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Kurdish literature
Kurdish literature (Kurdish: وێژەی کوردی, romanized: Wêjeya kurdî or ئەدەبی کوردی) is literature written in the Kurdish languages. Literary Kurdish works have been written in each of the six main Kurdish languages: Zaza, Gorani, Kurmanji, Sorani, Laki and Southern Kurdish. Balül, a 9th-century poet and religious scholar of the Yarsani faith, is the first well-known poet who wrote in Gorani Kurdish. Ehmedê Xanî (1650–1707) is probably the most renowned of the old Kurdish poets. He wrote the romantic epic Mem û Zîn in Kurmanji, sometimes considered the Kurdish national epic. Sorani poetry developed mainly after the late 18th century.
Most written Kurdish literature was poetry until the 20th century, when prose genres began to be developed.
Zaza and Gorani (also known as Hewrami) are two Northwestern Iranian languages which are linguistically distinct from the Kurdish languages, although most of their speakers consider themselves Kurds. Gorani was once a literary language, although its literary variety differs in many ways from the local language called Hewrami. It was particularly in use at the court of the Ardalan emirate based in Sanandaj. The religious texts of the Yarsanis are written in Gorani. Some of the well-known Gorani-language poets and writers are Mele Perîşan (1356–1431), Shaykh Mustafa Takhtayi, Mistefa Bêsaranî (1642–1701), Muhammad Kandulayi (late 17th century), Khana Qubadi (1700–1759), Shayda Awrami (1784–1852) and Mastoureh Ardalan (1805–1848).
A small amount of literature in the Zaza language has been published. Some writers, mainly Sweden-based authors like Mehemed Malmîsanij and Ebubekir Pamukçu, write in Zaza.
The earliest "proper 'text'" written in Kurdish is a Kurmanji translation of a Christian prayer in Armenian letters, copied between 1430 and 1446 and preserved in an Armenian manuscript. Besides this, the earliest written works in Kurdish are from the 16th and 17th centuries. Information about the earliest Kurdish poets is incomplete. The dates for authors given by Mahmud Bayazidi, once the sole source for the subject, are not considered reliable. Little information survives about Ali Hariri, whom Bayazidi dated to the 15th century but who, according to Thomas Blois, should be placed later. Melayê Cizîrî (1570–1640) is said to have been the founder of a school of Kurmanji poets who wrote in the sub-dialect of Jazira/Bohtan. Cizîrî left behind a large number of poems, including qasidas (odes) and ghazals (lyrics), some of which are still popular. Feqiyê Teyran (1590–1660) was supposedly Cizîrî's student. He also wrote qasidas and ghazals, and he was the first known Kurdish poet to write narrative poems using the mathnawi (couplet) form. His Hikayeta Şêxê Sen'an (The story of Sheikh Sen'an) is a well-known epic poem.
Ehmedê Xanî (1650–1707) is probably the most renowned of the old Kurdish poets. His long romantic epic Mem û Zîn (Mem and Zin) tells the story of two lovers from rival noble houses whose families prevent them from marrying. It is sometimes viewed as the Kurdish national epic. It may have drawn from the Kurdish popular epic Memî Alan and perhaps also from Nizami Ganjavi's Layla and Majnun. Khani followed classical literary conventions when composing the work. He also wrote a versified Arabic-Kurdish vocabulary for students titled Nûbihara Biçûkan (New spring for children) and a religious poem called Eqîda Îmanê (Faith in the religion). His student was Ismaîlê Bayazidî (1654–1709), author of many Kurdish poems and a Kurmanci-Arabic-Persian glossary titled Gulzar (Rose garden).
Mela Huseynê Bateyî, who was born sometime in the 17th and died in the mid-18th century, wrote a mawlud (i.e., a poem about the Prophet Muhammad's birth) and a poem about morality and manners, which was apparently so popular that the Yazidis adopted it as part of their oral religious literature. In the 18th century, Şerif Xan (1682–1748), a member of the ruling family of Hakkari, wrote many poems in Kurmanji and Persian, and Mûrad Xan from Bayazid (1736–1778) authored many lyrical poems.
The Yazidis are a Kurmanji-speaking ethno-religious group whose religious texts have been passed down mostly orally. In 1911 and 1913, two Kurmanji texts called the Meshefa Reş and the Kitêba Cilvê, were published. These were purported to be the sacred books of the Yazidis, but they were really written in modern times by non-Yazidis. The oldest versions of the books were found in the 1880s and were written in Arabic, not Kurdish. Nevertheless, at least some part of the books corresponds to actual Yazidi religious tradition.
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Kurdish literature
Kurdish literature (Kurdish: وێژەی کوردی, romanized: Wêjeya kurdî or ئەدەبی کوردی) is literature written in the Kurdish languages. Literary Kurdish works have been written in each of the six main Kurdish languages: Zaza, Gorani, Kurmanji, Sorani, Laki and Southern Kurdish. Balül, a 9th-century poet and religious scholar of the Yarsani faith, is the first well-known poet who wrote in Gorani Kurdish. Ehmedê Xanî (1650–1707) is probably the most renowned of the old Kurdish poets. He wrote the romantic epic Mem û Zîn in Kurmanji, sometimes considered the Kurdish national epic. Sorani poetry developed mainly after the late 18th century.
Most written Kurdish literature was poetry until the 20th century, when prose genres began to be developed.
Zaza and Gorani (also known as Hewrami) are two Northwestern Iranian languages which are linguistically distinct from the Kurdish languages, although most of their speakers consider themselves Kurds. Gorani was once a literary language, although its literary variety differs in many ways from the local language called Hewrami. It was particularly in use at the court of the Ardalan emirate based in Sanandaj. The religious texts of the Yarsanis are written in Gorani. Some of the well-known Gorani-language poets and writers are Mele Perîşan (1356–1431), Shaykh Mustafa Takhtayi, Mistefa Bêsaranî (1642–1701), Muhammad Kandulayi (late 17th century), Khana Qubadi (1700–1759), Shayda Awrami (1784–1852) and Mastoureh Ardalan (1805–1848).
A small amount of literature in the Zaza language has been published. Some writers, mainly Sweden-based authors like Mehemed Malmîsanij and Ebubekir Pamukçu, write in Zaza.
The earliest "proper 'text'" written in Kurdish is a Kurmanji translation of a Christian prayer in Armenian letters, copied between 1430 and 1446 and preserved in an Armenian manuscript. Besides this, the earliest written works in Kurdish are from the 16th and 17th centuries. Information about the earliest Kurdish poets is incomplete. The dates for authors given by Mahmud Bayazidi, once the sole source for the subject, are not considered reliable. Little information survives about Ali Hariri, whom Bayazidi dated to the 15th century but who, according to Thomas Blois, should be placed later. Melayê Cizîrî (1570–1640) is said to have been the founder of a school of Kurmanji poets who wrote in the sub-dialect of Jazira/Bohtan. Cizîrî left behind a large number of poems, including qasidas (odes) and ghazals (lyrics), some of which are still popular. Feqiyê Teyran (1590–1660) was supposedly Cizîrî's student. He also wrote qasidas and ghazals, and he was the first known Kurdish poet to write narrative poems using the mathnawi (couplet) form. His Hikayeta Şêxê Sen'an (The story of Sheikh Sen'an) is a well-known epic poem.
Ehmedê Xanî (1650–1707) is probably the most renowned of the old Kurdish poets. His long romantic epic Mem û Zîn (Mem and Zin) tells the story of two lovers from rival noble houses whose families prevent them from marrying. It is sometimes viewed as the Kurdish national epic. It may have drawn from the Kurdish popular epic Memî Alan and perhaps also from Nizami Ganjavi's Layla and Majnun. Khani followed classical literary conventions when composing the work. He also wrote a versified Arabic-Kurdish vocabulary for students titled Nûbihara Biçûkan (New spring for children) and a religious poem called Eqîda Îmanê (Faith in the religion). His student was Ismaîlê Bayazidî (1654–1709), author of many Kurdish poems and a Kurmanci-Arabic-Persian glossary titled Gulzar (Rose garden).
Mela Huseynê Bateyî, who was born sometime in the 17th and died in the mid-18th century, wrote a mawlud (i.e., a poem about the Prophet Muhammad's birth) and a poem about morality and manners, which was apparently so popular that the Yazidis adopted it as part of their oral religious literature. In the 18th century, Şerif Xan (1682–1748), a member of the ruling family of Hakkari, wrote many poems in Kurmanji and Persian, and Mûrad Xan from Bayazid (1736–1778) authored many lyrical poems.
The Yazidis are a Kurmanji-speaking ethno-religious group whose religious texts have been passed down mostly orally. In 1911 and 1913, two Kurmanji texts called the Meshefa Reş and the Kitêba Cilvê, were published. These were purported to be the sacred books of the Yazidis, but they were really written in modern times by non-Yazidis. The oldest versions of the books were found in the 1880s and were written in Arabic, not Kurdish. Nevertheless, at least some part of the books corresponds to actual Yazidi religious tradition.
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