This paper seeks to demonstrate how Haji Qadir Koyi’s poetry experienced three different stages in terms of form and content, through which Haji highlighted the discourse of Kurdish national identity. In the first stage, Haji used “Gazal” (sonnet), in which he imitated the rules of Persian classic poetry and the content of several Kurdish classic poets such as Nali and Salim. The second stage is a transitional period in which he stayed away from “Gazal” and used “Qasida” (long descriptive poem including “ode”) to express his nationalistic feelings. Exploring another form of poetry named “Masnavi” (couplet) in the last stage, Haji addressed and further enhanced the discourse of Kurdish nationalism as the political ideology by which Kurdistan could liberate itself from the dominance of both Ottoman and Persian empires. The paper indicates that how the employment of literary forms in Haji’s poetry was in close parallel with the process of changes in his thought and worldview regarding the status of the Kurdish nation.
