Qewls: The Sacred Hymns of the Yazidi Faith
- Sherko Sabir
- 1 day ago
- 7 min read
Introduction
The qewls are the sacred hymns of the Yazidi (Ezidi) faith: the holy words in which its theology, its cosmology and the deeds of its angels are carried. Believed to have been revealed by God in ancient times, they are the closest thing Yazidism has to scripture, yet for most of their history they were never written down at all.
Instead the qewls were preserved in living memory, sung by a hereditary class of religious singers called the qewwals. To understand Yazidism is to understand the qewls, for it is in these hymns, rather than in any single holy book, that the faith truly lives.
Contents
What Are the Qewls?
A qewl (from the Arabic qawl, meaning 'word' or 'speech') is a sacred Yazidi hymn. Together the qewls form the central body of Yazidi religious texts, believed to have been divinely revealed and held in deep reverence. They are recited and sung, not read, and they preserve the faith's account of God, the seven Holy Beings and the making of the world. Yazidism has no single bound scripture comparable to the Bible or Quran; the qewls, carried in memory, are its living holy word.
Key Takeaways
Qewls are the sacred hymns of the Yazidi faith, believed to have been revealed by God.
The word qewl comes from the Arabic for 'word' or 'speech'.
They are performed by qewwals, a hereditary class of religious singers known as 'professionals of the word'.
For centuries they were transmitted orally, by memory alone, and only recently written down.
The 2014 genocide, which devastated the qewwals' home towns, gravely threatened this fragile oral tradition.
Quick Facts
Term: Qewl (plural qewls), from the Arabic qawl, 'word, speech'
What it is: The sacred hymns of the Yazidi faith, believed divinely revealed
Language: Kurmanji Kurdish (the sacred sub-dialect, sometimes called Ezdiki); some Arabic texts from Beshiqe and Behzane
Performed by: Qewwals, a hereditary class of religious singers ('professionals of the word')
Sacred instruments: The def (frame drum) and the shibab (flute)
Heartland of the qewwals: Beshiqe and Behzane (Bashiqa and Bahzani), twin towns east of Mosul
Related genres: Beyt, qeside, dirozge, du'a (prayer) and chirok (prose narrative)
Occasions: The Feast of the Assembly, the New Year, village feasts and funerals; the Tawusgeran processions
Transmission: Oral and memorised for centuries; only recently written down
Attestation: Oral sacred tradition, now being recorded and studied (Oral to Written)
The Qewwals: Keepers of the Word
The qewls are entrusted to the qewwals, a distinct hereditary class within Yazidi society whose name means 'professionals of the word'. They are the guardians and interpreters of the sacred tradition, and until recently they alone performed the hymns in public. Traditionally the qewwals came from two towns, Beshiqe and Behzane (Bashiqa and Bahzani), twin settlements east of Mosul that formed the heart of their community.
A qewwal does not simply sing. The hymns are chanted to the sound of the two sacred instruments of Yazidism, the def, a large frame drum, and the shibab, a flute, with rhythms that slow and quicken in ways that can sound strange to an outside ear. To become a qewwal is to inherit and memorise an enormous body of sacred verse, a lifelong discipline passed down within particular families.
The Parading of the Peacock
One of the qewwals' most important duties is the Tawusgeran, the 'Parading of the Peacock'. In times of peace they would tour Yazidi communities living far from the holy valley of Lalish, carrying a sanjak: a sacred bronze standard crowned with the image of a peacock, the emblem of Tawuse Melek, the Peacock Angel. The arrival of the sanjak was the high point of the religious year for a distant village.
At these gatherings the community paid its respects to the standard, the head qewwal preached a sermon, and the qewls were sung to the def and the shibab. For Yazidis living far from Lalish, the Parading of the Peacock was one of the few occasions on which they could hear the sacred hymns at all. In times of war, however, the standards do not travel.
Form, Genres and Meaning
The qewl is the central genre, but Yazidi oral tradition holds many forms: the beyt and qeside, the dirozge and the du'a or prayer, and the chirok, a prose narrative. Each qewl typically has its own melody, and many are deliberately enigmatic, layering images of lamps and wicks, doorways and a single Word whose meaning is far from plain. Many Yazidis say they treasure the sound and sanctity of the hymns even where the literal sense escapes them.
This is where the chiroks come in. These prose stories accompany the hymns, unfolding the myths behind their cryptic verses and explaining what the dense lines mean. Because they are told rather than fixed, the chiroks vary from teller to teller and can even disagree, so that meaning lives in performance and interpretation rather than in a single settled text.
What the Qewls Contain
The qewls carry the heart of Yazidi belief. They tell of the one God and the seven Holy Beings, of the deeds of saints and angels, and of the creation of the world, the same account explored in the Yazidi creation myth. They also order religious life: there are hymns and prayers for the New Year, for funerals, for the washing of the face, and for the Peacock Angel himself.
Individual hymns are known by name. The Hymn of the Red Wednesday (Qewle Carsema Sor) is recited as fires are lit at the sacred sites of Lalish before the spring New Year; others, such as the Hymn of Sheikh Hesen, are sung at gatherings and at the graveside. Together they form a vast, living library held not on shelves but in the memories of the faithful.
From Oral to Written
For most of Yazidi history the qewls were never committed to paper. Sacred knowledge was guarded and transmitted by word of mouth, and a long reluctance toward writing the holy texts meant the tradition survived entirely through memory and performance. This kept the hymns alive but also left them vulnerable, dependent on an unbroken chain of trained reciters.
In recent decades that has begun to change. Scholars and Yazidi communities have recorded, transcribed and translated the hymns, in collections by researchers such as Celil and Celil and by Sileman and Cindi, and in English through the work of Philip Kreyenbroek, Khalil Jindy Rashow and Khanna Omarkhali. This 'scripturalisation', the slow movement from oral to written, is preserving the qewls even as it changes how they are kept.
The Qewls After the 2014 Genocide
The qewls were already fragile. Before 2014 the Hungarian scholar Eszter Spat estimated that only around a dozen qewwals still remained, an alarmingly thin thread for so vast a tradition. Then, in August 2014, ISIS launched its genocide against the Yazidis, and laid waste to Beshiqe and Behzane, the very towns at the heart of the qewwals' world.
The loss of life, the scattering of communities into displacement and diaspora, and the destruction of the qewwals' homeland struck directly at the survival of the hymns. Efforts to record and teach the qewls have taken on new urgency since, as Yazidis work to ensure that the sacred word, having outlived centuries of persecution, is not finally lost.
Debates and Misconceptions
Are the qewls a Yazidi 'bible'? Not exactly. They are sacred and central, but they are a body of oral hymns rather than a single fixed book, and their authority lives in performance and in the qewwal tradition. The printed texts sometimes presented as Yazidi scripture are far less reliable than the qewls themselves.
Are they folklore? No. Although they are oral and poetic, the qewls are liturgy and theology, the carriers of a living religion's most sacred teachings, not simply folk songs. Their difficulty is part of their sanctity, and their meaning has traditionally been the preserve of those trained to interpret them.
Related Topics
Tawuse Melek: the Peacock Angel whose standard the qewwals carry
The Yazidi creation myth: the cosmology the qewls preserve
The qewwals: the hereditary singers of the sacred word
Lalish: the holy valley at the centre of Yazidi worship
Carsema Sor: the Yazidi New Year, with its own sacred hymn
The Seven Angels of Yazidi belief
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the qewls?
The qewls are the sacred hymns of the Yazidi faith, believed to have been revealed by God. They carry Yazidi theology and cosmology and are sung rather than read, forming the faith's central religious texts.
Who are the qewwals?
The qewwals are a hereditary class of Yazidi religious singers, known as 'professionals of the word', who memorise and perform the qewls. They are the guardians and interpreters of the sacred tradition and traditionally came from the towns of Beshiqe and Behzane.
What language are the qewls in?
Mostly Kurmanji Kurdish, in the sacred sub-dialect sometimes called Ezdiki. Some religious texts transmitted by the qewwals of Beshiqe and Behzane are in Arabic.
Were the qewls written down?
Not for most of their history. They were transmitted orally and memorised for centuries. Only in recent decades have scholars and Yazidi communities recorded, transcribed and translated them.
How did the 2014 genocide affect the qewls?
Severely. Very few qewwals remained even before 2014, and the ISIS genocide devastated Beshiqe and Behzane, the heart of their community, putting this fragile oral tradition at serious risk and making its preservation urgent.
References and Further Reading
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