"Mem û Zîn," the Kurdish Epic

Mem û Zîn (Mem and Zin) is foundational text of Kurdish literature. An epic tale, it likely originated around 1450 and was handed down over the generations by dengbêj, or traditional speech-singing. The tale was written down in the seventeenth century by Ehmedê Xanî (1650-1707), a Kurdish intellectual, scholar, mystic and poet who is considered the founder of Kurdish nationalism. Xanî took the risk of writing in Kurmancî rather than Arabic or Persian.

Mem û Zîn tells the tragic love story of two star-crossed lovers, based on a real-life episode. Mem is a sensitive Kurdish youth of the Alan clan and heir to the City of the West;  he is said ot be poetic and honest. Zin is the daughter of the governor of Jazira Botan (modern Cizre) and is said to be angelically beautiful. They meet during a Newroz celebration and fall in love. The two of them represent righteousness and goodness.

Beko of the Bakran clan, who represents evil and mischief, is jealous of the two lovers. Using a complicated scheme, he reveals their love to the prince, who imprisons Mem. Tacdîn, Mem’s best friend, rallies his friends try to free him, but they are thwarted.

Mem dies in prison.  Zin hears the news and perishes from grief seven days later. The two star-crossed lovers are buried next each other in Cizre.

Beko’s role in the tragedy is exposed, and Tacdîn kills him. Beko is buried next to Mem and Zîn because before he died, Mem said, “It was because of Beko that we could not come together, so I want him to witness our love. If he dies, bury him next to me and Zîn.”

But a thorny rosebush grows from Bako’s grave. Nourished by his blood, its malicious roots penetrate between the lovers’ graves, separating them even in death.

Against this tragic backdrop, the epic recounts many tales of miracles and adventures. Mem receives a magical horse. Fairies bring the two lovers together. The social conventions of the era are also described, and romantic and moral topics are discussed.

Many Kurds feel a deep connection to the epic because it was one of the first significant pieces of literature to be written almost entirely in Kurdish. Also, the subject matter is seen as an allegory for the Kurdish nation’s quest for statehood.

Many songs, movies, and stories have been based on Mem û Zîn. Despite the epic’s significance, it long went unpublished since no state would permit it. For example, in 1898 the Cairo-based Kurdish magazine Kurdistan published it, but Ottoman authorities subsequently shut the magazine down.

Several versions and translations of the epic have been published since the 1920s. In 1992 Ümit Elçi directed a film version. At that time the Kurdish language was prohibited in Turkey, so the film had to be released in Turkish.

In 2021 Cuma Boynukara, the author of a play based on Mem û Zîn, applied to the Istanbul municipal theater administration to stage it in Turkish. (It had been performed in Istanbul in 2002.) The administration initially accepted the request, but the play was not included the city theater’s program. No explanation was given, and the general director was removed from his duty. No one in the administration has answered Boynukara’s questions about the fate of the play.

The American scholar Michael Chyet wrote his Ph.D. dissertation about Mem û Zîn. See Michael Chyet, “‘And a thorn bush sprang up between them’: Studies on ‘Mem û Zin,’ a Kurdish Romance,” University of California Berkeley, 1991.

The Independent (U.K.) published this article about Mem û Zîn in March 2023.