I had a donkey

Nali
Translated from the Kurdish by Alana Marie Levinson-LaBrosse & Shene Mohammed

I had a donkey of such stature: able to traverse steep slopes,
With a wide chest, short ankles, high shoulders, and long ears,

With a white forehead and belly, mule’s tail, and black sex.
Singular, he gallops, three strides in one, two-winded, full-grown, replete.

His skull is a wine glass full to overflowing.
Like the lion, the grazing gazelle, the wild wolf, he’s never tasted the whip.

A flagpole for a neck, sweetly-saddled, thin-waisted, monkey-footed,
Round-hoofed, mule-tailed, enduring, so used to hard labor, he never sweats.

Blue and turning blue like cinders, no dust.
Glint and glinting like the holy, no dandruff.

Hooves of jade lost in feathered wool,
Eyes like agate or two lanterns, spreading flame into the night.

Long-eared, loaded down, and saddled high, he outsteps the caparisoned horse.
More lively and aware than the short-eared and light-headed packhorse,

He’s content at satisfaction’s door, satisfied with hay and scrub.
A patient and enduring traveler, tolerant and uncomplaining.

A clever man called Donkey, a fellow traveler on the path,
Better him than a hundred dizzy, crude friends.

Fasting all year, each day, with no intention,
Awake each night, but not to pray.

How happy I was when he spoke for himself, “Oh, Nali,
We’re both animals, you a short-ear and I a long-ear.”

 

 

ھەی کەرێکم بوو

ھەی کەرێکم بوو، چ پەیکەر؟ تەیکەری ھەوراز و لێژ
سینە پان و، مووچە کورت و، شانە بەرز و، گوێ درێژ

بن زک و جەبھەت سپی، کلک ئێستر و دامەن سیا
یەککە تاز و، سێ بڕو، دوو باد و، شەش دانگ و درێژ

کەللە وەک جەڕڕەی شەرابی پر نیشات و تەڕ دەماغ
شێری نەڕ، ئاھوویی بەڕ، گورگی سەفەر، قەمچی نەچێژ

مل عەلەم، شیرین قەلەم، ئاھوو شکەم، مەیموون قەدەم
سم خڕ و کلک ئێستر و، مەنزل بڕ و، عارەق نەڕیژ

زەرق و زەڕڕاقی وەکوو خاکستەر، ئەمما بێغوبار
بەرق و بەڕڕاقی وەکوو پیرۆزە، لاکین بێ کڕێژ

سم وەکوو یەشم و لە پەشم و تووکی پێدا سەرنگوون
چاو وەکوو بیجادە یا دوو شەو چراغی شوعلە ڕێژ

گوێ درێژێ بار و کورتان بەرز و، پاڵانی بەزێن
چوست و وریاتر لە گوێ کورتانی پاڵانی و گێژ

قانیعی بابی ڕەزا و ڕازی بە پووش و دڕک و داڵ
سالیکی سەبر و تەحەممول، بوردەبار و ھیچ نەوێژ

عاقڵێ بوو ناوی کەر بوو، قاتیعی ڕێگەی سەفەر
خۆش سلووکتر بوو لە سەد وێڵداشی ھەرزە و گێژ و وێژ

صائم الدهری بەڕۆژ، ئەمما بەڕۆژووی بێنییەت
قائم اللیلی سلووک، ئەمما سلووکی بێنوێژ!…

چەندە پێم خۆش بوو، زوبانی حاڵی دەیوت نالیا
ھەردوو حەیوانین، ئەتۆ گوێ کورت و ئەمنیش گوێ درێژ

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Born Khidr Ahmed Shawaisi Mikayili (1800-1856), Nali grew up in Khak u Khol village, on the Sharazur plain of Sulaimani. As a faqe, an itinerant student of Islamic jurisprudence, he traveled across villages and cities—primarily Sanandaj, Mahabad, Qaradagh, Halabja, and Sulaimani—seeking religious education until becoming a mullah. In Mawlana Khalid’s khanaqa, he joined the ranks of the musta’id.

In 1830, he left Sulaimani to perform the pilgrimage. Returning from Mecca, he traveled through Shaam, a province that at the time included modern Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, and parts of southern Turkey. Here, in 1834, he wrote his letter to Salim, a poem that would become famous, asking his dear friend whether he should continue home to Sulaimani since the city had fallen to the Ottomans. Salim warned Nali away. Nali, heeding his warning, traveled instead to Istanbul in 1835 to join Ahmed Pasha, the exiled and final prince of the Babans. Eventually, Nali returned to Mecca, accompanying Sultan Abdul-Majid Khan. Nali died in Istanbul and was buried in the Abu Ayyub Ansari Graveyard.

Nali’s lifespan, like many other Kurdish poets of his era, is a source of controversy among Kurdish scholars. Muhammed Amin Zaki Bag, Maruf Khaznadar, and Kamal Fuad all agree that Nalie lived from 1800-1856. Only Aladin Sajadi claims Nali lived between 1797-1855. Other scholars refer to Sajadi’s estimate as a mismatch of the Islamic and Christian calendars.

Headshots of Alana Marie Levinson-LaBrosse (L) & Shene Mohammed (R)

Alana Marie Levinson-LaBrosse is a poet, translator, and the Founding Director of Kashkul, the center for arts and culture at the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani (AUIS). Her book-length co-translations this year include Selim Temo’s Nightlands and Farhad Pirbal’s The Potato Eaters, as well as the anthology Something Missing from This World, a selection of Êzîdî poetry. Dream State, her own debut collection, was selected by Eileen Myles as a finalist for the Changes Book Prize and comes out in 2025 with Unnamed Press.

Shene Mohammed holds an MFA in Literary Translation from the University of Iowa. She has worked at the Kurdistan Center for Arts and Culture, translating the autobiography of Hejar Mukiryanî, The Food of the Mosque Servant, and at Kashkul, collaborating with Dr. Alana Levinson-LaBrosse on an anthology of Kurdish classical poets of the nineteenth century. She has served as managing editor for Exchanges Journal of Literary Translation, and her writing has appeared in Michigan Quarterly Review, Poetry, World Literature Today, M—Dash, and Modern Poetry in Translation.

Cover of "My Moon is the Only Moon" by Nali

PUBLISHER

My Moon Is the Only Moon
Kashkul Books

Sulaimani, Iraq

American University of Iraq

  • Featured book

Kashkul Books publishes both classical and contemporary writings translated by the collective, as well as artist catalogs that accompany exhibitions it curates and occasional special projects. It has various series such as Contemporaries, Classics, Theater, and Art Exhibition Catalogs, publishing and translating mainly into and from Kurdish (all dialects), Arabic, English, and Spanish. Currently, Kashkul Books are available at AUIS Copy Center, Rahand Center at the Slemani bazaar, and online through Peyk Bookstore for orders from the Kurdistan region, Iraq, and beyond.

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