A Biographical Oeuvre by Baqustanî: Sultan Shaykhmus

Abstract

Classical literary works are the main elements for the future of nations. A sound decision could not be made on the literary wealth of a language without considering a general framework of classical works of the same. Classical works in Kurdish language are also investigated and published, however, these efforts are yet to reach a satisfactory level. The existence of Kurdish language in various literary styles is yet to be known. One of these literary styles is biography. A biography written in verse by Mela ‘Eliyê Baqustanî will be scrutinized in the present study. This work in verse titled “Siltan Şêxmûs”1 , was written about a stemma about Şêx Mûsa Ez-Zûlî in prose. The stemma was written about the life of Şêx Mûsa Ez-Zûlî and its author is unknown. This stemma, originally written in prose as a handwritten manuscript in Arabic, was rewritten by Baqustanî in Kurmancî Kurdish in verse. When writing this work, Baqustanî did not confine himself to only including the information on the stemma, but also demonstrated his abilities as a poet and a man of letters. Furthermore, he added other historical information about the stemma to the manuscript. In the present article, Baqustanî’s work “Siltan Şêxmûs” was studied based on style and content within the limits of the article. Bêjeyên sereke: bioghraphy, Mullah Ali Baqustanî, Sheikh Mûsa az-Zûlî, classical literature, Sultan Shaykhmus

Keywords

• bioghraphy, Mullah Ali Baqustanî, Sheikh Mûsa az-Zûlî, classical literature, Sultan Shaykhmus