Portrait of Malaye Jaziri

Malaye Jaziri (or Melayê Cizîrî), (1570-1640) was a Kurdish writer, poet and mystic. One of the most influential principalities in the history of Kurdistan was Botan with the capital Jazira (Cizre), in present day Şırnak province in south-eastern Turkey. Because of its superior position Botan came to be an important centre of Kurdish culture. Here the first school of classical Kurdish poetry in the Kurmanji dialect was established. Malaye Jaziri was the leading representative of this school and, one can add, a fine representative of classical oriental poetry as a whole. His ties to this tradition are expressed through the strong sufi elements and through the concept of love in his poetry. In his universe there are no clear borderlines between human and divine love. Thus the reader is often lead to ask whether it was the love of God or the beautiful Selma (said to have been the daughter or the sister of the prince of Jazira which brought fire to the poet's heart). Apart from these traditional oriental elements, Jaziri's poetry is also deeply rooted in romantic patriotism, and the poems he wrote in tribute to the princes of Kurdistan differ from the poetry written at the courts of the mighty kings in the region. Kurdistan's name appears frequently and is always connected with great pride. Jaziri's main literary work is the collection of his poems called, "Dîwanî Melay Cizîrî". Image File history File links Download high resolution version (640x1027, 184 KB) Summary Malaye Jaziri (or Melayê Cizîrî),(1570-1640) was a Kurdish writer , poet and mystic. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (640x1027, 184 KB) Summary Malaye Jaziri (or Melayê Cizîrî),(1570-1640) was a Kurdish writer , poet and mystic. ... Events January 23 - The assassination of regent James Stewart, Earl of Moray throws Scotland into civil war February 25 - Pope Pius V excommunicates Queen Elizabeth I of England with the bull Regnans in Excelsis May 20 - Abraham Ortelius issues the first modern atlas. ... Events December 1 - Portugal regains its independence from Spain and João IV of Portugal becomes king. ... The Kurds are a people indigenous to the contiguous geocultural region which includes adjacent parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey that is often referred to as Kurdistan. ... The Flammarion Woodcut can be taken to illustrate the Gnostics mystical search for spiritual worlds by circumventing the constraints of materialism. ... Kurdistan (literally meaning the land of Kurds)[1] (old: : Koordistan, Curdistan, Kurdia, also in Kurdish: Kurdewarí) is the name of a geographic and cultural region in the Middle East, inhabited traditionally predominantly by the Kurds. ... The Turkish province of Şırnak Şırnak is a Turkish province in southeastern Anatolia. ... Kurmanji (Kurdish: kurmancî or kirmancî) is the major Kurdish dialect spoken in Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, the ex-Soviet states and by Kurds living in Central Asia. ... The term the Orient - literally meaning sunrise, east - is traditionally used to refer to Near, Middle, and Far Eastern countries. ... Sufism (Arabic تصوف taṣawwuf) is a system of esoteric philosophy commonly associated with Islam. ... Kurdistan (literally meaning the land of Kurds)[1] (old: : Koordistan, Curdistan, Kurdia, also in Kurdish: Kurdewarí) is the name of a geographic and cultural region in the Middle East, inhabited traditionally predominantly by the Kurds. ...

Background

His name was Ahmad, but usually he is referred to as Shekh Ahmad-e Jaziri or Mala-ye Jaziri. His father's name was Mala Muhammad, according to some sources, Shekh Muhammad. It is not known where he was born, but it is assumed that his family belonged to the Bukhti, or Bohti tribe that dwelled in the region of Jazira. The pen names often used by Jaziri in his poems are Mala and Male (or Malaye). The latter is the colloquial form indicating izafa construction for masculine nouns in the Kurmanji dialect of Kurdish.

Works

His diwan (collection of poems) is the only literary work attributed to Malaye Jaziri. The poetry of Malaye Jaziri ranks among the most popular of literary works in Kurdistan. It is comparable to the epic of "Mam and Zin" by Ehmedê Xanî (Ahmad Khani). Jaziri's diwan has always been one of the main subjects in the traditional education system. In addition, he belonged to the Naqshbandi order of Sufism, one of the most widespread orders in Kurdistan. But first and foremost the aesthetic and spiritual values in his poetry have made it a lasting work. The diwan was first printed in Berlin in 1904 by Martin Hartmann. There are to date seven editions of his diwan. One of the most reliable was published by Zivingi. His edition comprises 120 poems and 3 ruba'is, in alphabetical order according to the final letters of the rhymes, regardless of the form. Another edition that provides a reasonable basis for researchers was published by the late Kurdish poet Hejar. This edition contains 117 poems, ghazal and qasida, and 3 rubais. Diwan (Arabic: دیوان ), also transliterated as Deewan or Divan, is a term for a collection of poems of a single author; it may be a selected works, or the whole body of work of an Urdu, Persian or Ottoman Turkish poet. ... Kurdistan (literally meaning the land of Kurds)[1] (old: : Koordistan, Curdistan, Kurdia, also in Kurdish: Kurdewarí) is the name of a geographic and cultural region in the Middle East, inhabited traditionally predominantly by the Kurds. ... Ehmedê Xanî, (or Ahmad Khani), (1651-1707) was a Kurdish writer and poet. ... Ehmedê Xanî, (or Ahmad Khani), (1651-1707) was a Kurdish writer and poet. ... Naqshbandi (Naqshbandiyya) is one of four major Sufi orders (tariqa) of Islam. ... Sufism (Persian: صوفی‌گری Sufi gari, Arabic: تصوف, taá¹£awwuf) is a mystic tradition of Islam. ... Kurdistan (literally meaning the land of Kurds)[1] (old: : Koordistan, Curdistan, Kurdia, also in Kurdish: Kurdewarí) is the name of a geographic and cultural region in the Middle East, inhabited traditionally predominantly by the Kurds. ... 1904 (MCMIV) was a leap year starting on a Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Hejar or Abdurrahman Sharafkandi or Hazhar, (1920-1990), was a renowned Kurdish writer, poet, linguist and translator. ...

Jaziri was greatly inspired by the classical Persian poets, Hafez, Mawlana Jalal ad-Din Rumi and Jami, whom he considered masters. His spiritual affiliation with the Naqshbandi order of Sufism is also distinctly present in his work. Persian literature (in Persian: ) spans two and a half millennia, though much of the pre-Islamic material has been lost. ... Hafez, detail of an illumination in a Persian manuscript of the Divan of Hafez, 18th century. ... Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi or Jalal al-Din Muhammad Balkhi Rumi (also known as Mowlavi or Moulana, meaning my guide in Iran, Central and South Asia or Mevlana meaning our guide in Turkey) (September 30, 1207 - December 17, 1273 CE) was a Persian poet and Sufi mystic, who was... Youth seeking his fathers advice Miniature illustration to the Haft Awrang of Jami, in the story A Father Advises his Son About Love See Sufi outlook on male love Freer and Sackler Galleries, The Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. Persian youth playing chess with two suitors Illustration to the Haft...

References

• Shakely, Farhad, Aesthetic aspects in the poetry of Mala-ye Jaziri, International Journal of Kurdish Studies, January 2002
• Shakely, Farhad, Classic and Modern Kurdish Peotry, Uppsala University, Sweden.
• Hartmann, Martin, Der Kurdische Diwan des Schech Ahmed von Geziret Ibn 'Omar Gennant Mala'i Gizri. (Berlin: S. Calvary and Co, 1904).
• Al-Zivingi, Ahmad b. al-Mulla Muhammad al-Buhti, Al-'Iqd al-Jawhari fi sharh Diwan al-Shayk al-Jazari, 2 vols, (Qamishli 1959, 2nd ed. 1987)
• Cezîrî, Melaê Ahmed. Dîvanî Melaê Cezîrî [Divan of Melaê Cezîrî], ed. S.B. Amedî. Baghdad: Kurdish Academy of Sciences, 1977.
• Abdurrahman Sharafkandi (Hazhar or Hejar), Diwan-i 'Arif-i Rabbani Sex Ahmad-i Jiziri, mashur ba Mala-y Jiziri. (Soroush Publishers, Tehran, 1982, 626 p.).
• Jaziri, Malaye. "In Praise of Sharaf Khan: On Sufi Teachings." In Qasida Poetry in Islamic Asia and Africa. Edited by Stefan Sperl and Christopher Shackle. Vol. 2, pp. 244-251, 447-449. Leiden; New York: E.J. Brill, 1996
• Dîwana Melayê Cizîrî (Poems of Malaye Jaziri in Kurdish)