Yazidi Book of Revelation

A page from Yazidi Book of Revelation manuscript

The Yazidi Book of Revelation (Kitêba Cilwe in Kurdish; also transliterated as Kitab Al Jilwah) is one of two books on the Yazidi religion written in the style of a holy book in the Kurmanji dialect of the Northern Kurdish language, the other being the Yazidi Black Book (Mishefa Reş in Kurdish).[1] It is claimed that the original text of the Book of Revelation is kept in the Yazidi village of Ba'idn and the original text of the Yazidi Black Book is kept in the village of Qasr 'tzz at-Din.[2]

Scholars generally agree that the Book of Revelation and the Black Book, which were published in English translation in 1911 and 1913, respectively, "are 'forgeries' in the sense they were written by non-Yazidis in response to Western travelers’ and scholars’ interest in the Yazidi religion". Nonetheless they do reflect authentic Yazidi traditions.[3]

The actual core texts of the religion that exist today are the hymns known as qewl.[3]

Chapters

The Book of Revelation contains five chapters in order of decreasing length. In all five chapters of this book, the words of God are given in the first person, in contrast to the Black Book, which records the acts of God in the third person.

  • Chapter one of the Book of Revelation discusses the Yazidi doctrine of the nature of God, who is made to declare that he is the author of what "outsiders call evils". The rest of the chapter deals with the exercise of divine power.
  • Chapter two describes the omnipotence of God.
  • Chapter three treats of the omnipotence of God, and begins with the statement that God guides without a scripture.
  • Chapter four contains a warning against outsiders, and enunciates a doctrine concerning the "corruption" of holy books very similar to that of the Muslims.
  • Chapter five is a short exhortation to the faithful.

References

  1. ↑ Esposito, John L., ed. (1995). The Oxford encyclopedia of the modern Islamic world. New York: Oxford University Press.
  2. ↑ Guest, John S (1993). Survival Among the Kurds: A History of the Yezidis. London: Kegan Paul International. p. 154n. ISBN 0-7103-0456-0.
  3. 1 2 Encyclopaedia Iranica:Yazidis
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