The Poem That Split a Protest

Fourteen Hundred Years of Anfal

Recited at a solidarity protest in Erbil for Syrian Kurds, January 2026. The recitation triggered a counter-protest and became a flashpoint in the Kurdistan Region's response to the crisis.

Ev hezar û çarsed sal e
Li welatê min "enfal" e
Ser û mal û namûsa min
Li dijminê min helal e
For fourteen hundred years
In my homeland it is "Anfal"
My life, my home, and my honor
Are halal to my enemy
Evan misilmanên qesmer
Îslam li min kirin xencer
Bi ayeta enfala reş
Muhemed ji kirin Hîtler
These deceitful Muslims
Made Islam a dagger against me
With the dark verse of Anfal
They turned Muhammad into Hitler
Ey Xudayê şev û rojan
Bila bes bin ev derd û jan
Ev dîn eger dînê te ye
Kê kir hevalê xûnmijan?
O God of nights and days
Let these pains and sufferings end
If this religion is your religion
Who made it a companion of bloodshed?
The double meaning of "Anfal"
Li welatê min "enfal" e
"Anfal" is both Surah al-Anfal, the Quranic chapter on spoils of war, and the name Saddam Hussein chose for the 1988 genocide against the Kurds. The poet collapses fourteen centuries into a single word that means both theological sanction and mass killing.
Who turned Muhammad into Hitler?
Muhemed ji kirin Hîtler
The most incendiary line. The grammatical subject is "these deceitful Muslims" from the previous line. The verb "kirin" (made/turned) places blame on human actors who distort the faith, not on the Prophet himself. But in a charged atmosphere, that distinction collapsed easily.
The prayer that complicates the blasphemy charge
Ey Xudayê şev û rojan
The final stanza addresses God directly. If the poet were anti-Islam, why petition the divine? The closing question is rhetorical: the answer is people, not God. The poem ends not with a verdict but with a question aimed upward.