Kurdish literature

{{Short description|Written and orally transmitted literature in Kurdish languages}}

Kurdish literature ({{Langx|ku|وێژەی کوردی|translit=Wêjeya kurdî}} or {{lang|ku|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.{{Cite book |last=Borekeyî-Sefîzade |first=Sedîq |title=Mêjûy Wêjey Kurdî |publisher=Aras |others=3 vols |year=2008 |location=Hewlêr [Erbil] |language=ckb |script-title=ku:مێژووی وێژەی کوردی |trans-title=History of Kurdish literature |oclc=691929012}} 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.

Zazaki-Gorani literature

File:Kurdish Shahnameh.JPG from the archive of legacy committee of Vejin in Mariwan]]

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.{{Cite book |last=Allison |first=Christine |title=Languages of Iraq, Ancient and Modern |publisher=British School of Archaeology in Iraq |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-903472-21-0 |editor-last=Postgate |editor-first=J. N. |pages=138–139 |chapter='The Kurds are Alive': Kurdish in Iraq}} 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.

Kurmanji literature

= Classical =

The earliest "proper 'text'" written in Kurdish{{cite book |last=Öpengin |first=Ergin |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/cambridge-history-of-the-kurds/history-of-kurdish-and-the-development-of-literary-kurmanji/1F01E2A1CDB41F3137A2FA3AD9BC384A |title=The Cambridge History of the Kurds |date=22 April 2021 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-62371-1 |editor-last=Bozarslan |editor-first=Hamit |pages=613–614 |chapter=The History of Kurdish and the Development of Literary Kurmanji |doi=10.1017/9781108623711.025 |editor2-last=Gunes |editor2-first=Cengiz |editor3-last=Yadirgi |editor3-first=Veli}} 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.{{Cite journal |last=Asatrian |first=Garnik |date=2009 |title=Prolegomena to the Study of the Kurds |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25597392 |journal=Iran & the Caucasus |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=15–16 |issn=1609-8498}} 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.{{Encyclopædia Iranica Online|article=Kurdish Written Literature|year=2005|first=Philip G.|last=Kreyenbroek|url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/kurdish-written-literature|access-date=4 June 2009}} His Hikayeta Şêxê Sen'an (The story of Sheikh Sen'an) is a well-known epic poem.{{Cite book |last=Ghaderi |first=Farangis |title=The Cambridge History of the Kurds |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2021 |isbn=9781108623711 |editor-last=Bozarslan |editor-first=H. |pages=712 |chapter=A History of Kurdish Poetry |doi=10.1017/9781108623711.029 |editor-last2=Gunes |editor-first2=C. |editor-last3=Yadirgi |editor-first3=V.}}

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.{{cite web |last=Bois |first=Th. |date=2012 |orig-date=Originally published in print 1986 |editor-last=Bearman |editor-first=P. |title=Kurds, Kurdistān vi.—Folklore and Literature |url=https://doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_0544 |url-access=subscription |website=Encyclopaedia of Islam New Edition Online (EI-2 English) |publisher=Brill |doi=10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_0544}} 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,{{cite journal |last=Öztürk |first=Mustafa |title=Süleyman Çelebi ve Mela Huseynê Bateyî'nin Mevlidlerine Karşılaştırmalı Bir Bakış |journal=Turkish Studies |volume=13 |pages=397 |year=2018 |url=http://isamveri.org/pdfdrg/D03262/2018_5/2018_5_OZTURKM.pdf}} 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.

= Yazidi literature =

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.{{Encyclopædia Iranica Online|article=Yazidis i. General|year=2004|first=Christine|last=Allison|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/yazidis-i-general-1}} Nevertheless, at least some part of the books corresponds to actual Yazidi religious tradition.{{Cite journal |last=Omarkhali |first=Khanna |title=Kitāb al-Jilwa |journal=Encyclopedia of Islam, Third Edition |doi=10.1163/1573-3912_ei3_COM_35639}}

Sorani literature

File:Ahmadi manuscript.JPG

In contrast to Kurmanji, literary works in Sorani were not abundant before the late 18th and early 19th century. Although many poets before Nalî have written in Sorani,{{cite book|last=Kheznedar|first=Marif|title=Mêjûy edebî kurdî|year=2002|script-title=ku:مێژووی ئەدەبی کوردی|language=ku|publisher=Aras|location=Erbil|trans-title=History of Kurdish literature}} it was only after him that Sorani became an important dialect in writing.{{cite book|last=Sajjadi |first=Ala'edin |author-link=Alaaddin Sajadi|year=1951 |script-title=ku:مێژووی ئەدەبی کوردی|language=ku|title=Mêjûy edebî kurdî |trans-title=History of Kurdish literature |publisher=Ma'aref |location=Baghdad}} Nalî was the first poet to write a diwan (collection of poems) in this dialect. Others, such as Salim and Kurdi, wrote in Sorani in the early 19th century as well.{{Encyclopædia Iranica Online|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/nali|title=Nalî|first=Keith |last=Hitchins|year=2010}} Haji Qadir Koyi of Koy Sanjaq in central Kurdistan (1817–1897), and Sheikh Reza Talabani (1835–1909) also wrote in Sorani dialect after Nalî. The closeness of the two dialects of Sorani and Kurmanji is cited as one of the reasons for the late start in Sorani literature, as well as the fact that during 15th to 19th century, there was a rich literary tradition in the Kurmanji dialect. Furthermore, the presence of the Gorani dialect as a literary language and its connection to Yarsanism and Ardalan dynasty was another reason that people did not produce texts in Sorani.{{Encyclopædia Iranica Online|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/gurani|article=Gurāni |last=Mackenzie|first=D. N.|volume=11|fascicle=4|pages=401-403}}

A historical list of Kurdish literature and poets

=Religious=

Mishefa Reş, The religious book of the Yezidis.{{cite web|url=http://www.kurdishinstitute.be/page.php?ID=325 |title=Kurdish Institute Of Brussel - Enstituya Kurdî Ya Bruskelê - Instituut Kurde De Bruxelles - Koerdisch Instuut Te Brussel |publisher=Kurdishinstitute.be |access-date=2013-09-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015032613/http://www.kurdishinstitute.be/page.php?ID=325|archive-date=October 15, 2012}} (in French) It is held to have been written by Shaykh Hasan (born {{circa}} AD 1195), a nephew of Shaykh Adi ibn Musâfir, the sacred prophet of the Yezidis. However, it has been argued that it was actually written in the 20th century by Kurds who were not themselves Yezidis.
Serencam, The book of Yarsan.

=Goranî dialect=

Balül (9th century)
Mele Perîşan (14th century)
Khana Qubadi (Xana Qubadî) (1700–1759),
Almas Khan-e Kanoule'ei (17th and 18th century)
Mastoureh Ardalan (Mestûrey Erdelan) (1805–1848)
Mawlawi Tawagozi (Mewlewî Tawegozî) (1806–1882)

=Famous poets in Kurmancî dialect=

Mela Hesenê Bateyî (Melayê Bateyî) (1417–1491) of Hekkarî, the author of Mewlûda Kurmancî (Birthday in Kurmanji), a collection of poems.
Melayê Cizîrî (Mela Ehmedê Cizîrî) (1570–1640) of Bohtan region, poet and Sufi.
Faqi Tayran (Feqiyê Teyran) (1590–1660) Student of Melayê Cezîrî. He is credited for contributing the earliest literary account of the Battle of Dimdim in 1609–1610 between Kurds and Safavid Empire.
Ahmad Khani (Ehmedê Xanî) (1651–1707) (The epic drama of Mem û Zîn) (Born in Hakkari, Turkey)
Mahmud Bayazidi (Mahmud Bayazidi), (1797–1859) Kurdish writer.

=Soranî dialect=

Nalî (1798–1855)
Haji Qadir Koyi (Hacî Qadir Koyî) (1817–1897)
Sheikh Rezza Talabani (Şêx Reza Talebanî) (1835–1910)
Mahwi (1830–1906)
Wafaei (1844–1902)

=Kurdish poets and writers of the 20th century=

File:Kurdish_Writer_Mir_Celadet_Bedir_Khan_(1893-1951).jpg]]

File:Nado Makhmudov at home.jpg]]

File:Abdurrahman_Sharafkandi_In_the_early_Republic_of_Mahabad.jpg]]

Alişer (1862–1937), poet and rebel leader, Ottoman Empire/Turkey.
Nari Mela Kake Heme (1874–1944), poet, born and died in Marivan, Iran.
Piramerd (Tewfîq Beg Mehmûd Axa, 1867–1950), poet, writer, playwright and journalist, Ottoman Empire/Iraq.
Celadet Alî Bedirxan (1893–1951), writer, journalist and linguist. Author of the modern Kurmanji Latin alphabet.
Arab Shamilov (Erebê Şemo, 1897–1978), Kurdish novelist in Armenia. Author of the first Kurdish novel.
Cigerxwîn (Jigarkhwin, real name Sheikhmous Hasan, 1903–1984), poet, born in Mardin, Ottoman Empire. Died in Sweden.
Abdulla Goran (1904–1962), the founder of modern Kurdish poetry, Iraq.
Osman Sabri (1905–1993), Kurdish poet, writer and journalist, Turkey/Syria.
Nado Makhmudov (1907–1990), Kurdish writer and public figure, Armenia.
Hemin Mukriyani (1920–1986) poet and journalist, Iran.
Hejar (real name Abdurrahman Sharafkandi, 1920–1990), poet, writer, translator and linguist, Iran.
Jamal Nebez (1933–2018), writer, linguist, translator and academic, Germany.
Sherko Bekas (1940–2013), poet, Iraqi Kurdistan. His poems have been translated into over 10 languages.
Latif Halmat (born 1947), poet, Iraqi Kurdistan.
Abdulla Pashew (born 1947), poet, Iraqi Kurdistan.
Salim Barakat (born 1951), poet, writer, and novelist, Syria.
Rafiq Sabir (born 1950), poet, Sweden.
Mehmed Uzun (1953–2007), contemporary writer and novelist, Turkey/Sweden
Firat Cewerî (born 1959), contemporary writer and novelist, Turkey/Sweden.
Jan Dost (born 1965), writer and novelist, Syria.
İbrahim Halil Baran (born 1981), poet, writer and designer.
Azad Zal (born 1972), writer, journalist, translator, poet, linguist and lexicographer
Suwara Ilkhanizada (1937–1976), among the first poets that composed modern poems in Kurdistan.

=Kurdish poets and writers of the 21st century=

Bachtyar Ali (born 1960), novelist from Slemani, Iraqi Kurdistan
Behrouz Boochani (born 1983), novelist from Ilam, Iran
Sara Omar (born 1986), novelist, poet. The first internationally recognised female novelist from Slemani, Iraqi Kurdistan.