Iran and the Caucasus 20 (2016) 385-395

On the Shia Constituent in the Yezidi Religious Lore

Garnik Asatrian
Caucasian Centre for Iranian Studies, Yerevan

Victoria Arakelova
Institute of Archeology and Ethnography, Armenian Academy of Sciences, Yerevan

Abstract
Built on the Islamic, primarily Sufi substrate, the religious beliefs of the Yezidis incorporate Gnostic, Christian, local pagan elements, and primitive beliefs. If certain parallels between Yezidism and the heterodox Shiism are mainly part of common shibboleths typical
of Near Eastern non-dogmatic milieu, the existence of key Shia figures as objects of veneration and respect in the Yezidi religious lore seems to be a really enigmatic phenomenon.
Proper Shia elements in Yezidism have never been particularly discussed.
This paper focuses on the analysis of Shia characters in the Yezidi religious folklore.
Keywords
Shia Characters in Yezidism, Ali bin Abi Talib, Fatima, Pira Fat, Ali in the Hereafter

If the term syncretic has ever been used in a really relevant context, it is
assuredly with regard to Yezidism or, otherwise, the Yezidi religious tradition. Built on the Islamic, primarily Sufi substrate, the religious beliefs of
the Yezidis incorporate Gnostic, Christian, and local pagan elements.1 If
certain parallels between Yezidism and the heterodox Shiism are mainly
part of common shibboleths typical of Near Eastern non-dogmatic milieu
(Arakelova 2015), the existence of key Shia figures as objects of veneration
and respect in the Yezidi religious lore seems to really be an enigmatic
phenomenon, bearing in mind the radical controversy between the Yezidis and the Orthodox Shias in their drastically different perception of
the Karbala event in 681 A.D. While the Yezidis deify Sultan Ezid, sometimes identified with Yazid b. Muwiya, the second Umayyad caliph, the
1

For a recent comprehensive study of the Yezidi religion, see Asatrian/Arakelova 2014.

Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2016

DOI: 10.1163/1573384X-20160308

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Shias consider the latter as the most hideous and abominable personality
in Islam (Arakelova 2005). This is the main watershed between the Yezidis
and the Shias, although not explicitly manifested in the Yezidi doctrine.
In the Yezidi religious lore we have never met any attestation of a distinct
approach and even a hint to this historical event, or the identification of
Sultan Ezid with the mentioned Umayyad caliph. No reference to Karbala
can be found, in fact, in the Yezidi tradition, while among the Orthodox
Shias, the very eponym of the Yezidis, implicitly referred to the second
Umayyad caliph, created a hostile narration around them.2
The Islamic substrate of Yezidism has an explicite inclination towards
Sunnism, which is natural, regarding the fact that the founder of the Adawiyya orderthe basic fundament of the Yezidi religionwas an Orthodox Sunni.3 This can be seen, for instance, in the following passage
concerning the main detail of the Sunni/ Shia cleavage, i.e. the question
of the successors of the Prophet. In the Bayt Nave omat (Celil/Celil
1978: 388-392) or Bayt mirin N.O. Bayt of the (death of) the Prophet
Muhammad (Prophet is called not only by his direct nameMahmad,
or M. bin Avdil,but also Navy omat, i.e. the Prophet of the Umma),
the scene of the last hours of the Prophet is described. He gathers around
him Ali, Umar bin Khattab, Abubakr, and Uthman, and utters his will,
testament. He clearly defines whom he would like to see as his inheritor.
And this was not Ali.
ak na,
Nav Mahmada, Al, Amar, Abubakr, Atmna.
Navy umat g: r ghn min girna!
One day,
the Prophet Muhammad, Ali, Umar, Abubakr, and Uthman came
together;
2
During the recent decades, in the inner-Iranian academic discourse, in order to avoid
the association of the Yezidis with Yazid b. Muwiya, they apply the term zad to the
community (from zad god), and, thus, tacitly perceiving them as the people of god.
3
In the Yezidi onomasticon, for instance, one of the most popular male names is Amar
(the name of the second caliph Umar ibn al-Khab), Ali being a very rare nameat
least among the Yezidis of Armenia. Even Ozmn (the third caliph Uthman bin Affans
name) can be sometimes seen within the male nomenclature of the Armenian Yezidisin
case when it has an obvious connotation to the Ottomans, equally detested by them and
their neighboursArmenians.

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The Prophet of the Umma said: Today my soul is heavyI am going to die!.

Then he orders his wife, Aysha:

Nav g: Ay,
Rva xa xl far,
r ghn Navy omat da.
The Prophet said: Aysha,
Stand up and lay the rugs and carpets (on the floor),
Today the soul of the Prophet of the Umma aches.

The story tells then that the close allies of Muhammad started to cry
and mourn the impending demise of the Prophet. Uthman, day and
night, was crying: O, God! Would it be possible that the Prophet of the
Umma would stay with us?. Abubakr was lamenting: O Prophet, what
did you do with us? You embittered the sweets and sugar!. Umar was
crying: If only I could die instead of you here, and the Prophet could stay
healthy among his Umma!. Ali said: O, Prophet, you are my true Imam, I
will lead (the people of) Mecca and Medina on the true path, You only
stand up, I will lie in your place.
Atmn diadna wya,
Digr av ya,
G:-y rab, hava Navy omat r va pya?
Wa diva Abbakir,
G:- Navy ya y ma kir,
Ta ma tal kirya rin akir.
Amar dang dika bi zra,
G:- Xzil az bimirm lihra,
Navy omat bya nv omat xwa silmat xra.
Al g:-Navy, tu Imm min st,4
Az w kim Makka Madna dibar rst,
Tu va, az daws ta (turb tad) nivst.

However, the Prophet appealed to Ali, saying: If the whole world

come together, nothing will happen by your words; if all the people would
have one will, the decision made by God in Heavens, cannot be cancelled
in the world.
Nav g:har w diva w nva,
Wak av diny hn tamm imhava,
4

In the text dibrst.

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388

Tamm k wstva,
Tivdr r Xwad bika, r batl nva.

After that the Prophet gave his testament to his companions, he said:
Do not forget my will: let Umar be the Mir, let Abubakr be the vizier; put
them on the golden throne and let Mecca and Madina make awf
around them.
Wasyat ma nakina (navna) bra,
Amar tkna (tna) mra,
Abbakr tkna wazra,
Dynin (bidna) sar taxt znna,
Bir p tuva5 Makka Madna.

Nevertheless, with this clear Sunni perception of the key point of the
Prophets inheritors, there can also be found not less explicit hints to the
Shia perception of the same topic. In one of the bayts we read:
arfadn, xarz gul,
Ammata dast gul,
arfadn syr Dundul.
arfadnadn mina,
arfadnadn mina.
Sharfadin (i.e. Malak-Tws), (you are)the seed of a flower,
The Imamat is a bouquet of flowers,
Sharfadin is the horseman upon Dundul,
Sharfadin is my religion,
Sharfadin is my religion (Field materials by the authors).6

Ammat here, as a bunch or bouquet of flowers, unambiguously

points to the notion of Imamat in the Shia doctrine.
The First Imam, his two sonsHasan and Husayn, Fatima, Zainab
(Zn), as well as the Prophet Muhammad and his wife Aysha (Arab. isha) are mentioned more than once in Yezidi religious texts. Even the
legendery horse of Ali, Duldul, and his famous sword, Zulfiqar, figure here
in several sujets.
5

Arab. awf.
In this passage xarz means seed (c.f. xarz masy caviar). Sharfaddin is depicted sometimes as a flower, therefore, Shexisn, who was his son, is qualified as bvgul, that
is the one whose father is a flower.
6

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389

There is an interesting detail, that Sheikh Adi appears as a horseman

riding the legendary Dundul (Duldul or Ddul). Among the Shias, Duldul
is the name of the steed of Ali who is said to ride it in all his battles
against infidels. The gray horse of the Prophet Muhammad himself also
bears the same name as in the Muslim tradition, the word being derived
from the Arabic duldulporcupine. Denoting this legendary horse, the
name is widespread in the folklores of Central Asian and the North Caucasian peoples (Tartars, Uzbeks, Pamirians, Adyghs, Kabardinians, etc.).
Although the main rider of Dundul in the Yezidi Qawl--bayt is Ali,
Sheikh Adi and Sharfadin also saddle this horse. Cf.:
xak mi hab Arabistn,
Xudn Ddul dna.
I had a sheikh in the land of the Arabs (i.e. Sheikh Adi),
(Who is) the owner of Dundul and dn (?) (Celil/Celil 1978: 319).

And:
arfadn, syr Dundul
Sharfadin is the horseman upon Dundul (see above).

Ali himself figures in the Yezidi lore as a legendary hero fighting with
infidels for the Yezidi faith. He bears the epithet of Gods lion, r xwad
(Arab.-Pers. Asadullh), the same as in the Shia tradition, and, like Sheikh
Adi and Sharfadin (Malak-Tws), he rides Dundul.
Ali, by the way, in several texts features as the rider of other horses as
well: Nansyr Nan, which must be a mare, as it is a feminine
name, meaning literally an old woman, grandmother; and also a horse
called Wardak (i.e. duck):
Al syr Wardak,
Br dika rdak,
Dtna merg Mr, dusaka.
Ali is the rider of Wardak,
[He] takes the flags (standarts),
Comes to the meadow of the Mir, [and] stops.

In another context, Alis horse bears the name br gray Al syr

Br, i.e. Ali, the rider of the gray (horse); the Prophet Muhammads
Dundul being also a gray suit in the Yezidi tradition.

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Another Yezidi text rich with similar motifs is Bayt Al r xwad,

the Hymn to Ali, the Gods Lion. This bayt inter alia mentions Fatima
(Ft, as well as Ftima dm alla, Fatima with burning face), the sons of
Ali and FatimaHasan and Husayn (Hasan, Husayn) and Zaynab
(Zn)and also Aysha, the Prophet Muhammads wife. Cf.:
Hasan-Huseyn girtin,
Galy war kirin,
Kal mazind xr kirin
G:Hn vird bin hat dimirin.
i sibaka nahna!
Digr Ay, Ft Zna
Sav hard kur Alna.
Al dihta mla,
Ftim p a qla;
Gta: Ta girt kirina zndn,
Aw Ftima dm alla.
Aw Ftma dm bika,
Digaa sk bi ska,
Und kirya du bika.
They caught Hasan and Husayn,
Threw them into ravines,
Put [them] into the big fortress,
[And] said:Stay here until you die.
What a mysterious morning!
Aysha, Ftima (Ft in the text) and Zaynab (Zn) were weeping
For the two sons of Al (i.e. Hasan and Husayn).
Al was coming home,
Ftima was arguing, [She] said [to him]: You imprisoned the captives!
That Ftima with a shining (burning) face!
That Fatima with a small face,
Wanders in the markets (roads),
[She] lost her two kids (lit. smalls) (Celil, Celil 1978: 403-412).

The Prophet of Islam and his son-in-law are also mentioned in one of
the most sacred and significant hymns, the Yezidi requiem Qawl Sarmarg:
h , m qadb qlib,
wstya sar ma dastak tlib;

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Av ks vaxwrya nav Mahmad bin Avdil,

Aly bin Abtlib.
The soul has gone, the empty form remained,
The spear-hand taking away [souls] is hanged over us;
This cup was drained [even] by the Prophet Muhammad, the son of
Abdullah,
[And] Ali, the son of Abutalib (x Kele 1995: 16).

Much as this fact seems amazing, in the religion, now totally dissociated from Islam and even approaching the Muslim milieu as hostile, the
death of the Prophet of Islam and the first Shia imam is represented as a
terminus comparationis in the context of a personal grief, the loss of a
kinsman, or, rather, inevitability of death for any human being.
The Shia elements and charactersdifferent saints and their attributes,as was noted, could enter the belief repertory of this syncretic
sect from the heterodox Shia trends, for in its dogmatic form, the mainstream Shiism holds views hostile to Yezidism. The penetration of the
mentioned elements into the orbit of Yezidism could hardly go back particularly to the early Adawiyya history. Nor could they be the result of any
direct influence in the later, proper Yezidi period. What is rather essential is that most of the syncretic teachings of the region had been shaped
out of the same heretical field and are often marked with common motifs, therefore many such peripheral elements shared by these various
sects are curiously enough not the result of mutual influences.
A peculiar Yezidi character not only having obvious parallels with the
Shia personality, Fatima, but also, to a certain extent, shaped upon the
latters figure, is Pr Ft. She is the patroness of women-in-labour, as well
as of newborn babies: she protects them from the evil demoness l. A parturient woman asks for Pr Fts help: Y Pr Ft, l min bika! Oh Pr
Ft, help me! Those present traditionally express their hope for the deitys assistance: r Pr Ft b hawr ta! May the seed of Pr Ft help
you!. The word r in this formula means seed, which is developed from
means, possibility via the interim semantic stage of liquid, medicine
(cf. Middle Pers. rak, New Pers. ra, also Arm. dial. ar, medicine,
means). This phrase specifically expresses the wish that the woman will
give birth to a pure Yezidi from the original seed of the Yezidi people,
since Pr Ft is traditional preserver of this seed. Similarly, they invoke

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this seed when embarking on a journey: Y Pr Ft, r ta sar ma, Oh

Pr Ft, let your assistance (seed) be with us. Pr Ft is actually the
Foremother of the Yezidis, since she has saved from annihilation the seed
from which this people originated.
The legend says that the seed was given to Pr Ft for safekeeping by
Sheikh Ab Bakr (xbakr), the incarnation of the angel Michael (Mikail), one of the avatars of Malak-Tws. Pr Ft then kept it for seven
hundred, or, according to another version, for seven thousand years. Unfortunately, no further details of this myth are to be found. Anyway, the
name of this deity, Pr Ft, literally means old woman Ft, and apparently goes back to the name of the Prophet Muhammads daughter,
Ftima. Ft is shown to be a variant of Ftima (or even Ftim) by the fact
that in certain contexts both forms of the name are used for the Prophets
daughter. The passage cited above offers clear evidence of this. The shortening of the name Ftima, or, to be more precise, the omission of the end
syllables, obviously results from the Kurmanji interpretation of the name:
Ftima (or Ftma) was understood as izfa construction, Ftma (Ft
ma), i.e., our Ft.
Actually, the fact that the Yezidi womens patroness, Pr Ft, was
shaped under Fatimas influence, can be explained by the fact that Fatima
herself represents a specific archetype, particularly in the popular Shia
interpretation; her many features strikingly remind old goddesses (yazatas) of fecundity and procreation, who are directly connected with water.
Pr Fts role as preserver of the first seed in the Yezidi religion associates
her even more with an archetypical conceptthe goddess of procreation
and fecundity, e.g., with Anahita (for details, see Asatrian 2007).
In this regard, we would like to mention some common trends in the
study of Yezidism, recently traceable in some publications. We mean the
attempts to directly trace some archaic elements in the Yezidi faith back
to Old Iranian religious realities. For instance, the veneration of celestial
bodiesthe sun and the moon in the first place,as well as fire, is immediately interpreted as remnants of ancient solar or lunar cults, or fire
worship; a sacrifice of bull is regarded as Mithraic archaism, etc. The
closer scrutiny of such parallels often proves that, even representing the
same archetypes, they can hardly be linked directly.

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The same concerns the text belowit must not be regarded as an

echo of Arta Virz Nmak, but rather a specimen of the common narratives on the Underworld itinerary.
ALI, THE LION OF GOD IN THE UNDERWORLD
The story about Alis journey to the Hereafter, Al r xwad xiratd (
Ali, the Gods Lion in the Underworld), where he is involved in ascertaining the retributions for sins, particularly for offending against Yezidi
religious law, is written down from the Yezidi sheikh Hasan p Mamd
in Yerevan.7 The plot develops from the moment when Ali is turning to
God and getting the allowance to penetrate into the Hereafter together
with his horse, Dundul, through a grave in the graveyard.
A young man from the Underworld meets and accompanies him during the journey. First, he brings the latter to his home, where Ali is met by
three womenone is a well-dressed beautiful young lady, another is naked, just slightly covered her genitals with a piece of kerchief and, finally,
an old woman sitting lonely in the corner and grambling. The host orders
the young women to bring something to eat for Ali. Whatever they are
bringing, everything has a drop of blood on it. The young man explains:
When my father died in the World of Injustice (i.e. in the material world),
we did not distribute the whole meat of the sacrificed animal among the
poor. That is why, in this World of Justice all our food contains a drop of
blood.
Then he tells Ali about the women in the house. The two young ladies are my wives. The first one, a beauty in luxurious garment, always
helped the poor and gave to beggars. The second one, naked, was greedy
and never helped anyone. Once when she went for water to a spring, wind
took her kerchief away. She tried to catch it but failed and said angrily:
All right, wind, keep it for you. Therefore, the only thing she has to cover
the body in this World of Justice, is the kerchief.
As for the old woman, she is my mother. She used to be evil. Having
making bread she never gave a piece to a dog with puppies. So, in this
world she is suffering.
7

The Kurmanji original with detailed commentaries and study is prepared for publication as a separate volume in the Yerevan Oriental Series.

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Then the young man takes Ali outside and shows him the Underworld.8 They meet a shepherd with sheep: one sheep has no head, another
has no legs, etc. Ali is wondering why the sheep look so strange. The
young man explains that the shepherd was hiding some pieces of sacrificed animals, and all his sheep in this world are to be like that.
Thus, walking further, they see a naked man lying on the ground; two
cows come and eat the hair from his breast and body. The man is crying
so loudly that his voice reaches the Seventh sky. My God, Ali says
What did this poor man do, that he has to endure such an ordeal now?.
The young man explains that in the World of Injustice he stole cattles
fodder and now the cows take from him what he owes them.
Then they see a woman tied to a tree, her head down, and two persons
are beating her with a whip. Her voice is filling all the space around. And
what did this woman do? Ali asks.
She was a whore!
Very good! Ali exclaims.
Then they see a man hanged on a tree with a hook in his genitals. The
executors are beating him and burning his body with a piece of hot iron.
What is his fault?
He committed adultery and used to look at his daughter and daughter-in-laws with a sexual desire.
Then they see a man whose tongue is being burned with hot iron because he lied in his world life. Next to him a man is tied to a tree. He has
to endure how they are sticking into his ears with hot iron. That man liked
rumours and gossips.
Then they meet a man standing alone and everybody on either side of
him, is spitting onto him. He was a Yezidi who married a non-Yezidi
woman and denied his faith. Thus, everybody here rejects himboth the
Yezidis and non-Yezidis.
That was, the end of the story. Our informant could not continue it,
though he is sure that there were more scenes of suffering sinners, according to his fathers words.

In the Yezidi tradition, the Underworld looks like a town (ahar) with its suburbs.

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395

It is interesting that after each case, the young man convinced Ali to
tell the people everything he saw, when he is back, so that they would
avoid committing sins.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Arakelova, V. (2005), Sultan Ezid in the Yezidi Tradition: Genesis of the Character, Journal of Persianate Socieies, New Delhi: 198-202.
(2015), The Shibboleths of Heresies: On Some Essential Markers of the Near Eastern
Non-Dogmatic Milieu, Studies on the Iranian World-II: Medieval and Modern, A.
Krasnowolska/R. Rusek-Kowalska (eds.), Krakow: 119-128.
Asatrian, G. (2007), Foremother of the Yezidis, Religious Texts in Iranian Languages, F.
Vahman/C. V. Pedersen (eds.), Copenhagen: 323-328.
/Arakelova, V. (2014), The Religion of the Peacock Angel, London.
Celil, O./C. Celil (1978), Zargotina Kurda, Yerevan.
x Kele, H. (1995), -izma milet zd angor qirar dn, Yerevan.