Evdilsemedê Babek or Abdussamed Babek (born in Hakkâri; 972–1019) [1] was a Kurdish poet who with Ali Hariri were the first to write in Kurdish ( Kurmanji). [1] [2] Beside Kurdish, Babek also wrote in Arabic [3] and has been described as the first Kurdish poet to emerge after the spread of Islam among Kurds. [1]
Babek was born in Hakkari and lived from 972 to 1019, [1] or 1078. [2] Other sources state he lived from 938 to 995. [1] Ibn Khallikan puts his date of birth at 973. [4]
His father was named Babek, whose father was Ebdulqasim, whose father was a poet named Mensûr. Babek travelled to study in Baghdad, Nishapur, Mosul and Hamadan, and his poems became famous and read by Kurds. Religion and nature were his main subjects. [1] Ibn Khallikan described him as one of the most famous poets. [4] Few of his hundreds of poems are available. [5]