Siyabend û Xecê
The great love epic of Mount Sîpan, sung for centuries.
- Type
- Epic (destan)
- ✦
- Traditional (folk repertoire)
Siyabend û Xecê is one of the great love epics (destan) of Kurdish oral literature: the story of the outlaw Siyabend and the beautiful Xecê, their flight to Mount Sîpan above Lake Wan, and the deer hunt that ends in double death. For centuries dengbêjs have sung its episodes as long kilams, each master shaping his own version, and the epic has passed into theatre, film and modern song. Alongside Mem û Zîn it defines the tragic-romantic core of the Kurdish narrative tradition: love against the world, mountain as refuge, grief as inheritance.
Lyrics and translations for this song are being prepared. We publish texts only after editorial verification and a copyright check: traditional and public-domain works in full, modern protected works as context and meaning only.