page_title: Ahmad Khani
hierarchical_section_title: Ahmad Khani
caption_attribution_description: English: Statue of Kurdish poet and writer Ahmadi Xani in Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan, Iraq
context_page_description: Ahmad Khani, also spelled Ahmad-i Khani, was a Kurdish writer, poet, astronomer and philosopher. He was born amongst the Khani's tribe in Hakkari province in present-day Turkey. He moved to Bayezid in Ritkan province and settled there. Later he started with teaching Kurdish at basic level. Khani was fluent in Kurdish, Arabic and Persian. He wrote his Arabic-Kurdish dictionary "Nûbihara Biçûkan" in 1683 to help children with their learning process.
  His most important work is the Kurdish classic love story "Mem and Zin", which has been translated to many languages including Arabic, Russian and Turkish. This epic has several facets and has been interpreted from different angles, but one its most important parts is its preface in which Khani calls for a Kurdish state. Therefore, many consider Mam and Zin to be the first expression of Kurdish nationalism.
  His other work include a book called Eqîdeya Îmanê, which is part poem and part prose. The book explains the five pillars of Islamic faith. It was published in 2000 in Sweden.
context_section_description: Ahmad Khani, also spelled Ahmad-i Khani (Kurdish: Ehmedê Xanî‎; 1650, Hakkari – 1707, Doğubayazıt), was a Kurdish writer, poet, astronomer and philosopher. He was born amongst the Khani's tribe in Hakkari province in present-day Turkey. He moved to Bayezid in Ritkan province and settled there. Later he started with teaching Kurdish (Kurmanji) at basic level. Khani was fluent in Kurdish, Arabic and Persian. He wrote his Arabic-Kurdish dictionary "Nûbihara Biçûkan" (The Spring of Children) in 1683 to help children with their learning process.
  His most important work is the Kurdish classic love story "Mem and Zin" (Mem û Zîn) (1692), which has been translated to many languages including Arabic, Russian and Turkish. This epic has several facets and has been interpreted from different angles, but one its most important parts is its preface in which Khani calls for a Kurdish state. Therefore, many consider Mam and Zin to be the first expression of Kurdish nationalism.
  His other work include a book called Eqîdeya Îmanê (The Path of Faith), which is part poem and part prose. The book explains the five pillars of Islamic faith. It was published in 2000 in Sweden.
caption: A bust of Ahmad Khani in Iraqi Kurdistan
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