Êzîdî Proverbs and Idioms: gotinên pêşiyan

Category: Culture · Slug: sprichwoerter Status: 2026-06-15 Purpose: A curated, source-backed collection of Kurmancî proverbs (Kurmancî: gotinên pêşiyan, “words of the ancestors”) and idioms (biwêj / gotinên devkî) as they are in common use among the Êzîdî, with a literal translation and an explanation of the meaning.

What are “gotinên pêşiyan”?

The Kurmancî term gotinên pêşiyan literally means “the words of those who went before / of the ancestors”. These are short, formulaic, often rhymed or rhythmic utterances that condense collective life experience, values and worldview into a memorable form. The Êzîdî, as a predominantly Kurmancî-speaking community, share this rich treasury of proverbs with the wider Kurmancî-speaking world. Christine Allison describes in The Yezidi Oral Tradition in Iraqi Kurdistan (2001) that Kurmancî possesses a large store of animal fables, proverbs (precisely the “words of the ancestors” as a repository of folk wisdom), Nasreddin anecdotes and riddles, all transmitted orally.

Proverbs differ from two related genres that have their own articles on ezdixan.de:

• Fairy tales / folk narratives (çîrok, hekayet), see /wiki/marchen, are narrative stories with characters and plot.
• Vocabulary / dictionary: see /wiki/glossar, are single words and fixed expressions without the character of a maxim.
• Proverbs and idioms (this article) are, by contrast, self-contained sayings of wisdom or pictorial figures of speech that count as a genre of their own.

Honest demarcation: Êzîdî-specific vs. general Kurmancî

Here transparency is a duty. By far the greatest part of the Kurmancî store of proverbs is pan-Kurdish / general Kurmancî and not exclusively Êzîdî. Êzîdî, Kurmancî-speaking Muslims and Christians draw from the same well. A genuine Êzîdî-specific stamp can only be safely asserted where a proverb refers to Êzîdî religion (Tawûsî Melek, Sultan Êzî, Lalîş, Çarşema Sor), to the Êzîdî caste order, or to the collective memory of suffering (Ferman), and even then often only in its use, not in its wording.

This is why every entry below is marked:

• [êz.]: Êzîdî-specifically stamped through a reference to Êzîdî religion/society (in use or in wording).
• [allg. kurmancî]: a generally Kurdish proverb that is also used by Êzîdî, but is not exclusively Êzîdî.

The folkloristic collecting work on which this article draws stems predominantly from the Caucasian Êzîdî folklorists Heciyê Cindî and the brothers Casimê / Ordîxanê Celîl, whose corpora were recorded in the Êzîdî villages of Soviet Armenia (Alagyaz/Aragats, Aparan, Talin), that is, from an Êzîdî speech community, which attests the proverbs as in common use among the Êzîdî, without necessarily marking them as only Êzîdî.

Note on sources: The large folklore table present in the app (see /wiki/marchen) contains the same corpus in multilingual tabular form with trust levels. This article is the explanatory reading version of the same material, focused on proverbs and idioms as a genre.

Writing convention

All proverbs are given in the Latin Hawar script (Bedirxan 1932), the standard used throughout ezdixan.de for Kurmancî. Per entry:

1. Kurmancî (italic): the original wording.
2. “Literal”, the most word-faithful English translation possible.
3. “Meaning / context”, what is meant and when it is said.

1. Faith, Tawûsî Melek, Lalîş

Here the Êzîdî-specific references are densest. Important: Tawûsî Melek (the Peacock Angel) is in the Êzîdî tradition never equated with the “devil”, this equation is a foreign slander (see /wiki/religion). In proverbs the sacred usually appears as Êzî (Sultan Êzî), Xudê / Xwedê (God in the Êzîdî sense), as well as through the sun (roj) and the moon (heyv).

• Roj û heyv, du çavên Xudê., Literally: “Sun and moon, the two eyes of God.”, Meaning [êz.]: An image for the omnipresence and the watching eye of God; it mirrors the Êzîdî veneration of sun and light. Used in religious instruction.
• Sond bi rojê û heyvê., Literally: “An oath by sun and moon.”, Meaning [êz.]: The highest, inviolable oath, often extended to “sond bi Êzî” (oath by Êzî). Sun, moon and Sultan Êzî are the holiest witnesses; an oath sworn thus may never be broken.
• Çira jî dua ye., Literally: “The lamp too is prayer.”, Meaning [êz.]: The lighting of the wick-light (çira), central to the Êzîdî rite, especially at Lalîş, itself counts as an act of prayer; piety lies not in the word alone.
• Êzî bes e, lê divê em jî mêrxas bin., Literally: “Êzî is enough, yet we must also be brave.”, Meaning [êz.]: Trust in God does not release one from one’s own action, trust in Sultan Êzî, but do your own part. (A variant; well attested orally, the wording varying regionally.)
• Av zelal, dil zelal., Literally: “Clear water, clear heart.”, Meaning [êz.]: Purity outside as within, a saying that links the Êzîdî ethos of purity (water is holy, the white springs of Lalîş) with inner sincerity.

2. Community, caste and social cohesion

Êzîdî society is structured into the endogamous estates Mirîd, Pîr and Şêx (see /wiki/traditionen). Many community proverbs are general Kurmancî, but in the Êzîdî context are applied to this order and to the duty of mutual loyalty.

• Dest destê dişo, herdu rûyî dişon., Literally: “One hand washes the other, both together wash the face.”, Meaning [allg. kurmancî]: Cooperation benefits everyone; the help of neighbours and kin.
• Cîranê baş ji birayê dûr çêtir e., Literally: “A good neighbour is better than a distant brother.”, Meaning [allg. kurmancî]: One who is near and helps counts for more than distant kinship, especially topical in the diaspora.
• Pîr û ciwan, hemû ji yek malê ne., Literally: “Old and young, all from one house.”, Meaning [allg. kurmancî]: The generations belong together; to the Êzîdî ear pîr (the eldest / priestly estate) also resonates, the community as one house.
• Heval di rojên reş de tê dîtin., Literally: “The friend is recognized in the black days.”, Meaning [allg. kurmancî]: True friendship shows itself in need.
• Dijminê bavan nabin dostê lawan., Literally: “The enemies of the fathers do not become friends of the sons.”, Meaning [allg. kurmancî]: Old enmities work across generations; a warning to caution. (Documented among others in the Kurmancî proverb collection of the Kurdish Wikipedia.)

3. Hospitality (mêvanperwerî)

Hospitality (mêvanperwerî) is a core value. Several of these sayings appear in the Cindî collection with a religious justification, the guest stands under divine protection, which is strongly anchored in the Êzîdî value system.

• Mêvan ji Xwedê ye., Literally: “The guest is from God.”, Meaning [êz. / allg.]: Whoever turns away a guest transgresses against the sacred; for this reason even a stranger receives protection. (Also widespread in the wider Kurdish world, religiously charged in Êzîdî usage.)
• Av û nan bira ne., Literally: “Water and bread are brothers.”, Meaning [êz.]: One shares what is essential to life; water and bread count at the same time as holy gifts, to refuse them would be sacrilege. Said at the meal when a guest arrives.
• Mala bê mêvan kor e., Literally: “The house without a guest is blind.”, Meaning [allg. kurmancî]: A house that receives no one has neither light nor honour, praise of the hospitable house.
• Mêvan bi xêr tê, bi xêr diçe., Literally: “The guest comes with blessing, goes with blessing.”, Meaning [allg. kurmancî]: The guest brings blessing into the house and carries away no grudge; related to the pan-Kurdish saying that the guest comes “with ten blessings, eats one and leaves nine behind”.

Idiom block (greeting). These fixed expressions are not proverbs, but indispensable everyday idiom, and deliberately Êzîdî-pure, without Muslim formulas (no Selam aleykum, Înşallah, Maşallah):

• Bi xêr hatî!, “May you have come with blessing!” (= Welcome!)
• Kerem ke., “Be so kind / come in, help yourself.”
• Mala te ava!, literally “May your house be inhabited/flourishing!” (= a formula of thanks, a wish of blessing).

4. Honour, word and reliability (namûs)

Namûs (honour) is central in the Êzîdî value system. These sayings are linguistically general Kurmancî, but in Êzîdî usage are closely tied to oath and vow.

• Namûsa mirov ji canê wî ezîztir e., Literally: “A person’s honour is dearer than his life.”, Meaning [allg. kurmancî]: Honour stands above life; a guiding principle in moral decisions.
• Gotina mêr, sond., Literally: “The word of the man is an oath.”, Meaning [allg. kurmancî]: A given promise is binding like a vow.
• Mêrê bê gotin, darê bê pel., Literally: “A man without his word, a tree without a leaf.”, Meaning [allg. kurmancî]: One who breaks his word is worthless and bare.
• Derew bavê her xirabiyê ye., Literally: “The lie is the father of every wickedness.”, Meaning [allg. kurmancî]: From lies grows every evil; a classic upbringing saying.

5. Patience, fate and the path of life (sebir, bext)

• Sebir miftaha felatê ye., Literally: “Patience is the key to salvation.”, Meaning [allg. kurmancî]: Whoever endures patiently reaches the goal. (miftah is an Arabic loanword for “key”.)
• Hêdî here, dûr biçe., Literally: “Go slowly, come far.”, Meaning [allg. kurmancî]: Deliberateness carries furthest, the Kurmancî counterpart to “more haste, less speed”.
• Dims bi sebrê nabe helaw., Literally: “Grape syrup does not become halva without patience.”, Meaning [allg. kurmancî]: Good things need time and effort; nothing of worth arises hastily. (Documented in the Kurmancî proverb collection of the Kurdish Wikipedia.)
• Bext nivîsî ye., Literally: “Fate is written.”, Meaning [êz.]: Each person’s lot is said to be predetermined, read in the Êzîdî interpretation as Nivîsa Melekê Tawûs (the “writing of the Peacock Angel”); at the same time it admonishes one to act all the same. A comfort in strokes of fate.
• Roj her sibê ji nû ve hiltê., Literally: “The sun rises anew every morning.”, Meaning [êz. / allg.]: Each day is a new chance; in the Êzîdî context at the same time an echo of sun veneration.

6. Family, parents and generations

• Xwîn av nabe., Literally: “Blood does not become water.”, Meaning [allg. kurmancî]: Bonds of kinship are indissoluble; one stands by the family despite quarrel.
• Ji ya dê û bavî der nakeve., Literally: “One does not depart from the word of mother and father.”, Meaning [allg. kurmancî]: Parents are honoured; an expression of respect for the elders (hurmeta mezinan).
• Hurmeta mezinan, bextê biçûkan., Literally: “Respect for the great is the fortune of the small.”, Meaning [allg. kurmancî]: Whoever honours the elders fares well.
• Zarokê bê dapîr, daristanê bê dar., Literally: “A child without a grandmother, a forest without trees.”, Meaning [allg. kurmancî]: Without grandparents childhood is bare; praise of the role of the elders.
• Mal mala bavan e, lê dil dilê dayikê ye., Literally: “The house is that of the fathers, yet the heart is that of the mother.”, Meaning [allg. kurmancî]: The father gives structure, the mother love and warmth.

7. Nature, animals and agriculture

A group rooted in the herding culture; linguistically throughout general Kurmancî. The animal-fable proverbs (donkey, bear, dog) are, as Allison stresses, a particularly rich Kurmancî store.

• Bi her gulekê bihar nayê., Literally: “With a single flower spring does not come.”, Meaning [allg. kurmancî]: One swallow does not make a summer; a single case does not yet make a whole.
• Bayê bê baran tune., Literally: “There is no wind without rain.”, Meaning [allg. kurmancî]: Portents do not come for nothing; something follows upon signs.
• Hespê baş bi reftara xwe diyar dibe., Literally: “A good horse shows itself by its gait.”, Meaning [allg. kurmancî]: By deeds, not by words, one recognizes the true worth.
• Ker bi ku ve here jî ker e., Literally: “Wherever the donkey goes, it remains a donkey.”, Meaning [allg. kurmancî]: A fool remains a fool everywhere; a change of place does not change the nature. (Documented in the Kurmancî proverb collection of the Kurdish Wikipedia.)
• Çiya bi berfê, dil bi xemê., Literally: “The mountain with snow, the heart with sorrow.”, Meaning [allg. kurmancî]: Both are heavy, but given by nature, a comfort in mourning.

8. Wisdom, the tongue and the measure of words

The “tongue” (ziman) is a central image for the power and the danger of speech.

• Ziman hestî tune, lê hestiyan dişkîne., Literally: “The tongue has no bones, yet it breaks bones.”, Meaning [allg. kurmancî]: Words can wound more deeply than blows.
• Zimanê şîrîn marî ji qulê derdixe., Literally: “A sweet tongue draws the snake out of its hole.”, Meaning [allg. kurmancî]: With friendly words one achieves what force cannot; praise of diplomacy.
• Bêdengî zêr e., Literally: “Silence is gold.”, Meaning [allg. kurmancî]: In conflicts restraint is the wisest course.
• Pirs ji êvarê re, bersiv ji sibehê re., Literally: “The question belongs to the evening, the answer to the morning.”, Meaning [allg. kurmancî]: Over important decisions one should first sleep a night.
• Aqil bi dirêjbûna por nayê., Literally: “Understanding does not come with the length of the hair.”, Meaning [allg. kurmancî]: Grey hair or age alone does not vouch for wisdom.

9. Homeland, longing and the mountains

The mountains, Şingal (Sinjar) in the heartland, Aragats in the Caucasian diaspora, are identity-forming. In the diaspora these sayings gain new weight.

• Welatê mirov, hêlîna mirov., Literally: “A person’s homeland is his nest.”, Meaning [allg. kurmancî]: Homeland means shelter; said to those living far away.
• Çiyayê me, diya me., Literally: “Our mountain, our mother.”, Meaning [êz.]: The sacred mountains (Şingal, Aragats) are motherly-protecting; an identity saying that among the Êzîdî is closely tied to Şingal.
• Av çiqas dûr biherike jî, li hêviya çemê xwe ye., Literally: “However far the water flows, it longs for its river.”, Meaning [allg. kurmancî, used by êz.]: One who departs longs back to the root, today often addressed to the Êzîdî diaspora.

10. Suffering, loss and the memory of Ferman

Êzîdî history is marked by repeated campaigns of annihilation, which in Êzîdî memory are designated Ferman: historically often numbered as “73 Fermans” (see /wiki/religion and the chronicle under the genocide articles). A specifically “Êzîdî Ferman proverb” with a fixed transmitted wording cannot be seriously attested from the collections as a classic gotina pêşiyan, mourning was expressed primarily in laments (lawik, stran), not in proverbs. Christine Allison and others document the lament (the Sinjari laments after 2014) as the actual genre for the working-through of suffering.

What can be said seriously:

• The word Ferman itself is a fixed, highly charged idiom (“A Ferman came” = a blow of annihilation struck us), an idiom, not a proverb.
• General proverbs of suffering and comfort such as Çiya bi berfê, dil bi xemê (see section 7) or Heval di rojên reş de tê dîtin (section 2) are drawn upon in the context of mourning.

Honest gap: I list here no invented “Ferman proverbs”. Whoever seeks authentic Êzîdî texts of suffering finds them in the Qewl and lament tradition, see /wiki/qewl-tradition and /wiki/marchen. Linguistic backgrounds to the terms are found at /wiki/linguistik.

Notes on reliability and loanwords

• Loanwords: Some proverbs contain Arabic/Persian loanwords (e.g. sebir “patience”, miftah “key”, namûs “honour”, bext “fate/fortune”). This is normal in Kurmancî and no indication of a foreign origin of the proverb.
• Religious purification: Proverbs with an explicitly Islamic stamp (for instance with Şeytan or Islamic names of God) are deliberately excluded here; where Xwedê / Xudê appears, it is to be understood in the Êzîdî sense (= Êzî / God of the Êzîdî).
• Wording variants: Orally transmitted proverbs vary regionally (Şingal, Şêxan, Aparan, Tbilisi). The form chosen here follows the published collections; divergent versions are no error but the nature of oral tradition.
• êz. vs. general: The markings are a reasoned assessment, not an absolute boundary. In case of doubt “allg. kurmancî” was chosen, modesty before over-interpretation.

Sources

• Allison, Christine (2001): The Yezidi Oral Tradition in Iraqi Kurdistan. Richmond: Curzon Press., Foundational study of the Êzîdî oral tradition; classifies proverbs, fables and laments. Publisher page: https://www.routledge.com/The-Yezidi-Oral-Tradition-in-Iraqi-Kurdistan/Allison/p/book/9781138883871
• Allison, Christine (2017/2021): Singing the Pain: Yezidi Oral Tradition and Sinjari Laments after ISIS. In: Oral Tradition., On the lament rather than proverb tradition of working through suffering. https://oraltradition.org/singing-the-pain-yezidi-oral-tradition-and-sinjari-laments-after-isis/
• Cindî, Heciyê (1959, 2nd enlarged ed. 1976): Met’elok û gotinên pêşiya k’urda (“Proverbs and words of the Kurdish ancestors”). Yerevan., ~2300 proverbs recorded in the Êzîdî villages of Armenia; the main corpus of this article (mediated through the app-internal folklore collection). Biography: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heciyê_Cindî
• Celîl, Ordîxanê & Celîl, Casimê (1978): Zargotina k’urda (“Kurdish Folklore”), 2 vols., Nauka, Moscow., Extensive folklore and proverb collection; Ordîxanê Celîl’s archive comprises over 100,000 Kurdish proverbs. Biography: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordîxanê_Celîl · https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celîlê_Celîl
• Wîkîpediya (kurmancî): Gotinên pêşiyan, open Kurmancî proverb collection, used here for the wording check of individual general-Kurmancî proverbs. https://ku.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotinên_pêşiyan
• Şarkiyat / DergiPark (2020): Zayenda civakî û îmaja jina baş-nebaş di gotinên pêşiyan yên Kurdan de, academic analysis of Kurdish proverbs (gender/imagery), on the methodology of paroemiology. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/sarkiat/article/935312

Further articles on ezdixan.de

• /wiki/marchen: fairy tales, folk narratives and the complete multilingual folklore table (same corpus, tabular form).
• /wiki/traditionen: customs, caste order, festivals, in whose context the proverbs are spoken.
• /wiki/glossar: vocabulary and fixed expressions (demarcation from proverbs).
• /wiki/qewl-tradition: the sacred Qewl poetry and the lament tradition for the working-through of suffering.
• /wiki/linguistik: linguistic foundations of Kurmancî/Êzdîkî (among others on loanwords).
• /wiki/religion: Tawûsî Melek, Sultan Êzî, Lalîş, Ferman, the religious background of many proverbs.