Roj Bash !

Listen to here

In 192, a movie about Mem û Zîn story was shot by Umit Elçi, – in Turkish, alas ! but there is a Sorani version also. A CD has been recorded with the musics that Mazlum Cimen created for the movie. And the most moving and funny part is at the beginning of the records, a presentation of Mem and Zîn by the famous Kurdish writer and poet, Musa Anter, who was, at this time, chairman of the Kurdish Institute of Istanbul. He died soon after, we are going to see how.

Then follows, in short, what Musa Anter said concerning the movie :

“Mem û Zîn ! What a nice title, which succeed to make an artist of me, at my old time ! Youth, today, does not know the road we had to do for reaching these days. The young who walked with his beloved in April, how could he think to the coldness of January ?

I will tell you a story. In 1943, I was the head oof the students ‘ dormitory in Dicle university, in Istanbul. One day, police came and led me to the First Division. Immediately 5 policement began to beat me with insults. I asked what I’ve done. The Police Chief answered : “Olan ! You, traitor’s son, don’t you know your crime ? ” “No, I don’t know what you reproach to me.” “Haven’t you got a radio ?” “Yes I have.” “And you have a record player ?” “Yes, I have got it also.” “There are si much beautiful Turkish songs, you son of bastard, what is your fancy* to “whistle” in Kurdish in the dormitory ? (*lit. What kind of shit do you eat ?”)

O valiant Turkish and Kurdish youth, do you see now from where we’re coming ?

And now, in Istanbul, inspired by this famous classical epic, we’ve made the movie “Mem and¨Zîn”. The Turkish Prime Minister of Turkey sends me at the Gala evening a message of congratulations and the Turkish Fondation for Human’s rights honoured me for “valuable service. ”

Then here is a funny and hilariting passage. I can imagine Turkish nationalists’ reaction by listening to that :

“I think that, as we did in 1000 years ago in Kurdistan, by islamizing Seljuks, cutting their penis and calling them Muhammad, we, Kurds, once again, should bring democracy to Turks and Turkey. ”

And then as a final top, Musa Anter reads a “Xani’s message to Kurds.” And what a message ! It is the famous “Derdê me”, where Xani called Kurds to unity and hopes independance.

The same year, in September 1992, Musa Anter was murdered by Turkish services, as revealed Murat Ipek, a former PKK, working for JITEM. According to his murderer, the last words of Musa Anter, when he realised that he was going to be executed were : “My sons, you make a mistake.”

“Sheikhs and sufis’ karamat is nothing but science, studies and work.
The retreat is cell and your way a constant care of shariat !

* Miracle and special powers.

Fa’îlatun, fa’îlatun, fa’îlatun, fa’îlat
If you learn this section very well, you’ll make a good remel.

Sheikh is rîspî, oldness is pîrî, young is ciwan, condition hal.
Virility is mêrînî, youth is lawînî, the old one kal.

Some, a few, hindik ; how, many, çend.
To pour out is rêhtin, to kill is kushtin, war is sher.

Fear, terror, frightening are tirs.
The mansion is orte ; to tremble is hejandin, road is rê, to ask is pirsîn.

To be is bûn, to go is çûn, to split is qelashtin, to cut is kutan.
Tree is dar ; rest is rahet ; garden floor is çîman ; lthe pool is çal.

The mosquito is pêshu, pain is êsh, to tremble is lerzîn, the wound is derd.
Heat is germî, distance is dûrî, mule is hêstir, hoof is nal.

To drowse is pojan ; mint is pûng, and goat’s beard is supeng.
Paper is kaxez ; cotton is penbû ; the burden is bar and the bag is cuwal.

The crazy mind is gerdûn ; the lunatic is dîn and the shameless is bêheya.
Impudence is riswayî and shermkirî is shameful ; shame is sherm.

The castle is koshk, the moarning is gazî and love is evîn
The beloved is yar and loneliness is tenha ; sweet is shêrîn, bitter is tal “.

Power is quwet, the raising love is mehebbet, friendship, tender feeling are hogirî.
The fool, the idiot, the stupide are kewden ; the husband is mêr and soul is gan.

The concubine is hewî, hatred is kîn ; relation is têkil, gazelle is ask.
The calling is gazî ; to lost is windabûn and being lost is windabûyî.

The sky is ezman ; the thing is tisht ; guts are rûvî and spirit is ruh.
Beauty is husn and gaiety is shahî and ability is jêhatin ; betal is useless.

Decorated is rîshî, to beat is lêdan, the spineless shrub is dara bêstirî.
The date is xurme, the bunch of flowers is gurz, the circle is qulp, near is bal.

What is the face ? It is rû.
The bush is dahl, the bed is text, the slope is meyl, the home is mal.

The carrier is bardar, being pregnant is avis, and the guardian is qorix.
The defender is pawan ; the jewell is xishr ; and ornament is zînet ; the year is sal.

All, everyone, everything are hemî ; forbiddening is kef.
In that way is ewreng ; colour and reng , noise and deng, mute and lal.

Once, a time, carek ; to cross, slice, notch : kutan.
Fondation : bunye ; cushion : balgeh ; bed, berth : pal.”

“Hey you who pretend to ride the eternal greatness !
At first, learn your b and y and then you’ll ride the horse !

Mef’ûlu fa’îlatun, mef’ûlu fa’îltun !
The measure is easily nice with the muddari ehzeb.

Granada is hinar and cherry gilyaz and fig hejîr.
Cucumber is xiyar and onion pîbaz and garlic sîr.

Apple is sêv and sesam kuncî, and quince bih.
Marrow, zucchini, pumpkin are* kundir, cheese is penîr.

* As in other sections I gave English words without pretending to an exact translation of Arab terms.

Poxîn is porridge, curdled milk cheese keshk, socks is curab.
Girr is tanned skins ; full is tejî, empty is vala and milk is shîr.

Clouds are ewr.
Sea and ocean are behr, lion is shêr.

Plain, desert land are desht.
Source and spring are kehnî, the well is bîr.

The Road’s son is* rêwî, the compagnon is hevrî.
Un peu : hindik, et pur : beaucoup, très, abondant.

* A nice riddle for non Arab speakers.

Servant and slave : kole, art is pîshe.
The ignorant is nezan, the scholar, the educated one is zana.

Bow is kevan, its string kêshik,
Arrow is tîr.

Troops, army, soldiers are eshker, travel by night is bi shev li rê bir.
Generosity is cuwamêrî, robbers are nijde, the prince is mîr.”

“Exchanging your ignorance for knowledge,
Is adorning copper with gold.

Mustef’elatun, mustef’elatun,
In recez section, why the muzeffel is good ?

What is green ? kesk and red is sor.
Bluu is hishîn ; what is socks ? gore.

Moutains are çiya.
Valley is newal ; what is deep ? kor.

The message is hinarî, hidden is vesharî.
Helpless is bêgavî ; under contraint is bi zor.

What is mute ? Lal ; and lame ? Leng.
Yekçav is one-eyed while blind is kor.

Killed is kushtî and washed shushtî.
Dead is mirrar while grave is gorr.”

“If you have a wish, then hurry up !
Especially if you have an adoration, always run to any order,

Mustef’îlun, mustef’îlun, mustef’îlun, mustef’îlun,
Thus is salim musemmen, O student of Recez section !

I came : hatim. I come : têm. He came : hat. Come : were !
I gave : min da. Take : bigir ! Come back : veger ! Go : here !

Turn back ! Bigêrr ! Slice ! Bihêr ! Cut ! Biqut ! Watch ! Binêr !
Read* ! Bixwûn ! Know ! Bizan ! Faith and belief are bawer.

*For translating “ÃŽqre” which is read or recite, as “bixwûn” is read or study. Then I take the common meaning in English.

Land and country are bajar ; money is dirav, silk ermûsh ;
Generous is sexî, beggar is ricûkar, intercessor is mehder.

Poverty is xizanî, richness maldarî, and song istiran.*
To leave is berdan, knowledge is zan, both and single are cot and fer.

* Xanî mention that the Arab “ghina” means both richness and song.

A wise man is mirovê tîjîfehm, a man with skill mind is mirovê guhbiçuk *,
A cut-eared man** is mirovê guh hatî birîn, deaf is kerr***.

* litt. in Arab : “small-eared” ; the same double-meaning exists in Persian and Xanî translates exactly in Kurdish.
**Aksham is an Arab word naming a congenital default, as in Persian, and in Ottoman Turkish the judiciary punishment to cut nose and ears. Here again Xanî choses to translate exactly in Kurdish, making sort of neologisms when there is no equal Kurdish term.
*** for 2 Arabd words : “eslekh” et “eyhem”.

A man with made-up eyes is mirovê çakbikil, a man with black-eyes is* : çavbelek.
A blue-eyed man is mirovê çavhishîn, and the colour of corn is gûnesmer**.

* the real meaning is : very dark pupils in a very white eye” ; Kurds say it also for a black and white horse or cow.
** Brown and not fair.

Rewal is beardless ; bimû is hairy ; keçel is bald, lisse est hilû.
Small is biçûk, great is mezin, the prince of tribes is mîr û ser !

Mother is mak ; the mother of everything is roj*, the mother of stars is asîman.
The mother of vice is xemr and mey, the drunkard is meyxwere.

* Here are a serie of Arab metaphores making with “‘Umm” ; Xanî gives the explanation in Kurdish, but you are wise people and you’ll guess alone.
** In fact the one who does not stop to drink between the morning wine (sabuh) and the evening’s one (ghâbûq).

The mother of vertus is ‘alimî, the mother of disasters cahilî.
The mother of villages, the mother of cities is Ke’be, prophet is pêxember.”

As Hajj Qorban Suleymanî, Mohamamd Huseyn Yeganeh (1918-1992) was a great bakshi from Northern-Khorasan, anf from the same region : Qoshan. Mohammad Huseyn Yeganeh learnt dotar at 10 with Avaz Mohammad and Khan Mohammad Bakhshi. At 23 years, Mohammad Jozannî, who was the most famous dotar player at this time, stayed some months in his house and learnt him also.

As a real bakhshi, Ostad Mohammad Hoseyn was a master in all Northern Khorasani songs : Turkmen, Bekhrazî, Qûshanî, Kurdish. Beside his talent for singing and playing dotar, he was a luthist, making the best dotars and kemenches of the region. He was also a poet, writing in Persian, Turkish and Kurdish.

He translated also Turkmen tales in Persian, and played one of them, Ibrahim Adham at the Moshir Hall Festival in 1973. He was 55 years old but played with fury and enthusiasm : during a concert, he broke one of his fingers, but continued to play without even noticing it. He taught Ali Ghollam Rezayi Almejûghî and his own son, Mohammad Yeganeh.

In Iran, Kurds, mostly sunnits, don’t like, in this time of celebration, cry and cry again on Husein’s death in Kerbelah. No problem, Iranian services offer them generously other occasions to pour sincere tears. For example, they kill students in custody.

Ebrahim Lotfollahi, a political activist, studied in the university of Payam Nûr. He has been arrested 10 years ago. His parents, who saw him for the last time wednesday, affirm that he had signs of torture.

Bylearning the news, students gathered in the campus, and charged the Intelligence Officer Mehdi Molavali, apparently well-known for directing “interrogations” of political convicts and also for his vigourous methods for obtaining his prisonners’ consents … or their eternal silence.

On January 14, parents of both Kurdish students leaders have been arrested.

“The scholar famous for his excellency
Should be kind, pious and pious.

Fa’ilatun, fa’ilatun, fa’ilat
Here is the good measure of remel mehzufî.

Shadow is sih, the sun is tav.*
Desht is plain, to go is çûn, step is gav.
* Xanî gives 3 Arab terms.

Fire is agir, hotness is germî, sar is cold.
Snow is berf, water is av.

Rain is baran *
Dew is xunav.
* For rain, Xanî gives many Arab terms.

Foot is pê, knee is ejnû, belly is zîk.
Chest is sing and neck ustû and eye çav.

Thigh is ran, teeth didan, lips lêv.
The back is pisht, navel is navik and entrails nav.

Liver is cerg, kidney gurçik, fat is bez.
Guts are rûvî and slim is zirav.

Narrowness is tengî, shortness is kurtî, long is tûl.
Thickness and thin are siturî et zirav.

Pot is dîz, glass is kas, bread is nan.
Meal is gosht, cook is pahtin, raw is xav.

Full is têrî, thirsty is têhnî, hungry is birs.
Call is gazî, noise is deng, and name is nav.”

As I had to write about the “Nûbar”, I’ve found funny to translate it and even to transform firstly in a French-Kurdish kexicon, and then in an English-Kurdish one. Then non-Arab speakers, Kurds or not, could have a more accurate idea of how was a rhymed dictionnary written for children in 1683 by a Kurdish sheikh. As his pupils would be between 1-12 years, the vocabulary is clear and simple, easy to memorize and it shows a pedagogic talent from the teachers’ mind.

“When the veils of the Accidental are raised, it’s a great delight ;
The heart leaves the prison of sorrow, the nightingale of the rose garden rejoyces.

Mufte’îlun mefa’îlûn, mufte’îlûn mefa’îlûn
Rajaz is beautiful with a elusion and when the fourth foot is mute

What are man and woman ? Mêr and jîn, zewcet is wife.
Father is bab and mother is da, and brother is bira.

Son is kur, daughter is keç, father-in-law is xezûr, the paternal uncle is mam.
Aunt is met, turban* is shash ; what is grand-mother ? pîreda.”

*We logically wonder what ‘s this turban doing between aunt and grand-mother. Well, Khanî put open an “intruder” in a lexical field when he wants to stress “false friends” or “false cousins” words. Here, “turban” aka ’emame in Arab is included to be distinguished from “aunt” ’emmet.

“Payment is kirê, guarrantee is gerew, loss is ziyan and lie is derew.
To sell is firoshtin, to give is dan ; what is kirrîn ? tu buy.”

Shoulders are mil, heart is dil
What are joy and happiness ? Shahî ; to die is mirin, to cry is girîn.

Cow and donkey are ga and ker. What is ban ? Roof, and door is der.
Forehead is enî, mouth is dev, face rihin, and the new is neba.

Corn is genim, barley ceh, nectarine shilîl, vineyard rez.
Xurme is pear, grape is tirî ; Let’s sell : bifirosh ! The price is beha.

Shîr is milk, cattle is pez, yaourt is mast, cream : to.
Wool is hirî, plum perr, yellow is zer, kevî* clothes;

* for the Arab “qeba”.

Let’s learn wind and ba, dust and toz*.
*(Follow six Arab terms related to dust).

Fear is tirs, and noise deng ; birûshk storm and astonishment bêhishî
Knowledge and science are ‘elamet, sorrow is xem*

*Khanî translated “besse” by xem and mentioned also that it means eshkera in Kurdish : clear, obvious, seen .

Lie is direw, curdled milk is dew ; what is goose ? qaz and partridge qew.
Belt is kinar, canal cû, air, weather, hewa.

Gold is zêr, silver is zîv*.
What is sifir ? copper ; paxir alloy, brass, and tin qela.

*Here again a lot of Arab synonymous for 2 Kurdish words. We should remember that it is a lexicon to learn Arab and not the more Kurdish words as possible. Moreover, the linguistic level in Kurdish, contained in the Nûbar, shows that Khani’s young pupils not only spoke very well their mother language, but also wrote and red it perfectly. So let’s remind us this obvious fact : in 1683, teaching in Ottoman Kurdish schools (kuttabs) wa bilingual. Kurdish was taught during 3 or 2 centuries, until its banishment by Turkish Republic. So, if there was a lack of culture and civilisation in Kurdistan during all the 20th century, it was not because of Kurds and a failing of their own history : Barbary was imposed to them, from a foreign rule.

“Much, a lot of : gelek ; there li wê, here li hêr.
No is ne, for us: ji bo me ra ; if : eger, lamp : çira.

Where : li ku ; how : kuwe ; under : li bin, on : li ser.
Let’s know that behind is ji pashê wî, you are : tu yî, for us : li bo me ra.”

For reading more about the history of schools and madrasas under Ottoman empire in Kurdistan.

Each section of the “Nûbar” is rhymed and is also organized according to a meter of classical prosody, which belongs to former Arab poetry. The sections start always with a verse From praising knowledge and study.

Then Khani indicates the scansion of the chosen meter, with its short and long syllabes, and a description of the verse. In that way, Kurdish pupils who learnt Arab words, were familiarized also with a prosody useful as much in Arab than in Persian and Kurdish.

The first section is a survey of islamic faith :

“As so long as you did not learn and repeat the rhymes,
JYou won’t be famous nor celebrated in the world !

Mefa’îlun fe’ûlun, mefa’îlûn fe’ulûn
Look how hazaj makfûf and mehzûf is nice !

God is Allah, the messenger is the Rasûl, O believers !
There are four caliphs, four imam, O muslims !

The Four were Abu Bakr, Omar, Othman
And Ali who was so sincere and the last of them.

You have to learn the name of the Imams :
There are four Ali, two Hassan and three Mohammad, hey my soul !”

In the manuscript of Mollah Ahmedê Wanî, there are some (added ?) verses, with a shiite inspiration :

“There are four Ali, two Hasan, three Mohammad, hey my soul !
Other imams are Husein and Musa and Jafar.

Let’s know the pure goodness of all these imams ;
And for us, there are more over four masters of Interpretation :

Mohammad, Malik, Ahmad and this other : Nu’man,
Musa et Jafa’ar. Let’s know the pure goodness of all these imams !”

There are ten wise companions who rejoiced of the good news,
And went in Paradise, with God and the Messenger.

At first Bu-Obeyd with the four successors (of the Prophet),
And Saïd and Saad and Talha, Zubeyr and Abdurrahman.

We need to know truth about our Prophet,
His birth, his death, his mother and father.

He borned in Mecca and died in Medina.
Let’s know that he was Abdullah and Amina’s sons.

When he left this word for Eternity, he was sixty-three ;
Among sixty years, he spent fifty-three in Mecca.

When he was forty, he was overcame by Revelation.
And during twenty-three years, he received the Quran.

For all the Community, by divine inspiration,
He spred on the world Quran and Faith.

Then, from his community, this king of riders, this champion of polo,
From the field of Remunaration, launched his ball until Heaven !

(the last verse has been a bit arranged to make it understandable, but the meaning is in it)