Arif Hisso, a teacher of Kurdish language and literature, also loved the Kurdish language, culture, and folklore. Arif Hisso was born on May 15, 1965, in Chalabi village near Kobane, located in the Western part of Kurdistan. He studied primary, secondary, and high school in Kobane, and later he studied economics at Halab University, but due to difficulties he had had in his life, he could not continue his education.
Since he loved Kurdish culture and language, he followed Kurdish language and literature masters such as Jaladat Badrkhan, Osman Sabri, and Nuredin Zara. He cared a lot about the Kurdish nation; thus, he began to study the Kurdish language by himself and later he taught the Kurdish language, culture, and literature to hundreds of students.
Since 2012, as the revolution sparks developed in the Western part of Kurdistan, and as language institutions were being established, he cared even more about the Kurdish language teaching hundreds of students in this field.
Based on these principles, with limited possibilities, he prepared a book on the Kurdish Language and published a book about the Kurdish old sayings in Kobane accent titled "Gotnen Bare". In 2018, he began teaching grammar at Rojava University and later he was hired by Kobane University to teach Kurdish folklore and journalism. Arif Hisso had a characteristic that most people could not know if he was from Kobane, Afrin, or Jazira since he knew most of the Kurdish dialects and was familiar with most of the Kurdish accents. This was due to his many travels to various Kurdish cities and villages. He had a vast knowledge of etymology and he knew most of the Kurdish words' origins. In addition, he knew a lot of proverbs, stories, and riddles by heart. Every student considered Arif Hisso as a source. He had worked hard for many years to learn and teach the Kurdish language and finally, he began to present a work on Kobane's culture and folklore.
In the last days of his life, when he went to the hospital to undergo surgery, his fate had a different intention. Finally, on December 19, 2022, he died of a stroke.
Arif Hisso had felt his death was close thus, he tried to keep his name alive among people in many ways. One of these ways is a book of him. He mentioned this book a lot waiting for it to be completed enthusiastically.
The case of "A Collection of Kobane Folklore"
This work called "A Collection of Kobane Folklore" talks about various subjects under various titles: "visiting, people, villages' names, children's games, rug making and Mashka tools, proverbs and stories, …" Although this work remained unfinished due to Arif Hisso's illness and his death, the Kobane University Folklore Research Center published it in honor of Arif Hisso's many years of effort for Kurdish culture and language.
Since Arif Hisso knew a great deal about Kurdish folklore and culture, he could answer any questions about this field. Not only did he possess a vast knowledge in this field, but he also had such a character that could develop a folkloric spirit among his students, the other teachers, and his supporters.
Thus, this work can give the readers a lot of information and it can also be used as a resource for many other purposes. Unfortunately, fate decided otherwise and Arif Hisso left us very soon. He wanted to give this work to the Kurdish library to protect Kobane's cultural treasures.
