Baroj Hashim
Mirname (2008) is written in Kurdish Kirmanci dialect. The writer himself has translated the novel into Arabic language. Later it had been translated into Sorani dilalect in 2013
The novel is a fictional and quasi-historical story about the life and death of the Kurdish philosopher and poet Ahmedi Khani. The novel starts with the burial ceremony of Khani. Characters gather carrying the coffin of Khani over their shoulders and wait until the grave is fully dug. Before he is completely buried, each of the characters narrate the story to show their strong relationship with Khani, most of them, as independent narrators claim that Khani has been poisoned by an anonymous person. As the early events of the novel develop, Khani’s health begins to deteriorate, as a result he begins to vomit from time to time, so as time passes his heath is worsened and he could not even stand on his feet to continue his writings.
We learn from the novel that during that time, in the sixteenth century, Khani was fully occupied with his masterpiece Mem U Zin . It is occasionally seen that many Kurdish intellectuals frequent Khani’s small house, among them Khani is the most intelligent Kurd, those who visit him attentively listen to him because his is the one who is more aware of the state of Kurdistan and how the Kurdish Mirs serve the Ottoman state against Kurdistan, thus Khani goes through deep suffering and pain as he sees Kurdish fearless fighters especially Mirs deceiving themselves and serving their own formidable enemies. Thus, Khani exerts himself to rescue Kurdistan by writing a letter to the Mir to let him know about the socio-political situation and the relationship of Kurdish people with their enemies. Sending a letter to the Mir of the Botan Emirate is the most crucial event in the story because it has a firm connection with the title of the novel, but unfortunately it becomes a complex and most repeating and talkative event though it does not reach the Mir. Khani leaves the letter unfinished, at the same time he has no more strength in himself to wrestle with his disease, so the novel comes to its end with the death of Khani. Rumours spread that someone has poisoned Khani, but each one of his close friends claim that they had no hand in poisoning Khani, the only suspicious person who might have hastened the death of Khani could be Yavus, because he is the one who is skilled at killing and killing for him is not a big crime to commit. Nevertheless, Yavus himself confesses that he did not poison Khani. Thus, the mystery of his death remains ambiguous, and the novel ends with the burial of Khani and his letter remains unfinished after his death
Excusable homicide is another term for justifiable homicide which indicates that killing someone is not regarded as an act of crime, that is because the act was done legally or it was done to defend oneself or it is an act that happens by coincidence. (Martin 190). Killing is a prevailing theme throughout Mirname, from the opening of the novel it is clear that someone has poisoned Khani, and the reasons behind his killing is not unfolded until the end of the play, besides, other personal story make the novel worthwhile as they consist of violent acts, one of these stories is the story of Yavus’s father. The novelist does not provide ample details about the character of his father, even though his name is not given in the novel. His story starts shockingly as his son Yavus narrates it at a time when he has grown up, nevertheless the painful childhood story is still stored in his troubled mind. The only words he remembers are the swearing words his father uttering while attacking his mother: “You, the impure, you have treaded upon my honour”(245). Before speaking these dirty words Yavus admits that”He cut off the head of my mother from her body”(145). Afterwards, Yavus says that he did not know why he was filled with unbridled fury, as he was watching the violent scene in the corner of the room, feeling too frightened that his father was to kill him and his brothers and sisters too, therefore he escapes the scene and leaves the house for good. It is important to mention the ulterior motives behind the anger of his father, it is apparently clear that his wife has been found to be a prostitute, as a result honour killing can be regarded as a justifiable homicide since his wife has inflicted pain on him by having secret sexual relations with other men.
When his father says to her with an angry voice “You treaded upon my honour” (245) specifically the phrase “My hour” signifies that the man regarded his wife as his possession, the belief of possessing a human being enabled him to put an end to her life. In response, the wife is incapable of defending herself because she has no power over his masculine cruelty. A man like Yavus’s father has been serving as a soldier, so he might have seen thousands of casualties, that is the reason why killing for him is an easy job. Again, for him he does not want to be deemed ”cuckold” since in a male-dominated societies this derogatory term is unbearable for honorable men, once a man feels that he is a cuckold he will feel inferior and will not be able to have strong social relations because men, in particular are to discriminate him, so to avoid this unpleasant feeling and to be called a gallant and honourable man he murders his wife by a dagger.