Ahmad Khani (Kurdish: Ehmedé Xaní, ئهحمهد خانی) has lived in years 1651 to 1707 AD, this great Kurdish poet was born amongst the Xaní’s tribe in Hekarí province in Kurdistan. He moved to Bayezíd in Ritkan province and settled there. Later he start with teaching Kurdish (Kurmanjí) at basic level. Xaní was fluent in Kurdish, Arabic and Parsi. He wrote his Arabic-Kurdish vocabulary “Nú-Buhar” in 1683 to help children with their learning process.
Ahmad Khani (Kurdish: Ehmedé Xaní, ئهحمهد خانی) has lived in years 1651 to 1707 AD, this great Kurdish poet was born amongst the Xaní’s tribe in Hekarí province in Kurdistan. He moved to Bayezíd in Ritkan province and settled there. Later he start with teaching Kurdish (Kurmanjí) at basic level. Xaní was fluent in Kurdish, Arabic and Parsi. He wrote his Arabic-Kurdish vocabulary “Nú-Buhar” in 1683 to help children with their learning process.
Ehmedé Xaní, the author of Kurdish classic love story “Mem and Zín”, is considered to be the épopée of the Kurdish literature. Xaní’s works are a amongst the good examples of the rich Kurdish literature. Ehmedé Xaní creates a good picture of Kurdish life from 16 century in his works.
In his work Kurdish patriotism and Kurdish reality are incredibly powerful. His nationalist interest and awareness was amongst pioneers for his time. When people of the middle East were in the midst of religious conflicts to identify themselves as Christian and Muslim rather than by their ethnic origins, Xaní’s proposal was circulating around an independent Kurdistan. The remarkable fact is that Xaní lived before the rise of modern sense nationalism.
Xaní’s work translated from Kurdish to Turkish in 1968 by the Kurdish author M. Emin Bozarslan and then from Turkish to English by the two Kurdish teachers, translator and academicians in Sidney Australia: Shahin Baker and Bawermend.
Publications:
- Mem ú Zín, 1692, first printed in 1919 in Istanbul
- Nú Buhar, Arabic-Kurdish vocabulary in verse, 1683 -first printed version by Zarí Kirmanjí Press, Rewandiz, 1926-