(1903 – 22 October 1984)
KURDISTAN
Kurdistan, my Kurdistan;
Humbled; by others possessed;
Garden of my roses Kurdistan;
Of our grieving the painful cause.
In your loftiness my Kurdistan
Nestle hamlets, towns embraced by you;
And to die is the reward
For worshippers of this land of mine.
Rivers crossing meadows, spilling
Onto fields like painted silver lines
Between hilly vineyards
And endowing with beauty my Kurdistan.
Paupers are we, walking on your soil,
Pitilessly plundered by foes
Of nature’s richness and bounty,
Haunted by seemingly endless poverty.
Your luckless people robbed
Of many splendored treasures
while the tower-shrines of Kohrash and Ardashir
Are defiled by ever-watching stranger’s probing eyes.
O, mother of the Tigris and Euphrates!
Shameless with no honour is the Kurd who betrays you;
My heart is bleeding with other Kurdish hearts,
Yet remains alive for you my Kurdistan.
