Dîldar, born Yûnis Reûf (, 20 February 1918 – October 20, 1948) was a Kurdish poet and political activist, best known for writing the Kurdish national anthem

Ey Reqîb "" (, ) is the Kurdish national anthem and the official anthem of the autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The poem was written in 1938 by Dildar in Sorani. History It was written by the Kurdish poet and political activist, Dildar in 1938, w ...

Early life and his studies

Dildar was born on 20 February 1918 in the town of Koy Sanjaq located in the Mosul Vilayet of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. In his youth, he attended school in Ranya, high school in

Kirkuk Kirkuk (; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of the Kirkuk Governorate. The city is home to a diverse population of Kurds, Iraqi Turkmen, Iraqi Turkmens and Arabs. Kirkuk sits on the ruins of the original Kirkuk Cit ...

and moved to

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

to study

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

Life

Literary style

Many of his poems were written in the classical Kurdish style with quantitative rhythm and

monorhyme Monorhyme is a passage, stanza, or entire poem in which all lines have the same end rhyme. The term "monorhyme" describes the use of one (mono) type of repetitious sound (rhyme). This is common in Arabic, Persian, Latin and Welsh work, such as '' Th ...

. His poems were published in the ''Ronakî'' and ''Galawêz'' literary journals in

Erbil Erbil (, ; , ), also called Hawler (, ), is the capital and most populated city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The city is the capital of the Erbil Governorate. Human settlement at Erbil may be dated back to the 5th millennium BC. At the h ...

and

. He moreover introduced romantic and realistic elements in Kurdish poetry.

Law

He graduated as a lawyer in 1945 and practiced law to defend the poor, farmers, and defending the Kurdish issues in general.

Political activism

He joined the newly formed Hîwa Party in 1938, which became " e first Kurdish organisation legally recognized, that seeks a united and free Kurdistan". Dildar relocated to

Iranian Kurdistan Iranian Kurdistan or Eastern Kurdistan () is an unofficial name for the parts of northwestern Iran with either a majority or sizable population of Kurds. Geographically, it includes the West Azerbaijan province, Kurdistan province, Kermanshah pr ...

to join the revolution led by

Qazi Muhammad Qazi Muhammad (, ; 1 May 1893 – 31 March 1947) was an Iranian Kurdish Islamic cleric and political leader who founded the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) and was the first president of the short-lived, Soviet-backed, though in ...

against the government of Iran, which led to his infamous arrest in Iran.

Prison and death

Ey Reqîb

After being arrested, he was sent to prison in Iran, where he wrote the poem "

" meaning "Oh Enemy", in 1938, referencing the prison guards, and expressing that the Kurds were alive and will not back down from fighting for free a

Kurdistan Kurdistan (, ; ), or Greater Kurdistan, is a roughly defined geo- cultural region in West Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, languages, and national identity have historically been based. G ...

. His expression of frustration and direct confrontation with the occupiers of Kurdistan made "Ey Reqîb" a symbol in the Kurdish cause for freedom.

Death and legacy

Dildar died young at the age of 3‌0 and was buried in Erbil. He lived to see his poem "Ey Reqîb" being adopted as the Kurdish national

anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to sho ...

. Ey Reqîb was first played and sung in 1946 on the proclamation of the short-lived

Republic of Mahabad The Republic of Mahabad, also referred to as the Republic of Kurdistan (; ), was a short-lived Kurdish self-governing unrecognized state in present-day Iran, from 22 January to 15 December 1946. The Republic of Mahabad, a puppet state of the ...

. Today the song is played as the official anthem of

Kurdistan Region Kurdistan Region (KRI) is a semi-autonomous Federal regions of Iraq, federal region of the Iraq, Republic of Iraq. It comprises four Kurds, Kurdish-majority governorates of Arabs, Arab-majority Iraq: Erbil Governorate, Sulaymaniyah Governorate ...

and widely adopted by Kurds in the four parts of