na tree-images wey read like nature description for English. Abimbola translation keep di images and leave di naming function make pesin deduce am, wey be defensible choice but na choice wey hide part 1 of di eight-part structure for reader wey no know say e dey there.
Ilẹ̀ ni mo tẹ̀ ... kí n tó topọ̀n contain technical pun wey English no fit carry. Di verb tẹ̀ na to press, and tẹ ọpọ́n (wey dem contract to topọ̀n) na di standard term to mark di divining tray; di same verb for tẹfá name di act of divination itself and, for anoda register, to be initiated. So di line "I pressed on the bare ground before I pressed the tray" na at di same time claim of say e don tey well well, technical description of di marking procedure, and pun on initiation. Abimbola "printed Ifá marks" carry di technical meaning and drop di pun.
Ọ̀pẹ tẹ́ẹ̀rẹ́ ... búkà mẹ́rìndínlógún, di slenda palm tree wey get sixteen head wey resemble hut, dey do structural work: sixteen na di nomba of di palm nut dem and of di principal Odù, so di image dey show di architecture of di system. English readers dey see tree; Yorùbá listeners dey see di nomba sixteen wey dem announce.
Di last two line change sharp sharp go first person and go laff. Dem no identify di narrator. Dis kind change wey dem no mark dey normal for ẹsẹ Ifá and na one reason why di verse dem hard for readers wey don use to consistent narrative voice.
Di verse for up na one of di long poem dem. Di short verse dem wey make up most of di corpus look different, and dis one dey show wetin diviner dey actually deliver. Abimbola print dis one for im appendix as di Ifá priest dem traditional interpretation wey dey attach to Ìwòrì Méjì.
Ẹni tí ó dá Ìwòrì Méjì, Ifá sọ wí pé ọmọ mẹ́jọ ni òun máa tí yóò bí; gbogbo àwọn ọmọ náà ni ó sì ní àlùbàríkà. Ṣùgbọ́n ti abíkẹ́yìn wọn ni yóò pọ̀ ju ti gbogbo àwọn yòókù lọ. Ṣùgbọ́n nígbà tí abíkẹ́yìn náà bá dàgbà tán, kò níí mọ bàbá rẹ̀ sí nkankan mọ́. ... Kí ó lọ fi ẹyẹlé mẹ́rìndínlógún ṣe sàráà pẹ̀lú ẹgbàá mẹ́rìndínlógún, eku mẹ́rìndínlógún, ẹja mẹ́rìndínlógún, ìgán aṣọ kan. Kí ó lọ fi àgbébọ̀ adìẹ bọ Ifá. Kí ó fi àgbọn mẹ́ta àti obì mẹ́ta bọ orí ara rẹ̀.
Translator: Wándé Abímbọ́lá
Ifá tok say di pesin wey Ìwòrì Méjì appear to during divination go born eight pikin, and all di eight pikin go prosper. Ifá tok say di youngest among dem go still be di one wey go prosper pass all of dem. But when di youngest son turn adult, im no go give respect to dia papa again. ... Dis pesin suppose do sacrifice with sixteen pigeon, sixteen times four thousand cowrie, sixteen rat, sixteen fish and one bundle of cloth. Im suppose also offer big hen to Ifá. Im suppose also offer three coconut and three kolanut to im own Orí.
Two Arabic loanword dey inside dis material wey dem believe say come before Islam: àlùbàríkà from baraka and sàráà from sadaqa. As dem dey inside show say long contact don dey between Yorùbá religious vocabulary and Islam, and e dey make am hard to claim say di corpus na closed deposit from before contact happen. Abimbola English translate both of dem into neutral religious vocabulary, so pesin wey dey read di English no fit see dem.
Di offering to orí na di offering to pesin own inner head or destiny, concept wey belong to di cosmology section. Abimbola use capital letter for Orí for English, wey dey read like deity; di Yorùbá orí ara rẹ̀, im own body head, dey closer and dey more literal pass wetin di English dey show.
Concerning di cowrie dem: I explain ẹgbàá mẹ́rìndínlógún as sixteen times two thousand because ẹgbàá normally na two thousand cowrie; Abimbola English give sixteen times four thousand. I never solve di difference and I flag am instead of to just join dem quietly. E fit show regional difference for di value of ẹgbàá or scanning error. Confidence on dis figure: contested.
Check how di whole thing set. Prediction dey, warning dey, and instruction with exact quantity dey. Sixteen show four times for di offering. Di diviner must hold not just di verse but di exact material dem wey follow am, wey be wetin Abimbola mean when im tok say di trainee dey learn di sacrifice dem together with di poem dem .
Ifá nlanla ni a fi ń gbá Ifá nlanla, Oògùn nlanla ni a fi ń gbóògùn nlanla.
Translator: Wándé Abímbọ́lá
Pesin dey get big poem of Ifá only in exchange for anoda big poem of Ifá, Pesin dey get medicine preparation wey get heavy power only in exchange for anoda one wey get heavy power.
Dis na statement about di economics of knowledge for di profession, and e direct pass wetin di English dey show. Di verb gbà mean to receive or take, and di construction na exchange between equals: dem dey trade knowledge for knowledge of di same value, dem no dey teach am free. E dey describe how di corpus dey actually move between initiated practitioner dem, and e explain part of why di record no complete. Researcher wey no get equivalent knowledge to trade no get anything wey pesin wey hold rare verse want.
Di parallel construction between poem dem and medicine dem match exactly for di Yorùbá and e treat di two as di same kind of asset, wey support di account for file 09 about how di pharmacological and literary aspect dem deep well well together for dis corpus.
Na different classifications people dey apply to ẹsẹ Ifá, and each one dey capture something, but e dey mislead if person look am only on im own.
Scripture. E carry doctrine and people dey treat am with deep respect, but e no get fixed text, e no get closed canon, e no get single version wey get final authority, and e dey grow . To compare am to di Bible or Qur'an dey mislead on top every single one of dis points.
Poetry. E get metre, formal structure, style devices wey dey distinct, and aesthetic standards, and na wetin dem dey perform . Dis one correct but e never complete, because e leave out di fact say di poems na functional units to take retrieve information.
Case law. Di way di structure take match na true: named parties, stated facts, ruling, compliance or non-compliance, outcome, and legal holding. File 09 explain dis comparison and im limits.
Oral history. Some verses store events, migrations, and claims about royal families. To extract history from dem dey possible, but e need di kind care wey file 09 describe, since di verses no dey arranged according to time and dem no compose dem as history.
Pharmacopoeia. Di verses carry knowledge about plants and medicine preparation, and di connection arrange well reach say di 744-page study wey Verger do on top Yorùbá plant use arrange material by how e link to Ifá signs .
Di honest answer na say e be all dis things at di same time, and dis kind thing no common at all. Dem no divide di corpus into genres because di society no store dia knowledge inside separate compartments. To arrange pharmacology, legal precedent, poetry, ethics, and history under di same 256 addresses na wetin make am information system instead of just literature.
All 256 Odù listed with signatures, the 16 principal Odù in the competing ranking orders, and an honest account of where the sources disagree.
The decade or more of memorisation before initiation, the stages of entry, how knowledge is checked between practitioners, and the real disagreement about women in Ifá.
How the corpus carries pharmacology, ethical reasoning and historical precedent, and how far the comparison between ẹsẹ Ifá and case law actually holds.
The mathematics of the system, the mnemonic architecture that makes a corpus this large holdable, and a careful separation of the documented claims from the popular ones.
Ifá is a Yorùbá system for reaching a decision by casting a signature, retrieving the memorised verses filed under it, and reasoning from the precedents they contain.
The life, academic scholarship, spiritual office, and global cultural impact of Wande Abimbola, the pioneer of academic Ifa literary studies and Awise Awo Agbaye.