Mahwi Explained

Mahwi (ku|مەحوی Mehwî; full name: مەلا موحەمەد کوڕی عوسمان بەڵخی Mala Mohammed Osman Ballkhi) (1830-1906) was one of the most prominent classical Kurdish poets and sufis from Kurdistan of Iraq. He studied in Sablakh and Sanandaj in Iranian Kurdistan. He became a judge in the court of Slemaniin today's Iraqin 1862which was then part of the Ottoman Empire. He travelled to Istanbul and met Abdul-Hamid II in 1883. He established a khaneqahan Islamic religious school and mosquein Slemani and named it after an Ottoman emperor. In his poemshe mainly promotes sufismbut also deals with the human condition and existential problemssuch as questions about the meaning of life.

Works

A collection of his poems has been published several times.

1. Dîwanî MehwîSlemani1922.
2. Dîwanî MehwîEdited by Jamal Muhammad Muhammad AminSerkewtin PublishersSulaimaniya1984.
3. Dîwanî MehwîEdited and Analyised by Mala Abdolkarimi Modarres and Mohammed Mala KarimHissam PublishersBaghdad1977 and 1984.

External links

• A collection of essays on Mahwi's poems (in Kurdish)
• Classical Traditions and Modern Meaningsby Stephen Sperl. Last visit 19 November 2013.