The Kurdish national anthem
Ey Reqîb
Written in a prison cell in 1938 by the poet Dildar, sung from Bakur to Rojhilat and across the diaspora. This is the reference site: verified lyrics, translations, history and sources.
Also written Ey Reqib, Ey Raqib, Ay Raqib, or in Arabic script ئەی ڕەقیب.
What is Ey Reqîb?
Ey Reqîb (O enemy, also rendered as hey guard) is the national anthem of the Kurds. The poem was written in 1938 by Dildar, the pen name of the young law student Yûnis Reûf, while he was imprisoned for his political convictions. It is written in Soranî, the Central Kurdish language, and consists of five verses, each answered by the same defiant refrain.
In 1946 the short lived Republic of Mahabad (Rojhilat) adopted the poem as its national anthem, and since 1991 it has been the official anthem of the Kurdistan Region (Başûr). Far beyond any official status, it is sung wherever Kurds gather: in all four parts of Kurdistan and throughout the diaspora.
This site documents the anthem the way a reference work should: the verified text with its variants, careful translations, the history with its uncertainties named rather than smoothed over, and a source for every claim.
The first verse
ئەی ڕەقیب، ھەر ماوە قەومی کوردزمان،نایشکێنێ دانەری تۆپی زەمان.
Ey reqîb, her mawe qewmî kurdziman,Nayşikênê danerî topî zeman.
کەس نەڵێ کورد مردووە، کورد زیندووە،زیندووە، قەت نانەوێ ئاڵاکەمان.
Kes nelê kurd mirdûwe, kurd zîndûwe,Zîndûwe, qet nanewê alakeman.