Wafaei or Wefayî, (; 1844–1902), 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. His real name was ''Abdorrahim''. He was born in

Mahabad Mahabad ( fa, مهاباد, ku, مەهاباد, translit=Mehabad), also Romanized as Mihābād and Muhābād and formerly known as Savojbolagh, is a city and capital of Mahabad County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its p ...

in present-day north-western

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 ...

. He finished religious studies in Mahabad and became a cleric, and a teacher in the local school. He moved to

Sulaimaniya Sulaymaniyah, also spelled as Slemani ( ku, سلێمانی, Silêmanî, ar, السليمانية, as-Sulaymāniyyah), is a city in the east of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, not far from the Iran–Iraq border. It is surrounded by the Azmar, Go ...

in 1900 and stayed there for a while. He travelled to

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...

three times, the last one in 1902. He was accompanied by the Kurdish poet

Piramerd Tawfeq Mahmoud Hamza or Piramerd ( ku, پیرەمێرد) (1867 – 19 June 1950) was a Kurdish poet, writer, novelist and journalist. He was born in the ''Goija'' neighborhood of Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan Region. In 1926, he became the editor of t ...

. During his last pilgrimage, he became ill and died in the region between

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

and

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

Works

He followed the classical rules of poetry in terms of

rhyme A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds (usually, the exact same phonemes) in the final stressed syllables and any following syllables of two or more words. Most often, this kind of perfect rhyming is consciously used for a musical or aesthetic ...

and

rhythm Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular recu ...

. He wrote most of his poems in the forms of

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 ...

and

Qasidah The qaṣīda (also spelled ''qaṣīdah''; is originally an Arabic word , plural ''qaṣā’id'', ; that was passed to some other languages such as fa, قصیده or , ''chakameh'', and tr, kaside) is an ancient Arabic word and form of writin ...

. The content of his poems are about

Love Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest Interpersonal relationship, interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of ...

and

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...

. In some of his poems, he also mentions

sufism Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, r ...

. He was instrumental in introducing the Sulaimaniya sorani school of poetry (in particular

Nalî Nalî ( ku, نالی), also known as Mallah Xidir Ehmed Şawaysî Mîkayalî ( ku, مەلا خدر (خضر) کوڕی ئەحمەدی شاوەیسی ئاڵی بەگی میکایلی)Keith Hitchins, "NALÎ" in Encyclaopedia Iranica (1800 Shahrizor - ...

's poetry) to the Kurds of Mukriyan region and western Iran. Wafayi was a disciple of

Sheikh Ubeydullah }) also known as ''Sayyid Ubeydullah'', was the leader of the first modern Kurdish nationalist struggle. Ubeydullah demanded recognition from Ottoman Empire and Qajar dynasty authorities for an independent Kurdish state, or Kurdistan, which he woul ...

and has written multiple poems for him.

References

People from Mahabad Kurdish-language poets 1844 births 1902 deaths Kurdish scholars 19th-century poets {{Kurd-poet-stub