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Ahmadi Khani’s Theory of Kurdish
Nationalism in Mem û Zin - Part II
31.8.2012
By Dr Kamal Mirawdeli
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Ekurd.net |
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Dr Kamal Mirawdeli, a prominent Kurdish writer and
Kurdistan Region Presidency Candidate 2009, he was
the strongest rival of the incumbent president of
the region and was the second winner in the
elections.
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Read more by the Author
August 31, 2012
Read:
Part I | Part II
PART II
But God made it like this from the beginning of life
He let these Rum and 'Ejam (Turks and Persians) have
power over us
Although to be their subordinate is a shame
This shame belongs to the notable people
Shame upon the rulers and Mîrs
What is the crime of the poets and the poor?
1.3 What can bring about Kurdish salvation?
Qet mumkin e ev ji çerxê lewleb Tali' bibtin j bo me
kewkeb? Bexte me ji bo mera bibit yar Carek bibtin
ji xwabê hişyar Rabit ji me jî cihan penahek Peyda
bibtin me padşahek Şîrê hunera me bête danîn Qedrê
qelema me bête zanin
Derdê me bibtin ‘îlacê
‘îlmê me bibtin rewacê
Ger dê hebûya me serfirazek Sahebkeremek,
suxennewazek Neqdê me dibû bi sîkke meskûk Nedma
wehe bê rewac û meşkuk Her çendi ku xalis û temiZîn
Neqdên bi sikkeyê 'eziZîn
Ger dê hebûya me padşahek Laiq bidiya bixwedê
kulahek Te’yin bibûye j bo wî textek Zahir vedibû j
bo me bextek Hasil bibûya j bo wi tacek Elbette dibû
me jî rewacek Xemxwari dkir li me yetiman Tinane
derê j dest le’iman
Ghalib ne dibû li ser me ev Rûm Ne dibûne xerabeyê
di dest bûm
Mehkumê ' eleyhi û se'alik Meghlûb u mutî'ê Turk u
Tacik (194-207)
Is it ever possible that this helical time
Would bring into sight for us a star
Our luck for us would become a yar (lover,
supporter)
And just for once would awake from her slumber
Would rise for us a someone we can trust in this
world
And appear among us a King
The sword of our art would be recognized
The value of our pens would be known
Our ills would find a cure
Our science would be appreciated
Oh, if we could have a dignified leader
Compassionate, generous, well-spoken,
Our coins (words) would be stamped with value
(minted)
And would no longer be so suspected and without
market
Though our words are pure and excellent
The two metals (gold and silver) are made dear by
being minted
If we had a Mîr who would see himself worthy of a
crown
And for him a throne would have been identified
Then fortune would have showed its face to us
If for him a crown could be had
Perhaps for us a value would obtain
He would take care of the orphans
Would take us out of the hands of the villains
These Turks would not have had a sway over us
Our land would not have been made ruins under the
owl
Would not have been ruled by the Eliyyis (Safavids )
and thieves
Subjugated and made obedient by the Turks and
Persians.
Here Khani clearly puts the Kurds' sameness in sharp
contrast to the otherness of their subjugators. The
differentiating elements are both political and
cultural. But it is the political factor that is
paramount. Kurds can only come out of their
historical predicament by having a royal authority,
a King, of their own. Then the Kurdish words will
have value; their pens, science and art will be
appreciated; their poor and orphans would be taken
care of and above all they will be liberated: they
will be no longer under the yoke of those who Khani
clearly believe are below the Kurds in qualities of
nobility, generosity and courage.
1.4 Khani on the relationship between political
power and cultural revival
Ger dê hebuya me ji xwedanek
‘Alikeremek, letifedanek
‘Ilm û hunar û kemal u idha'n
Şi’r û xezel û kitab û diwan
Ev cins biba li ba wi me'mûl
Ev neqd biba l nik wi meqbûl
Min dê 'elema kelamê mewzûn
‘Ali bikira l bane gerdûn
Bînave rûha Melê Cizirî
Pe heyy bikira: ‘Eli Herîrî
Keyfek we bda Feqiyê Teyran
Hetta bi ebed bimayî heyran
(247-252)
If we had for us an owner
Highly-generous, versed in good speech,
Science, arts, perfection and prudence,
Poetry, lyrics, books, and verse collections (diwan)
These genres would become common pursuits
This currency would become acceptable to him
I would see the banner of rhythmic speech
Would be raised high on the top of universe
I would have brought back to life Melê Cizirî
Resurrected Eli Herîrî
Would have given such pleasure to Feqiyê Teyran
That forever he would have stayed overwhelmed with
joy.
Khani's dream for an independent Kurdish monarch is
not an abstract will. It is the result of his own
experience as a highly-conscious, superbly-educated,
deeply-frustrated Kurdish intellectual in a Kurdish
dynasty whose Mîr does not give a damn to arts,
poetry, literature (See 1.6) or any sort of speech,
knowledge and deeds that might protect and promote
the essence and content of Kurdishness, all elements
of which are and have always been ancient, abundant,
inspiring but abandoned and neglected. He needs only
to reverse the situation and dream of a Kurdish
power, Mîr, who proudly claims the ownership of his
nation (to be equally owned by them) to envisage
what a different beautiful world would be born! The
qualities that Khani wants for this Mîr are mostly
intellectual: to be (intellectually) generous,www.ekurd.net
versed in the art of speech, who would appreciate
arts, sciences, poetry, books and establish them as
normal genres and acceptable social and intellectual
currency. This would have created opportunities and
conditions of possibility that would have brought
back to life the deceased and forgotten Kurdish
poets such as Melê Cizirî, ‘Eli Herîrî and Feqiyê
Teyran, the Kurdish poets that had preceded Khani
but had already been forgotten in his time.
He could see in his happy imagination that the
banner of the sublime Kurdish poetry would shake on
the roofs of the universe for everyone in the world
to see the proof of the product of Kurdish
perfection and intelligence. But the products of
intellect like any other goods need a market and
someone who could do the marketing for them. In the
historical context Khani wrote only those in the
position of power and owning wealth and will, could
do this. They were the Kurdish Mîrs. They could
empower, encourage and inspire Khani and poets like
him to create miracles. But Khani was deeply
disappointed by their performance and propensity.
(See below).
1.5 Who are responsible for the Kurds' predicament?
Emma ji ezel Xudê wisa kir
Ev Rûm û 'Ejem li ser me rakir
Tebi'iyyetê wan eger çi 'are
Ew 'ari l xelqê namadre
Namûse li hekim û emîran
Tawan çiye şa'ir u feqiran?
(208-210)
...................
Çibkim! Ku qewi kesad e bazar
Ninin ji qumaşê ra xerîdar
Xasma di vê e'srê da ku hemyan
Me'şuq û hebib e bo me hem’yan
Ye’nî ji teme'ê dirav u dinar
Her yek ji me ra we bûne dildar
Ger ‘ilmê temam bidiye polek
Bifroşi tu hikmetê bi solek
Kes nakete meyterê xwe (Camî)
Ranegrtin kesek (Nizamî)
(253-257)
But God made it like this from the beginning of life
He let these Rum and 'Ejam (Turks and Persians) have
power over us
Although to be their subordinate is a shame
This shame belongs to the notable people
Shame upon the rulers and Mîrs
What is the crime of the poets and the poor?
......
What can I do, the market (for Kurdish intellectual
genres – see 1.6) is very much stagnant
The fabrics have no customers
Especially in this age ('esr) when all of them
The lovers and the beloved all (or the pun: money
wallets)
That is for the greed of money and dinars
Everyone of us has become a lover
If you give away the whole of science for one
shilling
And sell wisdom for a slipper
No one would hire Jami as a horse keeper
And keep Nizami as a servant
Khani believes in pre-destination but at the same
time he shares the Zoroastrian belief in man's free
will in making choices between good and evil, and
what is right and what is wrong in terms of human
welfare. It is an act of God that, perhaps by
putting the Kurds in a certain existential
geographical space, that other nations have power
over the Kurds, but the Mîrs can do something about
it by using the same means that have made other
nations powerful and worldly mainly the combination
of the power of sword and power of word and
providing a good leadership as mentioned above.
Therefore while the existentiality of subordination
is a predestined given, to accept this situation or
reject it is a human choice. Perhaps God has wisdom
in putting the Kurds in that predicament. Perhaps
God has atoned this disadvantage for them by giving
them nobility of character, extraordinary bravery
and power of intellect. The majority of the Kurds,
their poor and poets, make the natural choice of
rejecting the foreigners' subjugation. It is the
political elite of Kurdistan namely the rulers and
princes, who disgracefully accept subordination by
Turks and ‘Ejems. What they promote is the culture
of greed and worship of money. Love is no more that
human spiritual experience sought by ‘ashiqs and 'arifs
(passionate lovers and Gnostics). All has become
lovers of wallets and dinars. There are no markets,
no customers and buyers for science or those who
give it. People do not hire Jamis and Nizamis (two
iconic Persian poets) even as horse-keepers and
house-keepers.
1.6 How is royal authority, normally, achieved?
Herçi bire şiri destê himmet
Zebt kir j xwe ra bi mêrê dewlet
Lewra ku cihan weki 'erus e
Wê hukm di destê şirê rûse
Lê 'eqd û sedaq û mehr û kabin
Lutf û kerem û 'eta û bexşin
Pirsî j dinê min ev bi hikmet
Mehra te çî? Gote mnku ‘ himmet’
Hasil: ku dinê b şir û ihsan
Tesxir dibit j boyî insan.
Anyone who held the sword in the hand of courage
Established dewlet (royal authority) for themselves
with their courage
Since the world is like a bride
Her decision is in the hand of the naked sword
But [about] contract, charity, dowry, and wedding
money
Gentility, generosity, gifts and presents,
I asked the world as a man of wisdom:
What is your dowry? Said to me: "courage!"
In short: The world with swords and compassion
Will be made available for the benefit of man.
Again like Ibn Khaldun, Khani thinks that physical
resilience and courage provide the core power for
obtaining royal authority. Examples of time show
that all the groups that used courage, achieved
their own royal authority. He presents this as the
accumulated wisdom articulated by the bride of the
world herself. While a matrimonial fulfillment may
involve marriage contract, dowry, gifts, etc, the
only price for getting the bride of the world is
courage. Bu the Kurds do have courage, so why are
they still deprived of their own worldly power
embodied in their own Mîr with crown, throne and
authority? That is where Khani has a problem with
understanding God's Wisdom and his people's
character.
From the writer's new book Love and Existence:
Analytical Study of Ahmadi Khani's Tragedy of Mem û
Zin, which will be published soon.
Read Part I
Kamal Rasul Mirawdeli (Dr), a prominent
Kurdish writer and the former presidential candidate
in 2009 Iraq's Kurdistan Region elections.
Copyright © 2012 Ekurd.net.
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