"Sheikh Ahmad", son of "Sheikh Mohammed", also known as Mullah Jaziri, was born on the island of Botan four hundred and fifty-three years ago. Mullah Jaziri lived at a time when the Ottoman Empire and Safavid empire were at their peak of power and Mullah Jaziri's Kurdistan fell under the control of these two powers. Kurdistan under the Safavid and Ottoman rule was oppressed politically and culturally, and the dominant languages were the language of the system of power. Despite the unfavorable situation, four and a half centuries ago, Mullah Jaziri, who had experience in two different linguistic and cultural fields, knew Persian and Arabic literature well and their dominant languages, too. On the other hand, because of his social position as a mullah and religious figure, he had backgrounds in religious discourse and Arabic language, but beyond all these discourse fields, he wrote in Kurdish and drafted the framework of love-mystical ghazals. It is the foundation of a form of thinking and writing that is considered a paradigm shift or change of intellectual direction and a new beginning in Kurdish literature.
Although there had been writing in Kurdish before Jaziri, he was the founder of a particular discourse.
Jaziri with his awareness of the literature of other nations, his conscious knowledge of poetry on the one hand, his familiarity with Sufism, mysticism, and Islamic philosophy on the other, and his nationalist feeling made a multifaceted effort.
As we know, at that time and long before, like after the establishment of Arab political and military power and the development of Islamic thought, the dominant discourse was formed in this framework. Islamic thought in all its
branches and the Arabic language as the carrier and transmitter of that thought crept into all educational opportunities and forums. The writers of most of the nations of the region known as Islamic countries abandoned their linguistic and even national identities and folded their horses within the framework of Islamic thought and the standard Arabic language. We can mention dozens of examples among Kurds and Persians who, despite their Kurdish and Persian languages, engaged themselves in that language due to the development of religious thought and Arabic. Many Kurds such as Ibn Khalakan, Ibn Sharazouri, Dinawari, Musanif Chori, Tajaddin Shinoyi, and Shahabuaddin Sorawardi, etc. Among the Persians, such as Ibn Sina, Farabi, Abu Reihan Biruni, etc., are among those who, despite being educated and skilled in fields such as literature, language, natural sciences, and philosophy, have either paid the least attention to their language and identity or have ignored it and have melted into Arabic culture. In such a condition, the role and position of someone like Mullah Jaziri become more and more brilliant.
Like the rest of the mentioned figures above, Mullah Jaziri, with his knowledge of literature and language, besides his knowledge of Islamic and Arabic philosophy and theology, could hide from his native language and appear in a larger geographical zone with his non-national identity. Still, Jaziri took full responsibility for all the consequences of his choice and chose a path that had fewer followers before.
Mullah Jaziri’s poetry references show he was aware of Persian and Arabic poetry and read their poems. He even referred to them from time to time. For instance:
My beloved let’s drink up the eternal wine enthusiastically
Saghi please pour me a drink and let’s drink up
The second half-verse, which is in Arabic, is originally a poem by Yazid Ibn Mu'awiyah, which was also used by Hafez Shirazi and borrowed from Hafez by Mullah Jaziri (Tazmin means to get a verse from a poet and use it in your poem). He showed that he was aware of the literary treasures of other nations. In his
poems, he also referred to the terminology of Islamic mysticism and philosophy, however, he was a Kurdish writer and it was vital for him to think and write in his language. He even evaluated himself, his language, and his country with other poets, languages, and countries and considered himself, his country, and his language no less than the others. Look at the verse below and how he evaluated his artistic, linguistic, and spatial identity with the others and expressed his intentions without nervousness:
If you wish to hear a poem as beautiful as a pearl
You can read Mullah’s poems not the Shirazi’s
Here, Mullah Jaziri speaks to the Kurds. He addresses the Kurdish audience that if you are looking for the jewel of writing and poetry, then the mullah's poetry written in Kurdish is the treasure you are looking for and you don't need Shiraz, which refers to the birthplace of two great Persian poets, Hafez Shirazi and Sa’adi Shirazi. In other words, neither the place nor the person is important. If art is important, then there are texts of mullahs and people like Jaziri in Kurdistan and in Kurdish; you do not need Shiraz or the poets of Shiraz and Persian poems. If other nations have their artistic authority and have minted artistic coins that symbolize monarchy and independence, then Mullah Jaziri has spoken out and claims that we, as a representative of the Kurdish language, have minted poetry coins. In other words, he officially recognized his artistic authority and considered his artistic work as a valuable currency, which means national and artistic self-confidence. Look at the verse below and how the subject is addressed.
My poems’ coin is minted by your name
Your name is the reason for its popularity
At that time, and even today, writers and artists of any nation try to merit their texts by making certain demands and claims. Many of the Persian and Arab poets of that time did so. For instance, Hafez Shirazi says:
I feel confused about the King’s appreciation
For such a poem as Hafez’s deserves loads of gold
It means I wonder why the king doesn't appreciate Hafez’s poetry and reward him with a fortune for such a sweet poem. Mullah Jaziri does not ask anyone for a reward but says:
If one is just enough to see these magical words
They could confess to these poems’ greatness
That is, in terms of miracles, style, power of expression, and writing, if anyone is fair, they know that Mullah created magic with his words. And he also says; Mullah's poetry brought dead hearts to life and taught them to love and put them on the path of knowledge, and there are many poems and Ghazals that are meaningful and valuable but compared to Jaziri's poems are full of mistakes.
All these examples show that Mullah Jaziri wrote Kurdish poetry consciously and scholarly to estimate and enrich the Kurdish language ،and he reached his goal. He established a foundation stone of Kurdish poetry that has remained firm to this day and Kurdish literature has been constructed on it.
He has experimented with everything from complicated language and difficult forms to simple language. The peak of his poetry is "Sabahalkheir Khane Min", which is an unprecedented masterpiece of Kurdish poetry.
