Mawlawi Tawagozi, pen name Maʿdumi, better known as Mawlawi (1806-1882/3, ku, مەولەوی تاوەگۆزی) was a

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

poet and leading Kurdish literary figure in the 19th century. He wrote in Gorani,

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

Biography

Mawlawi was born in a village in

Javanrud County Javanrud County ( fa, شهرستان جوانرود) is in Kermanshah province, Iran, part of what is unofficially referred to as Iranian Kurdistan. The capital of the county is the city of Javanrud. At the 2006 census, the county's population ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

into a family of notable

theologians Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the s ...

and the mystic and scholar Abu Bakr b. Hedāyat-Allāh Ḥosayni Kordi from the 16th century. His dad Mollā Saʿid was headmaster of a

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...

in Kurdistan and Mawlawi himself also attended various madrasas where he completed his studies. After his studies, he became a Mullah near

Halabja Halabja ( ku, هەڵەبجە, Helebce, ) is a city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and the capital of Halabja Governorate, located about northeast of Baghdad and from the Iranian border. The city lies at the base of what is often referred to ...

where he quickly integrated himself into the social life of the region. He had been interested in Sufism for a while and joined the

Naqshbandi The Naqshbandi ( fa, نقشبندی)), Neqshebendi ( ku, نه‌قشه‌به‌ندی), and Nakşibendi (in Turkish) is a major Sunni order of Sufism. Its name is derived from Baha-ud-Din Naqshband Bukhari. Naqshbandi masters trace their ...

order led by Oṯmān Serāj-al-Din who was a Naqshbandi leader of Kurds. He moreover received support from local Sufi

Sheikhs Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik and Shaikh, shak—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonly designates a chief of a ...

who acted as patrons and also fostered close relations with the

Jaff Jaff ( ku, جاف; also ''Jahf'', ''Jaaf'', ''Jaf'', ''Caf'') is the largest Kurdish tribe also known as clan, living in the borderlands of Iran and Iraq. Their heartland is between Sulaymaniyah to Sanandaj. The tribe predominantly adheres to th ...

tribe and the

Ardalan Ardalan ( ku, میرنشینی ئەردەڵان) was a hereditary Kurdish vassaldom in western Iran from around the 14th century until 1865 or 1868 with Sanandaj as capital. The territory corresponded roughly to present-day Kurdistan Province ...

state. His wife Ḵātun ʿAnbar, died before him and he wrote many poems about the pain of losing her. In the final years of his life, his library burnt down and he was blind for the last seven years of his life. He died falling of a horse near Halabja.

Poetry

Mawlawi was a prolific writer and his favorite genre was the

ghazal The ''ghazal'' ( ar, غَزَل, bn, গজল, Hindi-Urdu: /, fa, غزل, az, qəzəl, tr, gazel, tm, gazal, uz, gʻazal, gu, ગઝલ) is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry. A ghazal may be understood as a ...

. He was influenced by especially

Hafez Khwāje Shams-od-Dīn Moḥammad Ḥāfeẓ-e Shīrāzī ( fa, خواجه شمس‌‌الدین محمّد حافظ شیرازی), known by his pen name Hafez (, ''Ḥāfeẓ'', 'the memorizer; the (safe) keeper'; 1325–1390) and as "Hafiz", ...

but also Rumi whom he knew since childhood, but remained loyal to the Gorani literary traditions.

Biography

Poetry

References

Further reading