an anthology of modern kurdish literature -...

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An Anthology of ModernKurdish Literature

Volume One: Poetry

A Short Study of Modern Kurdish Poetry inSouthern Kurdistan

Selected and Translated into English by

LEILA NADERI

______________________Modern Kurdish Poetryiv

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Study of Modern Kurdish Poetry in Southern Kurdistan : Leila Naderi :

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An Anthology of Modern Kurdish Literature:A Short Study of Modern Kurdish Poetry in Southern KurdistanLeila NaderiEditor: Dr Bakhtiar SadjadiCover Designer: Behzad RahimiTypist: Zeinab ChardawliFirst Print: 2011Publisher: University of KurdistanPrint run: 1500Price: 38000R.All Rights Reserved.

To Kurdistan’s children whose crieshave remained unheard.


Acknowledgement

I am very grateful to Dr. Bakhtiar Sajadi for his sincereguiding and his extensive comments on the manuscript. Ihope I have been able to reflect his valuable suggestions. I express my thanks to my dear colleague, GhotbadinAhmadi who contributed in a variety of ways in thepreparation of this book. I am also very grateful to Naseh Rahmani and Kawa Fatehito help me in designing of the pages. Thanks also to BehzadRahimi for the design. I would like to thank my close friends, Shiva Amelirad andMarzya Zaindasht for their unforgettable assistance. Iappreciate the poets who have given permission to publishtheir biographies and poems and those who directly andsincerely gave me their personal information.

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgement------------------------------------------------Table of Contents-------------------------------------------------A Note on the Text------------------------------------------------

iii1

Preface-------------------------------------------------------------- 4

Modern Kurdish Poetry in Southern Kurdistan:An Introductory Note ---------------------------------------------------- 9Modern Kurdish Poetry in Southern Kurdistan:Major Voices --------------------------------------------------------------- 19

Abdula Goran(1904-1962)--------------------------------------- 20 Autumn ----------------------------------------------------------- 22 Bloody Flower --------------------------------------------------- 26

Sherko Bekas(1940- )------------------------------------------ 32 Halebja ----------------------------------------------------------- 34 Stooping ---------------------------------------------------------- 36 Together ---------------------------------------------------------- 38 The Ruin ---------------------------------------------------------- 40 The Gun ---------------------------------------------------------- 42 Separation--------------------------------------------------------- 44

Latif Halmat (1947- )------------------------------------------ 46 Writing ------------------------------------------------------------ 48 Difference -------------------------------------------------------- 50 The Gun ---------------------------------------------------------- 52

Farhad Shakeli(1951- )--------------------------------------- 55 Heart's Mount --------------------------------------------------- The Shelter------------------------------------------------------

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Abdula Pashew(1946- )--------------------------------------- 60

The Unknown Soldier ------------------------------------------ 62 The Burnt Forest ------------------------------------------------- 66 Masterpiece ------------------------------------------------------ 78 On the Grave of a Great Lover--------------------------------- 70

Rafeq Sabir (1950- )------------------------------------------- 72 Eva ---------------------------------------------------------------- 74 The Beginning of My Love ------------------------------------ 76 Under the Rain --------------------------------------------------- 78 Cyclone of Love ------------------------------------------------- 80 A Wide Open Window ----------------------------------------- 82

Delshad Abdula (1956- )-------------------------------------- 87 The Chess -------------------------------------------------------- 88 The Guest -------------------------------------------------------- 92 Homeless---------------------------------------------------------- 94

Bakhtiar Ali (1960- )------------------------------------------ 97 A Tired Musician's Work and Homeland -------------------- 98 A Doleful Representative--------------------------------------- 104

Kazhal Ahmad (1967- )--------------------------------------- 109 Proverbs of Saying ---------------------------------------------- 110 O! The Source of Great Sorrow ------------------------------- 118

Kazhal Ebrahim Kheder (1968- )--------------------------- 123 The Pages of History ------------------------------------------ 124 The Lips --------------------------------------------------------- 130 The Body -------------------------------------------------------- 132

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Qubad Jalizada (1953- )-------------------------------------- 135 The Earth -------------------------------------------------------- 136 Father ------------------------------------------------------------ 138 1000 -------------------------------------------------------------- 140

Rozh Halabjei (1969- )---------------------------------------- 143 I Come Back Beyond Being Lost; Life! Stop Please! ---- 144

Mahabad Qaradagi (1966- )--------------------------------- 165 Burning ---------------------------------------------------------- 166 Expatriating to another Resistance -------------------------- 168

Najiba Ahmad (1954- )---------------------------------------- 179 Sunflower ------------------------------------------------------- 180 Encountering --------------------------------------------------- 184

Karim Dashti (1955- )----------------------------------------- 187 An Avenue in the Sky ----------------------------------------- 188

Bibliography--------------------------------------------------------- 196 Index ----------------------------------------------------------------- 200 Appendix------------------------------------------------------------- 207

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A Note on the Text

The untranslatable characteristic of poetry is not a unique anda new idea. Even the most loyal translators may beconsidered treacherous because of the fact that a piece ofpoetry has a harmonious and organic unity composed ofmusic, rhyme, rhythm, and other features, and translatingthese features needs an enormous effort. However, I had atleast two convincing reasons for translating these poems:firstly, I do agree with those critics who believe that the act oftranslating is the recreation of a text and the translator iscertainly the author of the recreated work. In other words,non-translated works are condemned to death since theirrebirth is possible only through translation. Secondly, art isthe embodiment of the happiness, pains, suffering, illusions,wishes, and victories of each nation and there should be someconcrete devices to transfer it to other nations. Indeed, there

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is an urgent need for illustrating the cries, sighs, tears, and ofcourse the joys, if there are any, of the Kurds. The presentanthology consists of two sections; in the first part readers areprovided with a short historical account of the literarymovements in modern Kurdish poetry of the SouthernKurdistan and the second one contains those poets who havefounded a new school or style in poetry along with their mainfollowers who have promising literary works. Although mentioning an exact date for the rise of amovement or contributing specific traditions to a poet is adifficult task, a great effort has been done to distinguish theperiods correctly and to introduce the remarkable poets withtheir distinctive works. The sequence of the poets is based ona chronological order which starts at the beginning of thetwenties century. Kurdish literature like its stateless nation, which has beendivided among several countries, is fragmentary. The rule ofdictatorship and censorship has been an obstacle in thedevelopment of Kurdish literature in Syria. The LatinizedKurdish system of writing, remarkable differences betweenNorthern Kurdish dialect and other Kurdish dialects andmany other political and social features separate NorthernKurdish literature from other Kurdish areas’ literature. Theliterary movements in Eastern Kurdistan are more influencedby Persian literature rather than by Northern or SouthernKurdish literature. Hence, the present work focuses onKurdish poetry only in Southern Kurdistan. However, thesediversities do not connote that the literature of differentKurdish areas cannot be unified; rather, it needs an enormouseffort and systematic long-time researches to cover thetotality of these diversities. Since it is the first book of its kind in Kurdish literature, itmight have its own deficiencies, too. Hence, I am lookingforward to hearing readers’ opinions, suggestions and critical

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views. Indisputably, your consideration would be a helpfullantern through the dark way we are going.


Preface

Kurdish literature has a rich heritage despite the fact that itstill suffers from alienation and anonymity. Since the Kurdsand Kurdistan have been divided among different countriesand they do not have their own country, they have not beenrepresented to the world as a distinct nation. Consequently,their discrete culture has been marginalized and this matterhas been reinforced by the occupier countries. Kurdishlanguage, the language of more than forty million Kurds, hasbeen propagandized as a dialect rather than a language and ithas been mutilated unkindly. There are no academic institutesin Northern and Eastern Kurdistan to teach Kurdish language.In other words, each part of Kurdistan has been dominatedand influenced by a foreign country. As a result, Kurdishliterature has been suppressed from the beginning of thetwentieth-century and the ruling countries have broughtdifferent excuses for this suppression. The Kurds whose ancestors go back to Medes are believedto have had one of the most ancient forms of literature.Zarathustra (640 ca.- 583 ca. B.C.) is believed to be thepioneer of literary writing in Kurdistan. In addition to the factthat Avista is considered as the first Kurdish book,Zarathustra wrote a part of Gatas in the form of poems (TahirSadiq, 30). Finding a tile in Eastern Kurdistan on which thereis a Kurdish poem by Bora Bozh (330 B.C.) illustrates theantiquity of this literature. Kurdish oral literature most ofwhich is often called Beytu Baw has played a great role in theculture of this nation. Beytu Baw is that part of oral literaturein verse which was transmitted from one generation toanother. Khaj and Syamend, Lass and Khezal, DemdemCastle and Mam and Zin are some traditional love romancesand tragedies whose time of composition is still unknown,

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and later on they were written based on their oral forms.There are vivid proofs for antiquity of Kurdish literatureparticularly in oral forms. Kurdish literature, according to Dr. Bakhtiar Sadjadi, isdivided into five main phases. First, the age of the Emirate ofKhaledis is the literature of northern Kurmanji dialect fromthe fourteen to sixteenth centuries in Turkey. Mulla Jaziri(1567-1640), and Ali Hariri (1530-1600) are the mostdominant figures of this age. Second, the age of the Emirateof Ardalans in Goran dialect is the literature of the westernregions of Iran especially in the nineteenth century. Besarani(1643-1701), Mawlawi Kurd (1804-1882) and MastooraKurdistani (1803-1847) are the most outstanding figures ofthis era. Third, the age of the Emirate of Babans is theliterature of southern Kurmanji dialect in Iraqi Kurdistan innineteen century. Nali (1800-1856), Salem (1805-1869) andMahvi (1825-1904) are the most well-known figures of thisage. Fourth, is the literary movement in the late nineteenthcentury and early twentieth century. Wafai (1847-1916) andMesbahadini Edab (1860-1912) are the most dominantfigures of this period. The last period, the focus of the presentanthology, is the twentieth century, the period in whichmodern Kurdish poetry has been bloomed. Doubtlessly, Kurdish literature has a rich but shortbackground in regarding the time it has been bloomed; that is,although its history is short, its emergence soon became anew trace in the world. There are different literaryapproaches, schools of thought and stylistic methods, both inclassic and modern Kurdish literature. However, due tolacking of a social and political unity among Kurds ingeneral, and its sporadic occurrence in particular, Kurdishliterary works have not been collected historically andscientifically. Traditional and nationalistic views on rereadingand rewriting and of course criticizing it, has necessitated ademanding effort for those who are about to take some steps


in this way. Unlike English literature, for instance, in whichone might easily find the most successful Elizabethan playsor the most popular novels of nineteenth century due toconvincing criteria presented by critics to evaluate them, theway have not been paved for young researchers in Kurdishliterature. Accordingly, the choice of poems in this book isnot based on some critical researches since there is hardlyany critical works on Kurdish poetry. In fact, the goal isidentifying the well-known poets and the judgment remainsfor the readers. There is a common characteristic in the literature of theThird-World countries including Kurdish literature whichneeds consideration: their literary movements usually do nothave a normal and logical process similar to thosemovements in the literature of the west. The literature of theThird-World countries has had leaping movements ratherthan linear and progressive ones. It creates a college-likeimage. A distinguishing feature of contemporary Kurdish poetryis the fact that since postmodernist movement remained pre-mature in Kurdish literature, it is almost impossible todistinct the modernist from postmodernist age. Although, it isnot difficult to find some postmodernist traces in somedistinctive poems, they are not so dominated by thesefeatures to be classified as postmodernist.

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Modern Kurdish Poetry inSouthern Kurdistan:An Introductory Note

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Modern Kurdish Poetry in Southern Kurdistan:An Introductory Note

The twentieth century was the period of various globalchanges in different fields, and the subsequent influences ofthese changes can be traced in many nations of the MiddleEast. The regional and political challenges, such as the fallingdown of the Ottoman dynasty, the reign of Sheikh Mahmoodin Iraq under the influence of the Great Britain and theconsequences of October Revolution in 1917, wereinfluential epoch-making events. Southern Kurdistan has hadan unsteady history since the beginning of the twentiethcentury. After the First World War, British army in Iraqproved to be unfriendly to Kurdistan. It was planningseriously to suppress the Kurds because of its remarkableprosperity at the time of Sheikh Mahmood’s leadership. Atthat time, the Turkish regime was searching its own interestin this region. However, in 1922 Sheikh Mahmood becamethe king of Southern Kurdistan. He rebelled against thepolitical rules of the time and declared a Kurdish kingdom innorthern Iraq. Then British and Iraqi governments werealmost forced to allow the Kurds to control their ownkingdom within Iraq. The sorrowful fact is that whenever agroup or individual not only in Southern Kurdistan but also inother parts of Kurdistan has started an attempt to gain theirfundamental rights, they have been suppressed by thegovernments of the time. Sheikh Mahmood(1) and SheikhAhmad(2) Barzani’s revolts were two cases. Ba'ath barbaricattitude toward the Kurds have been so obvious that it is notnecessary to explain its nasty story. Strangely enough,different literary movements were flourishing within thisdisastrous atmosphere. The era between the two World Warswas the time of emergence of modern literature almost inevery nation. In Southern Kurdistan, modernism was almoststarted by Abdula Goran.


The fundamental changes of the twentieth centurydistinctively shaped the literature of the time. Modernistsconsciously moved away from the traditional versestructures, conventional literary diction and the establishedvalues of artistic practice. Before Goran, Kurdish poetry waspredominantly a classical one. It was repeating itself in vaindue to its subject limitation and its prosodic deficiency. In thesecond and third decades of twentieth century, Kurdish poetsrevolted against these limitation and they initiated a gradualmovement to liberate poetry from classical traditions. RashidNajib ( ? ), Sheikh Noori Sheikh Salah (1895-1958) andmore influential than the others, Abdula Goran whosepenname, Goran, became the name of the period too, werethe chief poets who diagnosed the problem of theircontemporary poetry. Kurdish literature has been under the influence of socialand political changes excessively. It was in the second decadeof the twentieth century that Kurdish language was unbannedfor a limited period in Turkey. Groups of writers and poetsamong whom were Goran, Pira Merd, Bakhtiar Ziwar andRashid Najib made use of this opportunity to publish theirworks. Goran and his contemporary men of letters claimed thatKurdish language and literature were dominated by Arabiclanguage which directly was under the impact ofgovernmental policy. Hence, their first attempt was to purifyKurdish language from Arabic vocabularies and to create areal national medium for their works. The main features ofversification in Goran’s age were employing simple Kurdishvocabulary with emotional and romantic images andexcluding Arabic words, omitting traditional Arabic prosody,applying the new syllabic rhythm full of music and finallycreating Kurdish meters and forms for poetry. The musicalityof their poetry was associated with Kurdish folkloric songs.They did not restrict themselves to rigid classical rhyme.

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Consequently, it was easier for them to keep the integrity ofKurdish poetry which used to be in jeopardy under the impactof the inflexible rhymes. The poets of this period sought theirsubjects in nature and reflected its beauty in their works. Parallel with this movement in Southern Kurdistan, therewas a similar literary movement in Eastern Kurdistanfounded by Ali Hasaniani (Hawar), Qasim Moayedzada(Hallo), and Sewara ilkhanizada who was the spokesman ofthe movement and greatly affected by Goran. In fact, Goran’smovement was vaster with a higher number of followers. Itwas in the 1950s that a group of writers and poets tried toimitate Goran and improve his poetic principles. Hemen,Kamran Mokri, Kakey Falah, Salah Dilan and the mostnoticeable one, Ahmad Hardi, were the effectual poets of thisdecade. They attempted to renew Kurdish poetry, althoughthey were not able to establish a literary movement and theirattempt remained immature. In the next decade anothergroup, among whom were Abdula Pashew, Madhoosh,Bakhtiar Ziwar and A.H.B. (i.e. Ali Hosein Barzanji) startedtheir literary activities. Both of these groups propoundednovel ideas and they created new atmosphere in Kurdishpoetry; none of which, however, were fully developed. Iraq went through various political and governmentalchanges during the 1950s and the 1960s. The KurdistanLiberation Movement was at this time an active armedorganization led by Mullah Mestafa Barzani(3). Political andsocial crises forced the intellectuals to direct their attention toliterature. Moreover, it was not strange that the literature ofthis period had a tendency toward political themes. Theschools of Rwanga and Kefri were the outcome of the youngpoets’ attempt to revive Kurdish literature; Sherko Bekasestablished the former school and Latif Halmat the latter. It was in the early years of the 1960s that the young poets,Sherko Bekas, Jamal Sharbazheri, Hosein Aref and JalalMirza Karim planted the seeds of Rwanga School in


Baghdad. Their movement was not opposite to Goran’smovement at all because they tried to establish a modernistpoetry too; however, they added new dimensions to Goran’sschool. As the Marxists believe, art does not exist in vacuum,rather, at least partly, the social and political spirit of itsperiod forms it. Indeed, Rwanga was a reaction to the newatmosphere. Their catch phrases were "fresh words, freshthought, and fresh behavior". Their rebellion was an act toadjust literature to the real life. Accordingly, it becamepolitical and unlike the Romanticism of Goran’s school, ithad a tendency toward Realism. However, they wereinterested in that kind of realism which was able to stimulatethem because they were consciously concerned with theLiberation Movement. Rwanga’s proponents relied on theclassical works but they believed that classicism was too oldto be effective by itself and it needed to be adopted to copewith their contemporary atmosphere. The poets of Rwangapresented their proclamation in 1970:

“-Our writing is full of suffering …. Thus we are fightingagainst suffering. -Beauty is the center of our writing …. Therefore, it isagainst ugliness. -It is free and independent …. Hence it breaks boundaries. -It is revolutionist ….”

Sherko Bekas is the most dominant figure of this school.He has been on the peak of Kurdish poetry for the past twodecades. In 1988, he received Swedish literary prize ofTucholsky(4). Although the main figures of this movementwere successful in their works, they did not receive people’swarm acceptance because of the fact that they openly anddirectly addressed the intellectuals rather than ordinarypeople. They believed that the readers should be as active asthe writers, and the readers were supposed to be involved inthe act of finding and discovering the meaning. Hence,

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Rwanga was accused of ignoring ordinary readers. But theybelieved that the literature of ordinary people was not limitedto whatever they understood. "What we are writing about ismore important than to whom we are writing", says Sherko. Rwanga was simultaneous to Kefri movement. Moreover,they had thematic association with each other. Kefri was amovement established by the younger poets: Latif Halmat,Latif Hamed, Anwar and Ahmad Shakeli, Kan’an Medhad,Hashem and Abdula Taher Barzanji in Karkook. They wereaware of Rwanga movement in Baghdad. However, theywere invited by Rwanga poets and, without reaching anyagreement, announced their own proclamation in 1970, a fewmonths after the declaration of Rwanga proclamation. In theirstatement, they emphasized on novelty and innovation inliterature proportional to the contemporary political andsocial changes. As a result of the activities of these twoschools, a new verse came into Kurdish literature and itchanged the static form of Kurdish poetry into a dynamicone. Furthermore, it was the time that Kurdish poetry wasinfluenced by the poetry of the other countries. At the sametime A. A. Yusef established another movement, known asHawler(5) movement about which there is not enoughsources. Barzani’s Revolt in Iraq and Mullah Awara(6) and IsmailSharafzada(7)’s revolt in Iran were brutally repressed. In 1975with the Algiers Agreement which put an end to the warbetween Iran and Iraq and is known as the Black Agreement,both sides showed their disloyalty to Kurdistan. It put an endto Iran’s support for the Kurdish uprising. In the 1980s theBa'ath regime intensified its range of dictatorship; theeradication of thousands of Kurdish villages and tens oftowns, Anfal campaign(8), mass exoduses, massacres, andchemical bombardment are few of lots of its barbarousactions.


Within this gloomy atmosphere some angry poets aroseamong whom Abdula Pashew, who founded ResistanceLiterature, was the most famous. Pashew’s language is bitterand sarcastic, and sometimes abounds with curses. He and hisfollowers are concerned with political and social atmospheresrather than the essence of literature and the literariness of thetexts. Just after this stormy spirit a new generation of poets,among whom Rafeq Sabir is the most outstanding, directedthe Kurdish poetry to a milder kind of Surrealism. Theyreflected the spirit of the time more artistically. ‘Bloodshed,frustration, pessimism, disappointment and ruin’ which aresome of their frequent motifs reflect their disillusionmentwith the political and social atmosphere. Accordingly, thepoetry of the time moved toward artistic works rather thanideological and political ones. Emotion, which has been adominant element of poetry, was replaced by automaticthinking at this time. The previous concrete languagechanged to a philosophical and abstract one. Delshad Abdula,Bakhtiar Ali, Dr. Farhad Pirbal and Karim Dashti are thepoets of this generation. The recent inclination of EasternKurdistan’s poetry toward postmodernism has its roots in thepoetry of this era. The year 1991 was the starting point of a new epoch in thehistory of Southern Kurdistan. It was on the forth of March in1991 that the Kurds started their historical uprising. TheUnited States and its allies imposed an embargo on Iraq andthey supported Kurdistan’s Liberation Movement. A wave ofmulti-dimensional reconstruction has begun since 1991 and ithas had a non-stopping development toward modernization.Even though there have been internal and external strugglingever since, Kurdistan continues its gradual promotion towardprogress and its cultural products have been produced freelyin this new period of time. Different Kurdish radio and TVstations started to broadcast their programs. Kurdish language

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has been taught and studied at schools and universities since1991 which is one of the dreams of the Kurds in Turkey,Syria and Iran. Furthermore, it was the time when a greatnumber of newspapers, magazines and different periodicalswere born. Some of notable literary periodicals are Sardamwhose editor-in-chief is Sherko Bekas, Ayanda by DelshadAbdula and Raman by Azad Abdul-Wahid. The fact that a great part of Kurdish literature is producedout of its homeland is a matter of consideration. The maincenter of Kurdish literary activities in foreign countries is inSweden which is known as Sweden’s Kurdish LiterarySchool and plays an important role in promoting Kurdishliterature. Rahand is a famous literary magazine published inthis country. Another important fact in this period is the presence ofwomen who had been absent and passive in Kurdish literaturein the past decades. Female authors such as Kazhal Ahmad,Kazhal Kheder, Mahabad Qaradagi, Najiba Ahmad, RozhHalabjei, Galawezh Ahmad (Ebrahim Ahmad’s(9) wife) andmany other female newly-born voices have played importantroles in the contemporary literature of Southern Kurdistan.This feminist movement has had a great effect on EasternKurdistan’s literature. Simin Chaichi, Nahid Hoseini, MaparaEbrahimi and Nasrin Jafari are some of the poets in theEastern part of Kurdistan who are paving the way for theemergence of a more sophisticated younger generation.


***

This introduction presents a fleeting glance at ModernKurdish poetry, which is a reflection of ceaseless sufferingand homelessness of one of the most ancient nations whosemen and women are exhausted with incurable pains. Throughcreating poetry, they have done an attempt to change theirworld by renewing and modernizing their contemporaryatmosphere. Of course, this book covers only a small part ofthis effort. Since it is limited to a specific period and a certaingenre, there is no room to speak about those prose writerslike Bakhtiar Ali, Shirzad Hasan, Ata Nahai, EbrahimAhmad, Zeinab Yusefi, Dr. Farhad Pirball, MahabadQaradagi, Galawezh Ahmad, Hasan Qezlji, Ali Hasaniani,and so on whose novels and short stories are Kurdishmasterpieces. I also sincerely apologize to those poets whoseworks were inaccessible such as Abbas Abdulla Yusef,Hashem Saraj, Ahmadi Mala, Mohammad Umar Usman andDelawar Qaradagi. A survey of Kurdish literary critics,whose prominent figures among previous generation wereHazhar, Mohammad Mullah-Karim and Dr. Maref Khaznadarand among the contemporaries are, Dr. Hashem Ahmadzadaand Dr. Bakhtiar Sadjadi, is beyond this short survey.

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Notes:

1. Sheikh Mahmood Barzanji (1882-1956) is the leader ofan armed Kurdish movement (1916-1919) and the first rulerof the state of Kurdistan in 1922.2. Sheikh Ahmad Barzanji is Mullah Mostafa’s brother whohad some national, political and religious activities after thedeath of his brother Sheikh Abdul-Salam II who was hangedby the Turks in 1914.3. Mullah Mestafa Barzani (1903-1979) the leader ofP.D.K. in Iraq. To form the Kurds’ national government, hesuffered a lot and took part in many armed Kurdishmovements and later he founded the greatest one during the1960s and 70s. He had political negotiations with U.S.,Russia and Iran, among others. However, his movementfailed in a political transaction between Iran and Iraq inAlgeria, called Algirs Pact, according to which Iraq wasdropped from controlling half of the river Karoon and itbrought Barzani’s movement to an end. Finally Barzani’s120000 partisans, many of whom committed suicide, weresurrendered at that time. During his splendor years ofactivities lots of artistic, literary and social associations wereformed. He died in America in 1979 and his corpse wasbrought back to Kurdistan.4. Kurt Tucholsky is a German Jewish satirist, poet andcritic. In 1933, his works were denounced by the Nazigovernment and banned and he was lost his Germancitizenship. Tucholsky left Germany in 1924 and lived first inParis and after 1929 in Sweden and he had such a hard lifethat he committed suicide. Now the Swedish governmentawards a literary prize to writers and artists called Tucholskyevery year.5. Hawler is an ancient city in southern Kurdistan.6. Mullah Awara (Ahmad Shalmashi); (1934-1968) poet,politician and a Kurd Guerilla who was captured and


executed by Iranian government in 1968. He took part in theRevolutionary Committee of Kurds, the last armed Kurdishmovement in Iran in 1967-1968, which was nipped in thebud. Tobacconist is his famous poem with a simple andcolloquial language.7. Ismail Sharifzada (1942-1968) politician, translator and aKurd partisan who was one of the main figures in theRevolutionary Committee of Kurds and was killed in abattlefield against Iranian government in 1968. KhosroRoozbeh's Defenses is one of his translations.8. Anfal is a verse of the Koran according to which Ba'thregime religiously justified a massacre of Kurds anddestroyed their cities, and villages. About 182000 Kurds werekilled in this operation during the 1980s.9. Ebrahim Ahmad (1912-2000), famous Kurdish politicianand writer who was one of the founders of modern Kurdishnovels. He published Galawezh, an effective literarymagazine, and had a great role in modern Kurdish fiction. Hisnovel Zhani Gal (People’s Pain) has been translated intoEnglish and Persian, and recently turned into a movie.

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Modern Kurdish Poetry inSouthern Kurdistan:

Major Voices


Goran (1904-1962)

Abdula Soleiman (Goran), born inHalabja, was a unique figure who madean original language and a special formto express himself. He was educated inhis childhood by his father who was awriter. Then he was sent to school there.When his father died he was sent toKarkook to study Turkish and Arabiclanguages. Two years later his elder

brother who was the head of the family was killed and hefaced a lot of problems. One of the roots of his feeling ofloneliness and melancholic images in his poems rooted in thisperiod of his life. Without finishing his education, he returnedto Halabja. There, he was accepted as a teacher in a primaryschool. Having been tired of teaching, he was employed as awriter in the Ministry of Culture. At the age of fifty-eight hedied of cancer in 1962. Publishing “Regret of Past and Future’s Thought” at theage of sixteen signalized him as a noble character. He wasproficient in English, Turkish, Arabic and Persian languages.His familiarity with English literature is explicitlyrecognizable throughout his poems. His “For theNightingale” is an influence of “To a Skylark” by PercyBysshe Shelley (1792-1822) and his “Bloody Flower” is adramatic poem under the influence of Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) ’s work, the Irish dramatist. The impact of Englishliterature is not limited to his poems. Moreover, he was a

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successful translator from English, Persian and Turkishlanguages into Kurdish. He was also a journalist and theeditor-in-chief of Zhin Newspaper for a period of time. As aninitiator of modern poetry he renewed Kurdish poetry andbecame the father of modern Kurdish poetry. Indeed hisimpact in Kurdish literature is so impressive that some criticshave claimed there have been no literary movements inpoetry after Goran. Even though, it is an obviousexaggeration, it shows the depth of Goran’s influence onKurdish poetry. Goran's Collection of Poems is a book inwhich almost all of his poems have been collected.


Autumn

Autumn, autumn!Golden-tressed bride!I'm stupefied, you're annoyedBoth in pain!

I, my tear; you, your rain;I, my breath; you, your breeze;I, my sorrow, you, your weeping ...Won't finish, my crying, your screamingNot at all, not at allAutumn, autumn!

Autumn, autumn!The naked one!I'm stupefied, you're annoyed,We're alikeLet's weep while the flower’s fading,The gold of the tree is pouring,A flock of birds is flying,

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!

!!

!

..

!!

!!

Goran


Let's weep... let's weep... let's not dry our eyesNot at all, not at all,Autumn, autumn.

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.. .. ...

!!

Goran


The Bloody Flower

1The boy: Behold: there is merry-making, dancing in that house, Listen: they're playing pipe, drum and flute! Yellow and red are blending, woman and man, it's noisy, Your golden belt, there, is mute So come on, let's join them, my honey Let us dance lovely, you and me!

The girl: If no flowers for my hair, a red bunch, a yellow bunch, I never come to wedding, I never come to dancing!

The boy: Oh, baby! For the sake of, just sake of your beauty, O! For your sidelong glance on the way of spring, It's autumn, the trees are stripped, the garden is naked,

Where is the flower, it blossoms by smiling!...

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)(:

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!

... !

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Goran


The girl:

If no flowers for my hair, a red bunch, a yellow bunch, I don't come to wedding, I don't come to dancing! Had you given your heart to me, whole-heartedly,

You'd bring two bunches in the king's flower-bed!...

The boy: (goes and murmurs this song)

On the other side of river Is the king's flower-bed By enemy surrounded If I go, I'll face obstacles If I don't, my beloved sulking.

(He faded away from the village)

2The boy: I did search the king's flower-bed, up and down, There were yellow, I picked, I didn't find the red

I wonder would you come to wedding and dancing?

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Goran


The girl:

No I don't, I should have a red bunch for my hair!

The boy: (He opened his mrakhani's1 collar) Don't you want this wounded heart instead?

The girl: Oh goodness! Were you shot by the foe's gun? Put your head on my thigh a while, Let me weep for the heart, for the flower that I lost!...

1. Mrakhani is a traditional uniform for men in Kurdistan with a sash thatis twisted around the waist.

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Goran


Sherko Bekas (1940- )

Sherko Bekas was born in a literary familyon May 2, 1940 in Solemani. His father,Fayeq Abdula (1905-1948) whosepenname was Bekas too, was a poet anddied when Serko was seven. Six years laterhis mother and two sisters left him andwent to Baghdad. Since he becameabsolutely alone he was sent to a boarding

school. In his adulthood, he suffered political persecutionfollowing the publication of his poems, hence; he tried hischance in Europe. Sweden became his second homeland from1886. Obviously loneliness, hard life and especially povertywere not a barrier in his career. On the contrary, it became asource of inspiration for him. He says: “my childhood is asunless garden or a face that has never seen a smile”. Hishistorical poetic novel, The Cross and the Snake, a panoramaview to his own life and his homeland, was a unique genre inKurdish literature at the time of its composition. He founded and formed a new movement in Kurdishliterature by gathering young literary persons in 1970 andannouncing the proclamation of Rewanga movement, aKurdish word for ‘viewpoint’. The main characteristics ofthis movement have been mentioned in the introduction ofthe present book. Serko motivated a total rethinking of theobjectives of poetry. The remarkable fact is that he wassuffering from the harsh reaction of people who were tooinflexible to accept or even to tolerate the modern viewpoint

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of Rewanga. As a leader of the movement Serko faced a lotof hardship: even sometimes his house was attacked withstone and mace; hence, he was forced to move to Baghdad atthe time. In spite of these objections he established a newschool in Kurdish literature and many young literary personsgrew up under his guidance. He has been the highlight ofKurdish poetry for more than twenty years. Indeed, he turnedover a page in the history of Kurdish literature. Apart from writing poetry he has written two plays: Kawa,the Blacksmith, and The Gazala, and has translated The OldMan and the Sea by Hemingway (1889-1961) and FedericoGarcia Lorca's (1899-1936) Blood Wedding, from Arabic. Allof his poems have been published in more than thirty booksthat recently they have been collected and published in fourcollections of poems. He became Kurdistan’s minister of culture in 1992, buttwo years later he resigned. Serko won the Swedish literaryprize of Tucholsky in 1988. He had been the editor-in-chiefof many Kurdish magazines. His works has been translatedinto many languages; English, Arabic, Persian, Swedish,French and Italian. Deep meaning, rich imagery, metaphoricwords and pictures, and narrative accounts are thecharacteristics of his poetry. In addition, he is famous for hisoccasional poetry. In 1988, Swedish government gave him politicalcitizenship and for the present time he lives in Solemani.


Halabja1

It was the fourteenth of the month,On the top of Goizha, the wind snatched my pen.When I found it and wrote with,My words flew groups by groups.

It was the fifteenth of the month,'Sirwan' carried away my pen.When I caught it and wrote with,My poems changed to fish.

It was the sixteenth of the month:Oh, the sixteenth of the monthThat Sharazoor took my pen.When gave it back to me to write,My fingers had been,Numbed,Like Halabja.

1. This poem refers to the genocidal massacre against the Kurdish peoplethat took place on March 16, 1988 when chemical weapons were used bythe Iraqi government.

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Sherko Bekas


Stooping

A buttercupStooped for a blackberry,And kissed his hand!Having finished … she stood up,Her redness had flowedBefore the blackberry's feet.From then till her deathShe was suffering fromHer yellowness!

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! ...

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Sherko Bekas


Together

An eveningIn a small garden on a benchA blind, a deaf, and a dumbHale and hearty were sitting smilinglyFor several hours.The blind was seeing with the eyes of the deaf,The deaf was hearing with the ears of the dumb,And the dumb understood throughThe facial gesture of the blind and the deaf.These three, together,Were smelling the flowers simultaneously!

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Sherko Bekas


The Ruin

We planted the words

To grow future in these fields,

We mixed the words with the ‘wind’

To fly the truth

In this sky!

We changed the poems into the rock's bell

To rebel a new history

In these mountains!

But, unfortunately,

Sorrowfully,

We burnt the sheets of paper of our fields,

We made a cage out of our sky,

Assassinated our mountains.

Now poetry has become

The coal of the ruin.

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!

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Sherko Bekas


The Gun

To make the peak glad,The trees told the windTo play them like a pipe.Not to make the garden annoyed,The bird told the streams and riversTo take the wave's hand and laugh.To help the poetry fly freely,The land told the guerilla's gunTo fire this nightfallAnd die in the sun's bosom!

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:.

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Sherko Bekas


Separation

If they pick the flowersFrom my poems,One of my four seasons will die.If they take the beloved out,Two will die.If they take the bread out,Three will die.But if they take the freedom out,All my year and I will die.

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Sherko bekas


Latif Halmat (1947- )

Latif Halmat was born in Kefri, Karkook.He opened his eyes in a religious andliterary family and became familiar withliterature in his childhood. He has beenaffected by his father, who was amissionary of Qaderi Sect1, and his motherwho was an unknown source of folkloreliterature. His teachers were admiring his

eagerness toward literature. In 1964, when he was at highschool he was familiar with Farhad and Ahmad Shakeli, twoof his contemporary poets, and later on with Latif Hamed, ashort story writer. They formed a literary school, Kefri,which was mentioned in the introduction. He and his friendswere influenced by some Arabic literary magazines, whichwere propagating new ideas through Adunes and MahmoodDarwish’s free verse (two Arab writers and poets). Kefri’spoets published their proclamation in 1970. Latif Halmat published his first collection of poems, Godand My Tiny Town, in 1970. Because of his anti-traditionalideas, he was dismissed in the first festival of Kurdish poetryin 1971 in Karkook. Using local symbols and mixing lines ofprose and verse together are the remarkable characteristics of

1. Qaderi sect is a religious group of Sunnite sect.

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his poetry. After Algerian pact in 1975 he appealed toResistance Literature for a short time and published ThatGirl's Tress Is the Black Tent of My Summer and WinterResorts in 3000 copies which were sold within three weeks.In addition, he has recreated some well-known masterpiecesin verse and in his own unique method; for example in hisunique version of The Old man and the Sea by Hemingway,the old man does not catch any fish rather he falls in love andcatches the daughter of a sea’s king. Apart from that, he is aremarkable writer of children’s literature. Some of hispoetical works for children have been collected in onevolume which won the prize of APIC Dalroshke in Swedenin 2000.


Writing

The old women narrate:

“One thousand and a hundred years ago

A child engraved a sun

As big as an egg’s yolk

On a school’s wall one night.

Having passed over there,

The king saw the small sun

Went mad ... lost his control.

By the time the people of the town

Broke the egg of the old dream,

The child had been hanged

And it was forbidden ... for the children

To draw pictures on walls onwards...!”

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:

…

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Latif Halmat


Difference

If my heartDidn't worship your eyes,Who would identify the green color?If I didn't write aboutThe softness of your ears,How would earrings have hungThemselves from ears!?If I didn't plantYour name on the earth,Would it have its rose-gardens?If my heart didn't shed tears for you,Would the earth have had its springs, seas and rivers?If I didn't love you,Who would identify love?If you and I didn't love each other,Who would recognize the difference betweenSeparation and union?

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!

Latif Halmat


The Gun

Tell Saint MaryNot to redden churches’ white domeWith tears and bloodIn the memory of her only son…!

* * *Tell Saint MaryShe didn't stop weeping and moaning …!Today thousands of JesusesAre being hangedAnd crucifiedNeither God nor the city knows about it …!

* * *Tell Saint MaryNot to weep anymore!The era of crying has finished.This is the gun’s centuryWhy she doesn't buy a gun?

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…!

***

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…!

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Latif Halmat

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Farhad Shakeli (1951- )

Farhad Shakeli, is one of the poets whoestablished Kefri School with his friendLatif Halmat in the 1960s. He was bornin Shakel, Karkook. He got his B. A. inKurdish literature at BaghdadUniversity. Then, he became a journalistof Brayeti (brotherhood) newspaperwhich was a good experience for hisown magazine, Mamostay Kurd (Kurd

teacher). He has been an instructor at Uppssala University inSweden since 1978. Since he is familiar with Arabic, English,Turkish and Swedish, some of his works have been written inthese languages. Project of A Low (1973), A Lighted Streamof the Red Sun (1977), Height (1981), and I Will Carve YourImage on the Wall of My Prison (1994) are his majorcollected works of poetry.


Heart’s Mount

Enlighten my heart's mountWith the ray of your acquaintance!I'll make my heart and lifeThe gravels under your feet!Oh! How long dark years is lack of you.Oh!What a grave,what a bleak cemetery isThe city of lifeWithout your memory!

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Farhad Shakeli


The Shelter

If you don't shelter me,

Why remind me of the memories

That, for nights and days,

Have taken my tranquillity away?

_______________________ 59Farhad Shakeli


Abdula Pashew(1946- )

Abdula Pashew was born in Barkot, adistrict in Hawler. He was a young childwhen his father, the village’s clergyman,died. He tasted life’s hardship after hisfather’s death, passed his childhood inpoverty and indigence like a great many ofother children in Kurdistan. He passed hiselementary and high school in Hawler.

Although he had a deep love for Kurdistan he went to Russiato continue his education and during 1973-1974 he studiedRussian language, then he achieved his master’s degree intranslation in 1979 and obtained Ph.D. of Kurdish literaturefrom an Oriental university in Moscow in 1983. He wrote hisdoctoral dissertation on Pira Merd Namer (1867-1950),Goran’s contemporary poet and writer. His literary life began in 1961 and soon he was able tointroduce himself as a poet who found a distinctive school.As it was mentioned in the introduction, the tone of hispoems is the angriest in Kurdish literature. He composedpolitical poems in reaction to Anfal’s tragedy and otherdisastrous events during the 1980s. Thus, he became thespokesperson of Resistance Literature in Kurdistan. “Amongthose who impressed me,” Pashew says, “firstly were mymother who was a precious source of maxims and proverbsand secondly an illiterate old man who was a walkingencyclopedia of Kurdish literature and folklore”. He wentthrough a difficult task to publish his works; Tears and theWound, The Broken Idol and Twelve Lessons for the Childrenin the 1960s. Then, during the 1970s-1980s he published

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many of his masterpieces; A Thirsty Poet’s Night-Letter,Rarely Is There a Night When You Are Not in My Dream,Fratricide, Planting Lights and Towards the Sunset.


The Unknown Soldier Put the wreath on the sea (Andre Vaznisenski)

When a missionary goes to visitThe grave of an unknown soldier,Takes a wreath.

***If tomorrow

A missionary comes to my homeland

And asks me:

“Where is the cenotaph?”

I'll say:

“My lord!

By the banks of each stream,

Over the platform of each mosque,

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) (

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Abdula Pashew


In front of

Each house,

Each church,

Each cave,

On the rock of each mountain,

On the trees of each garden

In this land,

Over each span of this land,

Under each meter of this sky,

Don't worry! Bow a little

Then lay your wreath!”

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!!«

Abdula Pashew


The Burnt forest

Whenever a sweetheart granted me her love,

I buried it in my heart

Like a sapling.

As a result of

Having these sweets

I became the lord of the superforest!

***

O! My tender eternal sapling,

When I saw you

I thought you’d join them too:

You’d grow and become

The coolness of … my summer,

The warmth of … my winter.

All of a sudden you became a flame

And set fire to my coppice!

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!

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Abdula Pashew


Masterpiece

I have so many verses,

Some are: cities

Some: villages

Some: mansions

Some: ruined little houses

But those written for you

Will become a masterpiece,

The brightest capital on the earth.

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:––

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Abdula Pashew


On The Grave of a Great Lover

“For Rahbar Jalal Kowiy”

Each flower

I pick for your grave

Withers too soon.

I do know which Land’s flower you love!

But … what should I do?

How can I bring its flower?

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» «

...

...!!

Abdula Pashew


Rafeq Sabir (1950- )

Rafeq Sabir was born in Qaladeza andobtained his M. A. from BaghdadUniversity in literature. Soon, he beganwriting as a journalist (1972) and took hisdoctorate in philosophy at SociologyCollege in Bulgaria (1987). He wrote hisdoctoral dissertation The Role of CulturalHeritage in Forming Kurds’ National

consciousness. After graduating, he went to Sweden. RafeqSabir grew up under political confusion. He has had a dolefullife that was experienced by almost all his contemporaries inKurdistan. Almost all children of Kurdistan have had a sort ofpainful lives, but Rafeq Sabir has had such a backbreakinglife and untimely adultness that he was deprived from thejoys of childhood. However, deep love toward homeland,martyrs and people was the fruit of this tough life.“Thousands of Kurds died”, he says, “but I remained becauseI was doomed to be a living martyr to suffer constantly”. His first poems were the reflection of his emotions, butlater on he was able to create fresh and dynamic poetry; hispoems do not limit to a specific place and time. There is akind of flowing within his poems. Moreover, he was the firstpoet who introduced Surrealism to Kurdish literature. Hispoems illustrate the natural conflicts between phenomena in anew viewpoint. He ignores rational orders and organizedform and structure, although deep philosophical meaningshave been buried within his apparently chaotic writings. MyHouse is near the Cloud, The Chant of Halabja, the Freezing

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Season, Burning under Rain, Rainstorm, and The Embers willKindle are his remarkable books of poetry.


Eva (You)

The time you were fire,Neither burned meNor warmed me!The time you were a riverNeither drowned me,Nor shook me In the wave’s bosom for a moment!Now, You're a mute hurricane Every day you blow up so many times Neither settle down beside me for a moment Nor once Only once Carry me with yourself!

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Eva

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Rafeq Sabir


The Beginning of a Love

For sucking the cheek ofA question’s answerYou taught meTo climb the cliff and ridge of the deathTo go down through the hollow of the earth.It was you who taught meThe meaning of life,Suckled me with the nipple ofAn endless lesson.This is why, darling,I love to sculptureYour statueIn my eyes.

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Rafeq Sabir


Under the Rain

You have spread your shadow under the rain,It's reading the speech of lightening,The rain is washing its dark body.The night is a mirrorAnd a fear has wetted your countenance,A secret has lighted it up,A star has been sleepingIn your hands.

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Rafeq Sabir


Cyclone of Love

Now only we have remained here,Only we dissociated, made stop,Our shadow: a branch of the sun,Our Kiblah: a wave,Our body: the evening’s book,

Everything has its cyclone,And the evening is the cyclone of our love.

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: :

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Rafeq Sabir


A Wide Open Window

A wide open window against the desert and night,Place is whispering the tale of its getting old.And you, waiting for nothing, playing with darkness as if youwant to disconcert the night and its birds, or make a net out ofdarkness to catch the future.From darkness a vapor grows up by the dripping down ofsweet-smelling light and night’s guarding life with a bluelight.Perhaps the ways arrive at no place; but the excuse for travelalways remains; sprouts of gloominess coming continually.Nomadic birds carry on luminosity, with singing they combtheir time, with flying their space.There is a wide open window against two waysSpace is leaning against eternity, yet you are covering silenceto magnify speaking by hushing. You're fondling the leaveswhich have changed October’s color.A vacuum in the cycle of time setting forth to folly hasremained.A blue ambush between days and nights, neither can weescape from nor take part in.

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Rafeq Sabir


Time is a feeling in you,

Space begins from you to eternity,

And truth is a string of brightness in you.

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Rafeq Sabir

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Delshad Abdula (1956- )

Delshad Abdula was born in Hawler. Hehas obtained his M. A. in agriculture fromBaghdad University and began writingpoetry in the early 1970's. The unique formand the language of his poems usuallysatisfy readers’ minds rather than theirfeelings. The fresh imagery in his poemsspecialized him as a distinctive poet ratherthan a mere imitator.

His published works are: The Beauties, Butterflies’Strolling, Snow Writer, The Second Night, Absence of aName, An Attempt to Murder Time, and Half Sealed Moon.His collection of poetry is known as Snow Writer and TheOthers which has been published in Hawler. He is the writerof the literary column for Kurdistani-Newe, a well-knownnewspaper in Hawler. Moreover, he is the editor-in-chief ofAienda, a literary magazine, and a member of SardamPrinting and Publishing House.


The Chess

Don't let those white squares deceive you,Nobody remains in white forever,And noneIn pitch-black square.Nights vanish, days arrive,As well as the seasons,Someone jumps through the black and white fields,A brave man is jumpingOver the pawn and queen’s corpses,Over the empty and full squares,Taken by a black knight,Stopped by a white knight;A legendary one …Is showing off in front of the army,The bishop comes and goes hastily as the windFrom this corner to that one,From the east to the west,Only in a chess game a bishop is so fast,Chess is like a comedy.

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Delshad Abdula


The pawns are defeated,The bishops too,So are the knights and the queenOnly the king is not so,Having been checkmated,He dies automatically.

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Delshad Abdula


The Guest

Enter the room unexpectedly,Push aside all those artificial flowersBeing coveredWith the dust of unwillingness.A daffodil may changeThe smell of the house.What, an alive can do in a blink,Is not done by a dead during so many years.Enter the room unexpectedlyPush aside the thick curtain of the window,A sun is looking forward to entering.

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Delshad Abdula


Homeless

The sun’s light doesn’t become weary,From that street to the otherFrom that roof to anotherFrom the shadow of that tree to another!Curiosity has penetrated into the redness of its bloodIn this way till the eveningIt goes everywhere.The sun is like an orphanHomelessSleeping in a different place each night.

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Dil ad Ebdula

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Bakhtiar Ali (1960- )

Bakhtiar Ali an eminent novelist, essayist,and poet, was born in Solemani. He was amember of the Writers of Unity andFreedom and is a member of the editorialboard of Rahand, a literary magazinepublished in Sweden. His major collectedpoems are Sin and Carnival, Collection ofpoems, and Working in the Woods of

Ferdos. His four best-known novels are The Death of theSecond Only-one, The Evening of Butterfly, The LastPomegranate of the World, and The City of White Musicians.Various critical articles have been written on his works. Interior monologue is the dominant feature of his novels.Besides, he is able to create different parallel worlds to thereal one successfully. His works are psychological andphilosophical journey of a sensitive mind. He tries tofamiliarize Kurdish literature with the newest philosophicaland critical notions in his prose-works. Hence, the effect ofwestern philosophy and criticism can be seen in his worksovertly. Bakhtiar Ali is one of the most eminent figures ofcontemporary Kurdish literature.


A Tired Musician’s Work and Homeland

Some time I was deeply absorbed in flower’s suicide.Paleness was my real mother; I was suckling the falls’ breast,drinking yellow milk, crawling toward the fall. Oh! thedisloyal’s homeland, why setting the autumn’s trap for mewhile I myself am in this yellow trap.

Don’t hunt fish, God did hunt it a long time ago,Don’t murder a dove, it died in autumn a long time ago.

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Bakhtiar Ali


Hey, the fellow of morning’s melodies, the prisoner of thissurprised violin astonished by the wind; my heart is loadedup with yellow pigeons, I'm making a flute for one, drownedin love, a piano for one, killed in the forest; I’m shouting: thehomeland suffocated this tambourine player, it doesn’t let memend the lyre exposed to gale nor regain the thrown lute ofthis love, the drowned homeland in pitch-darkness doesn'tlike me taking the instruments of the drowned out of the riverand play them, dislikes me going to my moat with my pipe inthe gale. The bad homeland doesn't let me kill myself in frontof its dishonest leaders on this dark stage, the drowned-in-feces homeland, is always bringing me the brokeninstruments of his dirty musicians, and says; “play theskylark melody before the storm, make us an anthem out ofnightingale before the resurrection”. I shout: the homelanddrowned this pipe-player, the lightless homeland, the rottenhomeland in the stench of its Sultans, the white homelandlike the plaster of dictators’ statue, the black homeland likewitches’ eyebrow, doesn't let me find it’s sources of seditionand be the autumn’s maistro which shell us by its yellowmelodies. The inelegant homeland doesn't let me kill myselfin front of this bud with the shower of this piece of music.

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Bakhtiar Ali


Hey, the traitors’ homelandWhy you murder me with flash while I die by looking at aflower?

Homeland, the rusty broken can full of rain; homeland, theempty bowl full of remainder of poison. I shout: “thehomeland broke this dulcimer, killed the fearful sonata”. Iplaying the flower's piano, composing the plant’s melody onthe plains in spring mornings, passing through the wheat’sfarm, preparing the slept hyacinths for love, the homelandthrew me out with the buds; me, who mixed the melody withsoul and composed cyclone’s voice with heart’s pulsation.

Hey homeland; though crazy about you, I make myself forgetyour image.Worry about you while I live far in exile.Whom would I chain up like dogs and throw them under yourfeet whereas you yourself kiss the enemy’s shoe? I'mdepressed seeing you chained like a dog by my foes undertheir feet.

Hey the homeland of knaves,Why you murder me by a sword while I die by a song?

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Bakhtiar Ali


A Doleful Representative

I work: whenever the sea sleeps, I will be a sea instead,I'm the moon's successor on the earth, the breeze'ssuccessor in a clear day, successor of tranquility in stormyweeks, sun'srepresentative when it fears to come to our alley,moonlight's representative the time it loses the home of yourwondering soul, spear's representative the time it fears apigeon may drink all his brightness, flower's representativethe time it forgets to have an exponent in this combat,representative of intellect the time intelligence forgets to havean exponent in this stunted-land. I'm the spokesman of theafflicted the time silence is the greatest sickness, thespokesman of birds the time flying is a breath of death.

I'll go to the land of folly on behalf of all scholars,Let me be the greatest fool, the greatest idiot of the province.

If you kill me, do it according to the flower's law,And if you emancipate me, do it with the color of the sea'swaves.

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Bakhtiar Ali


Though I'm a friend of the gods, I'll go tothe hell, I'm the representative of unfortunate people there,the representative of those trees germinate in the depthof freezing weather, the representative of those nightingalesburning in the hell while their larynxes are singing in theheaven. I've been preventing the love between Satan andAngel since a long time ago, preventing the illegitimatechildren made with the gardener’s poured sperm on flowers.I prevent the black sparkle, bad spark and bitter dew.With unbelievers I’m prostrating before trees, butterflies andthe moon.I prevent legitimizing of drunkenly prayingAnd overcoming Imam before evening’s Calling. I preventlegitimizing of murdering in prostrationlegitimizing of love in genuflexion … Legitimizing ofkissing on prayer-rug.

I'm the candle’s representative in this awful passage of pitch-darknessI'm the minister of brightness in this dark blind alley.At the night of flower’s birth, I … the representative ofmoonlight.In the wind and the tree’s condolence, I’m the representativeof dew.

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Bakhtiar Ali

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Kazhal Ahmad (1967- )

Kazhal Ahmad was born in Karkook andnow she lives in Solemani. She graduatedfrom Solemani University and began towrite poetry in 1986. Mostly concerningwith the position of woman especiallyKurdish women, Kazhal presented a novelvoice in literature. By taking advantage ofdifferent literary techniques shesymbolizes the condition of women in

societies although her poems indicate that she does not limitherself to feminism. Her published collected poems are Bermuda Harbor,Proverb of Saying, A Cup of coffee with Him and I Broke theMirror. The Book of Woman is her critical work on women’sproblems in society. Murderers of Identities is her translationfrom Arabic into Kurdish. At the moment she is the editor ofKurdistani-Newe weekly magazine.


Proverbs of Saying

Mountain’s heart is so arrogant thatWould open to nobody.It says: “I've never been in love.”Hides its tears,Wrinkles its forehead and doesn’t smileThat’s why the time it explodesIts entire core comes out abruptlyAnd sprinkles firey waterAll around (said the furnace so)

Revolution and nation,A couple-like at the early stage.The boy tells so much liesAt the dawn of betrothal,The girl dreams colorfullyAbout those speeches

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Kazhal Ahmad


Finally, the revolution and nation,The same boy and girl, butHusband and wife,It's the starting point ofThe story of disloyalty; quarreling, divorcement (said a party so)

The gale said:“I dislike this world’s clichéI try to change it by destruction.”“I dislike it too”: I told him“But I want to adjust it with love.” (said the breeze so)

The night comes after nightThe day is night tooWhereas a little nice lantern of sunBurns in it.

(this is the speech of a poetnot a writer of poetry)

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Kazhal Ahmad


Don't take me for a ninnyI definitely realizedHonestyIs the maid of colonialism

(Said the wall of a house;a thousand-year old

cracked white-haired wall)The ways were blockedI had to smuggle the words.They shot at meAnd hit my horse.My flowers fell off the basket,Shouted at me: “who are you?!”Nay … I didn't answer.Knowing an armed personNever understands a person of letters.

(This is Shahrzad's speech)

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»

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Kazhal Ahmad


An ancient bridge,Between a none-existing way and inevitability,Joins the ends of the worldTogetherThe brave love always crossesWhile a timorous loverAlways lags behind. (Saying said so)

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Kazhal AhmAd


O, the Source of Great Sorrow!

Whatever I sayYou call it strange,O! the source of great sorrow!I'm an ordinary fellowBut my heart is the city of knots, fogs, and clouds,Do you know why a tree hates the axe?Or why a farm loves the pickaxe?It is eager for rain and snow,O! the source of great sorrow,You call it strange.Turn over my life page by page;If you see a seed of disgust,Call it strange.Inspect the ruin corners of my heart;If you see the shadow of doubt,Except for love and the sun of hope,Call it strange.Come and tour in the world of my poems

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Kazhal Ahmad


If you might not see meIn the arms of the words,In the depth of the peaksOr in the flame of the wounds,Call it strangeO! the source of great sorrowIf I said:“I'm a petite tree,But my heart is the love of a rocky mount”.If I said:“In response to my neighborsI've changed to a bunch of naked vein,To a fistful of blood,And my body to a plank”O! the source of great sorrow,Do not call it strange again!

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Kazhal Ahmad

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Kazhal Ebrahim Kheder (1968- )

azhal Ebrahim Kheder was born in Qaladeza. Shehas started writing poetry since 1988 and most ofher works have been published in Kurdishnewspapers and journals. Her poems are sensitivelike her view of the world. Her poetic language is

simple and clear but serious. She knows her nation andsociety well, that is why the frequent motifs of her poems arelove, sympathy, suffering, massacre and mass exodus. Shehas three books of poetry; In the Presence of Tonight'sInvocation, Fingers' War and Peace and Words’ Weeping. Acollection of her poems has been translated into Arabic.

k


The Pages of History

The sky might have learnt to cryFrom my town’s eyes.The cloud might have learnt to roar and rumbleFrom my enemy’s fury.Maybe narcissus has learntTo give tiding from the eyes of innocent kidsIf only we could convertThese tears and furiesTo narcissi,So the streets wouldn't have the smell of blood,The mothers needn't pray and wouldn't dieOf the pain of their childbirth.So the pregnant womenWill crave the sun.Carrying lights to the dark roomsIs not so difficult.Taking the caged-birds to the gardenWon't make any burden.

_______________________ 125Kazhal Ebrahim hedr


Everything was born purely,We made them bitter.History was composed correctlyWe misled it.Our hands were kissed purely,We muddied them.The problem of doubt, the blazing furnaceAnd the mathematics of the number of the deadDistressed our history.That’s why historyDecided to write none of us.The melodies sulked the songs,The leaves shook their dew,The butterfly and flower involved in a fight,The partridge rubbed the rouge of her lipsWith the balls of snowflakes.Alas! How poor and alien we are!O! History,Behold those childrenSuckling the breasts of the Martyr’s mother,

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Take part in the condolence of these sparrowsIn tearsIn their nests,Mourning.Give a pair of shoes to those feetWounded in the narrow footpathsOh! History, listen to me:We want a green era of flowersAn era without any nausea and vomitingTell the little girlsTo sweep their entrance-wayTell those women to waterThe sensitive plants and the sweet basilOn the roof and the doors’ front,Unban the rendezvous,Tell the hurricanes not to strip the trees any more,Listen to the dream of those kidsThey're dreaming the angels,Keep the course of wistful droppingAnd the rivers of faith,Don't pass with a bag of songsAnd don't entrust thejourney of the death to them.

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The Lips

I know the timeTwo lovers’ eyes meetWhat kind of dance they will create.But which song will two lips composeWhen they meet …?!

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The Body

They told me:How have you loved him,While your body’s of snowAnd his eyes of sun?I answered:I want to be meltedTo become water in his presenceIncessantly.

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Qubad Jalizada(1953- )

Qubad Jalizada was born in Koye. He tookhis bachelor degree in law in 1977 and he isan advocate at the present time. He is amember of Kurdistan Writers Union and thevice president of the Community of Justicein Solemani. His best-known collectedpoems are Pencil with a White Bread(1988), Fog (1991), Executions in Heaven

(1995), Always Look up To God and Always Drunken (2001)and Martyr Walking Along (2005). Jalizada is the first poet who frankly brought the conceptof sex and sexuality in its modern way into Kurdish poetry.The 1990s is a rising point for his skillful and unique poems.


The Earth

You and I, husband and wife,We get undressed in all seasons,Mate in all seasons,Beget children in all seasonsThe earth and tree are a coupleBut only,Get undressed just in autumnMate just in winterBeget children just in springWe call our daughters Zin,1

And our sons Mam.While,They call their sons leaf,Their daughters, flower.

1. Mem and Zin are two charactersin a love tragedy with the same namewritten by Ahmadi Khani (1650-1706).

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Father

Before the bullet was born from the father ...I read a piece of dance written by a butterfly,I saw a cluster of songs drawn by a pigeon,I kissed a pile of perfume picked by a gardenBefore the father gave birth to censorship ...Rain published a collection of flowers,Freedom published a cluster of songs,Breast published a pile of poems!

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1000

The martyrWho had lost his graveCame back to the city.The city of flower, bread and river.He was surprisedThere, on their entrance, had been written;“Prison No.1000”!!

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Rozh Halabjei (1969- )

Rozh Halabjei was born in Halabja. Shehas obtained her A.A. in Kurdish-Englishlanguage in Soleimani and at the presenttime she is a teacher in a high schoolthere. Her mother, brother and her sixsisters died in the chemical bombing ofHalabja. She has grown up in a literaryfamily; hence, she has been familiar with

literature since her childhood. “I'm Halabja’s daughter”, shesays: “I've promised myself to write a literary work incommemoration of Halabja’s tragedy every year”. Poetry is aclose friend of her. About those elements influenced her, shesays: “I was impressed by Sherko Bekas’ small pictures, andalso Suhrab Sepehry [an Iranian poet] has also colored mypoems”. She has continually published her poems in differentjournal and magazines. So far two books of her poems havebeen published; The Shadow of a Foot Anxiety and There isneither a Door’s Murmur nor a Gulp of a Person. The massof varieties of apparently unrelated images make a kind ofambiguity and difficulty in understanding of her poems.


I Come Beyond Being Lost, Life!Stop Please…!

I come back beyond being lost,From the generation of those letters being opened by fire’s paws

And the steps of smoke studied them …On the tower of those shadows, a flower’s head achesAnd no garden greets …!A nightingale singing songs foolishly for a twigAnd the twig’s mind full of cage-makingWith the breathing pipe of its dream …!From the faith of those violet-haired meadows,Who open their dress-buttons for the mirage’s handAnd are skeptic about a drop of water …From the unawaraness of those candlesPraying in the deepest darknessAnd making the gale into a prayer-rugAccompanied with the train of a gentle breeze …!!I come back beyond being lost …

From the growing of those pains burst screamIt is the boisterous laugh of a shoe with perforated stepsWhich goes back to the most deviated emotion

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From the stupidity of the rain’s threads that hit desert’s hairAs if the desert had a wonderful meaning …Other than sand’s army, dust’s spotsAnd the square of hurricane!From thoughtlessness, a starling leaves snow’s styleAnd takes the heredity of flight under the skin of nightlydream …From immaturity of a bud who strips herselfFrom the vigil of leaveNeither fills its eyes with the tear of dewNor listens to the stream’s conflicts …I come back beyond being lost …In the noon’s alley the shadow is handcuffedAnd the water’s notes are locked,The tree’s thought is archivedThe flower’s gesture is thirsty …How much life do all these so many dyings cost!?Into how many superstitious gulps areAll of these umbrellas’ moanings divided?How far is the rain’s kiss?!

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To how many blue religious lawsIs this diminishment of rain’s kiss equal?How many lawless laws …!What a blind law it is, in the depth of the afternoonMaking a trap with eagle-eyed cerealsFor a newly-sprouted bird …What a frantic religious law it is,The winter with the snowed-beardGambling with the swallow’s priceAnd the spring says:“I always win the gambling …”What a penalty is the order for planting the affection’sseedling,From pure parallel pigeons of maths,From reigniting flight for butterfliesAround a light’s mine …From the decorating of those kitesLaughing in the sky of crisis …From the knitting of that string of necklacesThe stream of (wind) stole … and wears nightly

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From misunderstanding of sunflowers …Open their eyes for the sun and worship it,And when they die, the evening becomes their coffin …!I come back beyond being lost …What is the mercy of this wisdomThat says: “Death is the end of life.”How much more beautiful death isThan the crack of tears of the girls whose glassy housesWere copied of blood’s panting …!How much more dear death isThan the auctioning of the life of those widowsWho picked up hope’s umbrellas,In the inebriated twig and boiling dark night …!How much more delicious death isThan the distance between the sour orange and lemonIn their passionate age!Kindness has no scopeFor a few baskets of talks …How much more loyal death isThan the groaning of those porous clay-jarsThat break the spring with their emptiness intentionally

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And not have the echo and color ofImploring and sighing of Khayyam1’s heart …!How much more peaceful death isThan the cloud of the pomegranate that goes to the war of seedsWhose beauty does Suhrab2 illustrate!Not its splitting during knife’s complainingWar shames!How much more pretty death isThan the wallflower’s thirst!If it doesn't swim in the memory of a streamIn which vase’s trip might the water take its lusts away??How much more delicate is deathThan a dawn who all over its life takes the hand of the rays ofrising sunAnd forgets to send a letter to the evening!And to blow the star’s child by prattling of nightIn the moon’s alley …How much more flourishing death isThan a sentence of water not draft its meaningIn a tree’s lineTo say ‘Hi’ to those sage sparrows

1. Omar Khayyam Neishaboori, (late fifth and sixth century A.H.) is anIranian philosopher, mathematician and poet.2. Sohrab Sepehri (1927-1979) is a Persian poet.

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Unlock the skyBy twittering keys …!I come back beyond being lost…, life, stop please!While all these truths which kill us,Which massacre should I describe?Behold! Unlucky huntersCan never hunt the truthNor can they reap the neatness of last pomegranate …Which Fareidoon1 shall I composeIn the forests of love?All butterfly’s flights2 were frightening in the eveningOh! What an uproar the love is,Scratching the shadow of her statureAnd darkening her eyelashes with the desert’s emptinessAnd a copy of disappointment’s script …I come back beyond being lost…By discovering of which languageBy modernization of which GnosticBy prayer of which ChristBy the idea of which PlatoBy mysticism of which Rabeah3

1. Fereidoon is one of the great fictional heroes of Iranian myth. He isAbtin's son who brought Zohak to heel. He is also one of the characters ofThe Evening of Butterfly2. It refers to The Evening of Parwane by Bakhtiar Ali.3. Rabeah (c756) is a famous female Sufi called Omol-khaeir, born inBasre. She passed a hard life at the time of Egypt’s drought.

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By pick of which Farhad1

By combat of which Don QuixoteBy Zorba of which GreeceBy Elif Lam2 of which verseBy spy of which JewWill the truth be recovered …?I praise the truth so muchAlthough its dreams plant nightIn my eye’s pond,And its kisses on the bra’s applesPlays the repentance of chawing …While its imams3 pull the tooth of autumn’s leave outIn accumulating of a cloud!While its GnosticsHasn't any taste of wineIn treading of grapevine of the gardenTo come back to the grape’s sighing.Oh! Truth, you fill our solitudeWith the tune of a reedThe stones bring us backTo the eternity of silent through playing pipe …

1. Ferhad is a fictional character who killed himself with a pickaxe whenhe heard his sweetheart, Shirin, got married with Khosro Parwiz in thelove story of Khosro and Shirin by Nezami-ye-Ganjavi (1151-1235) awell-known Iranian poet.2. Alef Lam Mim is the starting of a verse of the Koran.3. Imam is a religious man who leads the prayers in a mosque.

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You bring the water syntax of drowningAnd the sunset brings us back to our thirst …You raise the moon from creation of the eveningAnd we are taking the last nap on the night’s pillow …You hang the caravan of our love on the mint’s dream,While we are returning to the migration ofWali Dewana1 and Qeisi Majnoon.2

You tell us what a losing war isTo be against each other unconsciouslySill the Oedipus complex makes swelling intelligenceThat takes us to the infection of the most marshy killingI come back beyond being lost …Life, give me a chance … stop and meditate a whileIt is our fate to arrive at the wheat of crag’s fieldWithout taking some dreamIn the cup of wisdom for our eye-glassesWithout the swimming of dream …In the water of understanding…It’s our fate that death travelsIn our memory’s alleys.

1. Wali Dewana (1745-1801) is a classic poet who loved Sham, hisClassmate. He got mad and wondered in the wilderness because they didnot let Sham get marry with him. He dedicated most of his poems to her.A Collection of Wali Dewana’s poem is his poetic work.2. Qeisi Majnoon is a hero of a love tragedy by Nezami-ye-Ganjavi. Heloved Leili, his cousin, so much that he got mad and died in a wildernessarea because his family prevented him to see her. Hearing this news Leilisong the melody she loved so many times until she died on his grave.

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Without any opportunityTo tell the death to return on asceticism of the galeAs long as two yawns of a plant …Without having any time, to tell the death to danceWith childish joyAs long as two greetings.It's our fate to go backTo the soul’s exiles through the hunchbacked minutes!How can we mix the rustling of the bird’s wingsWith flowers sneezing?In the garden’s lessons,We don't learn to give a glass of waterTo the waiting plane-tree’s eyeHow can we touch the colorful flowers of affection?And from the rose garden’s perfumeWe don’t learn to sew a pack of colorsFor the wings of bee-eater and canary.How can we destroy the spider’s web?And from the territory of the ruinWe don't learn to give a plate of repentanceTo the pasture of zoology …!!

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I come back beyond being lost,Life, stop please,Life, forgive me a chance, just a chance …

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Mahabad Qaradagi (1966- )

Mahabad Qaradagi was born in Kefri,Karkook. She opened her eyes in aknowledgeable family and began writing inher teens. She published her first work in1980. Because of her political activities,she was arrested by Ba'th Regime and wasimprisoned for a year. Beside poetry, she

has written some novels, novelettes, short stories, analyticworks and some translations. Moreover, her psychological,sociological and critical works are notable. Since she hasmigrated to Sweden, lots of her works are in Swedish. Inaddition, she has tried to be the spokesperson of her nationwith her realistic, feminine and objective viewpoint.Femininity is a dominant feature of her works. Although herfamily has always supported her, she says: “It's too difficultto be a female writer in such a traditional society”.


Burning

Let me burn!At least my burning will create flame and light,Or I will chase away the darkness.

Let me burn!At least my body will kindle a Nawroz1 fire,Or I will gladden the butterflies!

Let me burn!At least my eyes’ flaming will light up a red torch,Or I will sing the rebirth song to my Kurdistan!

If I won’tburnIf I won’t be a candle for my splendid love,How can I carry the message of peace and freedomFor my future’s hope!?

Let me burn!Let me melt like a candle and light up my surrounding.Let my body create a Newroz for this land!

1. Nawroz is the first day of the Kurdish New Year which is a nationalcelebrated occasion.

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Expatriating to nother Residence

Tomorrow they will take you,

And make an alien country your camp.

A barren island

Will be your eternal homeland.

Tomorrow they will take you,

And make the smell of burning and scorching your residence

Suffering will be the angry voice of your dissatisfaction.

Tomorrow they will take life of

A red desire and a green affection

Inside you.

They will murder a horizontal-hued expectation

In the trench of your eyes.

They will suckle the blood of your wish

With their unkind pump.

_______________________ 169Mahabad Qaradaghi


Tomorrow they will take youAnd a stranger will be spouse of your secretAn alien voice will mix with your coy bud.Those hands whichPush aside your red bridal veilAre not those lighted upLoyalty and love for you.Those eyesTalk to your eyebrow and eyelidAre not those knelt to your love.

Tomorrow they will take you,How won’t your ample heartTurn into ashesIn the red fire of furnace?How won't your whole tired body beOccupied by ache …?Yesterday the thick- forest of your crude tressesWas laughing and struttingWith the breeze of love.

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Yesterday your smiling lipsWas a drama of desireOn the full-waving banks of the white-hued sea of lifeOffering you the festival of loveAnd making the song and melodyOut of your whispering and burning emotion of yourHappiness cocktailAnd leading you beyond happiness.Today your mien,Is the mien of a tramp traveler,A stationless and … endless wayLooking forward to her step.A full of darkness and dangerous jungleIs the path of the gazelle of her eyeNobody blame you todayIf you see white, black.

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Tomorrow they will take you,You will be an alien forever,And an alien universe, your resort.You, the so called tramp human;Behold, they've come, waiting for youTo collect your goods and chattels.

Alas, you the wretched … so called ha…lf of the society:If you disobey to goThe tip of a dagger will kiss your warm heart.And if you go,A fate as black asThe charcoal of the fire place of a toiler’s houseIs waiting for you.

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Tomorrow they will take youAnd you have to goAnd set off for this unknown galaxyTomorrow you will goAnd add a mass of new painsTo calamitous historyOf the women’s world …And you will call yourself … the hapless … .

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Najiba Ahmad (1954- )

Najiba Ahmad was born in Karkook. Assoon as she took her B. A. in Kurdishlanguage and literature in Solemani in1976, she began publishing her works inliterary newspapers and magazines.During 1976-1981, she was teaching inDarbandikhan and Chamchamal. Then,she became a guerilla in 1987 and amember of Kurdistan Writers Union for

ten years. Now living in Saqez, she is busy with writingliterary works. Her well-known works are Mother’s Land a translation ofan Arabic novel (1986), Spring’s Weeping (1994) thecollection of her poetry, Uprising and Butterflies of Deathboth short stories (1998), The History of an Apple Tree acollection of national poems and finally her translation ofGun and Mountain from Arabic.


Sunflower

When I was a childMy mother was telling that once upon a timeA princess left the palace secretly, She rode on a Phoenix ...Traveled to cities and villages to seeWhich homeland was more beautiful than hers …Searched and searched … The flow of tears … children’s smiling … Lament of the poor … land’s crying … Wailing of the sky … sea’s rustling The songs of birds … the tree’s breezingShe saw all But none had The color and the smell of her homeland …She came back … and mixed the smell of the land With bitter tears.

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Since then I have loved,To be a Phoenix, not a princess …To carry to the remote citiesThe photos of snow and children of my homeland …And now I hide the paleness of the poorIn one poem.And take it to all cities … like a PhoenixThere are some who knee for it,

And some who catch fire by it …!

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Encountering

A black servant told her mother:“Yesterday in my white lord’s houseI just broke a bowlBut the time they plastered my face with spitI fired his house!”

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Karim Dashti (1955- )

Karim Dashti, poet and translator, was bornin Hawler and received his B. A. from thefaculty of law in Baghdad. He opened hiseyes in a religious family; particularly hisfather was a smart and tactful reader andhad good knowledge of religion andphilosophy. As a matter of fact Karim hasinherited a cultural background that is an

important point in his life. “I just read and read withoutwriting anything” he says, “so I have saved a large source forwriting”. He started to write poetry in the 1970s andpublished his first work, The Earth and the Eagle, in 1980.Writing was a serious work for him and he found animportant room in Kurdish literature by his works. “Writingis the combat of being for me”, he says. Some of his poeticalworks are The White Mists of Soul (1987), Small Leaves(1998), and East’s Piano (2004). Hyena is one of hisnovelettes, published in 1998. The most outstanding pointabout his works is his mystical viewpoint; transcendentalelements are distinctive features of his works.


An Avenue in the Sky

O, God, Give me a hand and don’t let me fall anymoreMy soul is full of ditches, my accuracy in dangerMy view is so vast, the earth so smallMy night is so short, my dream so longMy torch is dim, my way is steepO, God, give me a hand, don't let me fall off anymoreMy life is short and I know there will be a dayAn avenue in the sky,A lane on the earth,A river in ‘Lalesh’1

A stream in paradiseA house in Hell waiting for meI’ve sown a heart in the sky for myselfIt’s not a heart, it’s my existenceI’ve brought a night from LaleshIt’s not a night, it’s a crystalline springIn which I’ve been baptized for deathI’ve a pigeon as my soul's messenger

1. Lalesh is an ancient temple which belongs to Izedia Kurds whocelebrate their ceremonies there every year.

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Yesterday all its life was filled withThe light of lovers’ chapelIt had brought the incense of Mawlawi’s1 graveMy life is short and I know there will be a dayMy soul be a hut for crying,A great glorious book from heart-breaking season,Or Alias’ glittering swordI take after the rainPoured in paradiseMy voice has risenFrom the crying of a weeping pipeSpilt in the Hell,Created with the blessed tress of the reeds.My songs and weeping will be mixed with a light windAnd return to the lovers’ gravesMy songs will be the warm greeting ofThose broken eternal hearts,And those hearts like the soft plantOn the hand of purity flourishedAnd spread on disloyalty …

1. Mawlawi Tawegozi (1804-1882) is a Kurd poet whose poems are inGorani dialect.

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And weeping will be an everlasting separationI've picked out a heart in the glorious castles ofClouds ofTawegos1 for myselfIt's not a heart, it’s my existenceI've brought from paradise an eternal momentfor my soulFull of love, angel, and fairyO, God! How drunk I am,How drunk I amNow, it seems I’ve been created for poetryMy morning’s twittering and my noon's songMy evening’s pinkAnd my nights are the privacy of Zoroastian fire.My life is short, I know there will be a dayUnder the non-stop pouring of a hot rainOr in front of the fury of Mechko caféOr under the grief of the breaking of a vinous bottleMy soul will wither.O, my God, how mean I am! How mean!Now it seems I’ve been created for deathMy morning is a grief on the edge of the HellMy noon a lamentation of regret

1. Tawegoz is a region near the Sirwan River where, Sarshata, thebirthplace of Mawlawi is located.

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My evening is the death of my darlingsAnd my night, a nightmareO, God! Give me a hand; don't let me be so,My soul is full of cracks and my heart of breaksMy view is vast, the earth’s smallMy soul is full of cracks, my night’s so longMy torch is dim and my way’s steep …

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Bibliography

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Sadiq, Fuad. A Brief History of Kurdistan. Sulaimani:Translation House Directorate, 2003.

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Sadiq, Fuad. The Kurdish Culture. Sulaimani: TranslationHouse Directorate, 2003.


Index

Abdula, Delshad (1956-), 14,15, 87

Absence of a Name, 87,An Attempt to MurderTime, 87, Butterflies’Strolling, 87, Half SealedMoon, 87, Homeless, 94,Snow Writer and TheOthers, 87, Snow Writer,87, The Beauties, 87, TheChess, 88, The Guest, 92,The Second Night, 87

Abdula Yusef, Abbas 16,A. A. Yusef, 13,Hawler movement, 13

Abdul-Wahed, Azad 14A.H.B.( i.e. Ali HoseinBarzanji), 11Ahmad, Galawezh 15, 18Ahmad, Ebrahim 15Ahmad, Kazhal (1967-), 15, 109

A Cup of coffee withHim,109, BermudaHarbor, 109, I Broke theMirror, 109, Murderersof Identities 109,Proverbs of Saying,110,The Book of woman,109, O, the Source ofGreat Sorrow!, 118

Ahmad, Nejiba (1954- ),15, 179,

Gun and Mountain, 179,Butterflies of Death, 179,Encountering, 184,Mother’s Land, 179,Spring’s weeping, 179,Sunflower, 180, TheHistory of an Apple Tree,179, Uprising, 179

Adunes, 46Aienda, 87Algeria, 17, 47

Algiers Agreement, 13Black Agreement, 13

Ali, Bakhtiar (1960- ),14, 16, 97,

A DolefulRepresentative, 104, ATired Musician’s Workand HoMaland, 98, Sinand Carnival, 97,Collection of poems, 97,Working in the Woods ofFerdos, 97. The City ofWhite Musicians, 97,The Death of the SecondOnly-one, 97, TheEvening of Butterfly, 97,154, The LastPomegranate of theWorld, 97

Ardalani dialect, 5

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Anfal, 13, 18, 60APIC Dalroshke, 47Aref, Hosein, 12Ayanda, 15Ba'ath, 9

Ba'ath regime, 13Baghdad University, 55,87Barzani, Mullah Mestafa,11

Barzani, SheikhAhmad, 9Barzani's movement, 17Barzani's Revolt, 9, 13

Basre, 156Bekas, Serko (1940- )

11,12, 13, 15, 32, 133Blood Wedding, 33,Halabja, 34, Kawa, theBlacksmith, 33,Separation, 44, Stooping,36, The Gazala, 33, TheGun, 44, the Old Manand the Sea, 33, TheRuin, 40,Together, 38,

Rwanga movement, 32Rwanga school, 11

Barkot, 60Besarani (1643-1701), 4Bora Bozh, 4Brayeti newspaper, 55Bulgaria, 72

Chaichi, Simin (1951-),

15 Jalizada, Qubad (1953- ),135,

1000, 140, Always Lookup To God and AlwaysDrunken, 135,Executions in Heaven,135, Father, 138, Fog,135, Martyr WalkingAlong, 135, Pencil witha White Bread, 135, TheEarth, 136

Chamchamal, 179Classicism, 12Critics, 16contemporary Kurdishpoetry, 6criticism, 99

Darwish, Mahmood 48Darbandikhan, 181Dashti, Karim (1955-),

14, 187An Avenue in the Sky,188, East’s Piano, 187,Hyena, 187, SmallLeaves, 187, The Earthand the Eagle, 187, TheWhite Mists of Soul, 187

Dewana, Wali (1745-1801), 158,


A Collection of WaliDewana’s poem, 158,Sham, 158

Dilan, Salah 11Demdm Castle, 3Don Quixote, 156Dr. Ahmadzada, Hashim,16Dr. Pirbal, Farhad, 14, 16Dr. Sadjadi, Bakhtiar, 5,16Dr. Khaznadar, Maref 16Eastern Kurdistan, 1, 3, 5,11, 15, 16

Eastern Kurdistan'sliterature, 16

Edab, Mesbahadini (1860-1912), 5Egypt 156Falah, Kakey 11Feminist movement, 15Fereidoon, 154First World War, 9Folklore, 46, 60

Kurdish folkloric songs,10

Ganjavi, Nezami (1151-1235), 156, 158Khosro and Shirin, 156,Leili, 158Parwiz, Khosro 156Qeisi Majnoon, 158

Germany, 17Goran dialect, 5Goran, Abdula Soleiman,

(1904-1962) 9 - 12, 20-21

Autumn, 22, BloodyFlower, 20, 26, For theNightingale, 20, Goran’sCollection of Poems, 21,Regret of Past andFuture's Though, 20, Toa Skylark, 20

Goran’s age, 10Goran’s movement, 11,12Goran’s school, 12

Great Britain, 9Hamed, Latif 13, 46Hazhar, 16Halabja, 20, 34, 72, 143Halabjei, Rozh (1969-), 15, 143

I Come Beyond BeingLost, Life! Stop Please…!, 144, The Shadow ofa Foot Anxiety, 143,There is neither a Door’sMurmur nor a Gulp of aPerson,143

Halmat, Latif (1947- ),11, 13, 46, 55

Difference, 50, The Gun,52, God and My TinyTown, 46, That Girl’sTress Is the Black Tentof My Summer andWinter Resorts, 47, The

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Old man and the Sea, 47,Writing, 48

Kefri movement, 13literary school, Kefri,46, 55

Hemen, 11Hardi, Ahmad 11Hariri, Ali (1530-1600), 5Hasaniani, Ali (Hawar),

11Hawler, 17, 60, 87, 187Hawler Movement, 13Hoseini, Nahid 15

Ebrahim Kheder, Kazhal(1968- ), 15, 123

Fingers’ War and Peace,123, In The Presence ofTonight’s Invocation,123, The Body, 132, TheLips, 130, The Pages ofHistory, 124, Words’Weeping, 123,

Ebrahimi, Mapara, 15Ilkhanizada, Sewara

(1937-1975), 11Iran, 5, 13, 15, 17 -18Iraq, 7, 5, 11, 13, 14, 17Izedia Kurds, 188Jafari, Nasrin 15Jaziri, Mulla (1567-1640),

5Karkook, 13, 20, 46, 55,109, 165, 179Khaj and Syamend,

Khayyam Neishaboori,Omar 152Kefri, 11, 13, 46, 165Kefri movement 13Kefri school, 54Kowiy, Rahbar Jalal 70Kurdish kingdom, 9Kurdish language, 4, 10,14, 179Kurdish literature, 2, 4 – 6,10 – 13, 15, 21, 32, 33, 55,60, 72, 97, 187Kurdish meters, 10Kurdish uprising, 13Kurdistan Writers Union,

137, 181Kurdistan, 2-5, 9, 11, 14 -15, 17, 60, 72, 179Kurdistani-Newe,magazine

87, 109Kurdistan’s LiberationMovement, 11Kurmanji dialect, 5Kurt Tucholsky, GermanJewish satirist, 12, 17, 33Lalesh, 189Lass and Khezal, 4Mahvi (1825-1904), 5Medes, 4Madhat, Kan’an 13Madhoosh, 11Mala, Ahmadi, 17Mam and Zin, 4, 136Mastoora Ardalan


(1803-1847), 5Mawlawi Kurd

(1804-1882), 5, 190,192Sarshata, 192Tawegoz, 192

Mirza Karim, Jalal 11Modern Kurdish poetry, 2,5, 9, 16, 21Moayedzade, Ebdul-Qasim (Hallo), 11Mokri, Kamran 11Moscow, 60Mullah Awara and IsmailSharafzada's revolt, 13Mullah-Karim,Mohammad, 16Nali (1800-1856), 5Najib, Rashid ( ? ), 10Nahai, Ata 16Namer, Pira Merd (1867-1950) 60Nawroz, 166Northern Iraq, 9Northern Kurmanji dialect,

5

Occasional poetry, 33October Revolution, 9Oriental university inMoscow, 60

P.D.K. Party DomokratiKurdistan, 18Paris, 17

Pashew, Abdula (1946-),

11, 14, 60A Thirsty Poet’s Night-Letter, 61, Fratricide, 61,Masterpiece, 68, On TheGrave of a Great Lover,70, Planting Lights, 61,Rarely Is There a NightWhen You Are Not inMy Dream, 61, Tears andthe Wound, 60, TheBroken Idol, 60, TheBurnt forest, 66,TheUnknown Soldier, 62,Towards the Sunset, 61,Twelve Lessons for theChildren, 60

Vaznisenski, Andre, 62Pira Merd, 10, 60political poems, 60postmodernism, 13

Qaderi Sect, 46 , Sunnitesect, 46Qaladeza, 72, 123Qaradagi, Delawar 16Qaradagi, Mahabad

(1966- ), 15, 165Burning, 166,Expatriating to AnotherResidence, 168

Rabeah (c756), Omol-khaeir, 154

_______________________ 205

Realism, 12Resistance Literature, 14,47, 60Romanticism, 12Russia, 17, 60Russian language, 60Sabir, Rafeq (1950- ),

14, 72Burning Under the Rain,73, Cyclone of Love, 80,Eva, 74, My House isNear the Cloud, 72,Rainstorm, 73, TheBeginning of a Love, 76,The Chant of Halabja,72, The Embers willKindle, 73, the FreezingSeason, 73, The Role ofCultural Heritage inForming Kurds’ NationalSoberness, 72, Under theRain, 78, A Wide OpenWindow, 82

Sadiq,Tahir 4Shakel, 55Shakeli, Anwar andAhmad

13, 46Shakeli, Farhad (1951-), 46, 55

A Lighted Stream of theRed Sun, 55, Heart’sMount, 56, Height, 55, IWill Crave Your Imageon the Wall of My

Prison, 55, Project of ALow, 55, The Shelter, 58,

Mamostay Kurd magazine,55Salem (1805-1869), 5Sharbazheri, Jamal 11schools of thought, 5Sepehri, Sohrab

(1927-1979), 152Saqez, 179Saraj, Hashem 16Sardam, 15, 87Sheikh Mahmood, 9, 17Sheikh Noori Sheikh Salah

(1895-1958), 10Elizabethan, 6Sheikh Abdul-Salam II, 17Solemani University, 109Solemani, 32, 33, 97, 109,135, 179Sirwan River, 192Southern Kurdistan, 2, 9,11, 14, 15, 17

Iraqi Kurdistan, 5Surrealism, 14, 72Sweden, 15, 17, 32, 47,55, 72, 97, 165

Uppssala University, 55Sweden's Kurdishliterary school, 15Swedish government,17, 33Swedish literary prizeof Tucholsky, 12, 33Swedish, 33, 165


Syria, 3, 15Taher Barzanji, Hashemand Abdula, 13The Emirate of Babans. 5The Emirate of Ardalans,5The Emirate of Khaledis, 5The Kurdistan LiberationMovement, 11The late nineteenthcentury and earlytwentieth century, 5The Middle East, 9The Ottoman dynasty, 9The river Karoon, 17The schools of Rwangaand Kefri, 11Third-World countries, 5Turkey, 5, 10, 15Umar Usman, Muhammad

16

Wafai (1847-1916), 5

Writers of Unity andFreedom, 97Khani, Ahmadi (1650-1706) 13Yusefi, Zeinab 16

Zarathustra, 4Avista, 4Gatas, 4

Ziwar, Bakhtiar, 11Zohak, 156Zorba, 156

_______________________ 207

Appendix

Latin-Kurdish

Arabic-Kurdish

The equivalent symbols in the IPA

a as the long vowel of /a:/: in arm, marketb consonant /b/: bad, labc consonant /d /: just, Juneç consonant /t /: child, churchd Consonant /d/: daddy, doge Vowel /æ/: cat, hatê Vowel /e/: pen, Frenchf Consonant /f/: fish, friendg Consonant /g/: God, goodh Consonant /h/: hen, helloi Vowel / /: about, agoî Vowel /i /: deep, sheepj Consonant / /: vision, pleasurek Consonant /k/: kite, candyl *Consonant /l/: little, lump

m Consonant /m/: man, mothern Consonant /n/: nose, peno Vowel / /: saw, fourp Consonant /p/: panda, powerq Consonant as in Arabic guttural sound

( ) the Holy Quranr Consonant /r/: radio, runs Consonant /s/: seven, sad

Consonant / /: she, shoott Consonant /t/: tomato, taboo


* The sound /l/ has two different pronunciations in Kurdishlanguage. The phonetic symbol of little/ t'l/ clarifies thesetwo voices by its first and last voices.

u Vowel / /: good, couldû Vowel /u:/: blue, toov Consonant /v/: van, veryw Consonant /w/: window, washx Consonant equivalent to the (ch) in

Scottish lochy consonant /j/: yes, yellowz Consonant /z/: zoo, zebra

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