An Epistemological Look at Persian Poetry in the Courts of Kurdish Poets in the Nineteenth Century

1. Introduction
Classical Kurdish literature contains a huge volume of Persian texts. A part of these texts is created in Baban literary school, which has been in continuous contact with Iran. (Ahmadi, 1395: 310) Some Kurdish poets, such as Salem and Mustafa Beig Kurdi, traveled to Tehran and were directly acquainted with the poets of that country, and, occasionally, engaged in capping verses.  Even a poet like Kurdi became a member of the Iranian Writers Association. (Ahmadi, 1395: 441) There are also anecdotes about his capping verses with Qaani. (Sajjadi, 1395: 323) To gain a scientific insight into the Persian poetry, embedded in Kurdish literature, it is essential to conduct a comprehensive literary-scientific study.
The present research, with an analytical-descriptive perspective, intends to analyze the Persian poems of Kurdish poets from a cognitive point of view in terms of classification, type, stylistics, and theme. This is to identify linguistic-literary features, geographical-stylistic framework, and their forms during this study.
 

Methodology

In order to achieve an objective result, we limited the statistical population of the research to the poets of the nineteenth century, including Nali, Salem, Kurdi, Haji Qader Kooi, Vafaee, Sheikh Reza Talabani, Mahvi, Harigh, and Adab. We seek to provide and answer to the following questions:

What place Kurdish poets had in composing Persian poetry?
How has their connection been with Persian literature?
In which style and field of Persian literature does their Persian poetry fit?

 

Discussion

By using phrases that have Kurdish equivalents, and occasionally appropriating Persian poetry or composing bilingual poems, Kurdish poets on the one hand have presented their level of familiarity and command of Persian language and literature, and, on the other hand, they have shown their interest and enthusiasm for it.  

Statistical review

Statistical studies show that a number of Kurdish poets have written Persian poetry in different proportions. Excerpts from these poems are listed as follows:

Mustafa Beig Kordi: 18 out of a total 143
Abdul Rahman Salem: 24 out of a total 406
Nali: 5 out of a total 146
Haji Qader Kooi: 14 out of a total 136
Sheikh Reza Talabani: 4 out of a total 207
Mahwi 102 out of a total 302
Wafa’i: 88 out of a total 220
Nari: 5 out of a total 81
Mesbah al-Diwan Adab: 7 out of a total 140 poems

In total, it should be said that ten percent of the volume of Kurdish Divan in this period is Persian poetry.

Poetry themes

From a thematic perspective, these poems are categorized in the framework of classical structures of the Persian poetry; in other words, the most important of these structures are lyric, ode, praise, satire, description (nature/spring), romantic-mystical mystery, and Sufism.

Stylistic classification

Following an examination of such poems based on the characteristics of the styles, the results of the research show that a majority of them are categorized in the framework of the Iraqi style, and, to a small extent, in the domain of the Indian style.

Poetry genres

Different types of poetry can be found in the poetry of Kurdish poets: ghazal, ode, qat’e, mathnawi, tarkibband, tarji'band, quatrain, single couplets, mukhammas, musammat, etc. In this respect, there are similarities and correspondences with Persian poetry. (Ahmadi, 1395: 48)

Other features of Persian poetry in Kurdish literature

Since these poets are multilingual, it is obvious that similar thoughts have penetrated into their Persian and Kurdish poetry. In expressing their concepts, the Kurdish poets have sometimes acted as if they have embarked on the approach of translating words, or it seems that the tone of their words is dominated by their mother tongue.
In the Persian poetry of the Kurdish poets, we sometimes encounter colloquial expressions. For example, in poetic language, elements of slang are evident. Sometimes proverbs, famous sayings, and Kurdish epigrams have penetrated into the Persian poetry. The influence of religious literature, Quranic texts, and hadith on the poetry of Kurdish poets (both Kurdish and Persian), is obvious and frequent. (Mohamdi & Gaffari, 1395: 154-155) Famous poets of Persian literature have always cast a subtle shadow over Kurdish literature, which is reflected in various forms in Kurdish poetry as well as the Persian poetry of Kurdish poets.
 

Conclusion

Persian poetry of Kurdish poets, from a stylistics perspective, is in the field of Iraqi style. Therefore, the Iraqi style of Persian poetry should be extended beyond the current borders to wherever the Kurds live. Some signs and convergences with the Indian style are evident in these poems. The most salient features of the Persian poetry of the Kurdish poets include:

Using Kurdish tone and interpretations
Translating Kurdish proverbs into Persian
Prevalence of slang
Obvious influence of famous Iranian poets such as Hafez, Sa’di, and Rumi
Influence of Kurdish poets
Thematic commonalities in their Kurdish and Persian poetry