Memê û Zînê

Folklore and mythology are the roots of language and people. As epics, legends, and tales unfold, a people emerge in the world. The epic Memê Alan is one such work, with its roots reaching back more than a thousand years. Just as Rustemê Zal is told in various versions in the Kurdish Shahnameh, the epic Memê Alan has also been passed down in different forms and sung by Dengbêj. In Kurdish oral tradition, Ordîxanê Celîl, Celîlê Celîl, and Qanatê Kurdo, in particular, recorded this epic, just as Roger Lescot documented it in written form from several Dengbêj. Ehmedê Xanî, in turn, made this epic immortal through his worldview with his work Mem û Zîn.

Emînê Evdal aptly described Memê û Zîn as the poem of Kurdish society. From his research, recordings, and collected traditions, he shaped the work according to the rules and principles of poetry. The ethnographer, educator, scholar, and poet Emînê Evdal, together with Heciyê Cindî, laid the foundation for the significant work Folklora Kurmanca based on Kurdish oral tradition. Thus, this immortal poem also received its complete form through the work of Emînê Evdal and, after ten years, found its way into our ancient language.