Ask a Sorani speaker to name one singer, and the answer is very often Hassan Zirek (also spelled Hassan Zirak or Hesen Zîrek). More than fifty years after his death, his voice is still everywhere: on taxi radios in Sulaymaniyah, in wedding halls in Mahabad, in the playlists of young Kurds in Europe. And when people search for him online, they mostly search for songs: Asmar, Mestim, Gewherê, Hemû Şewê, Jwani Jwani.
This guide is built around those searches. For each song we say what we could verify, where it was recorded, and what to listen for. We also flag two popular titles that need care, because since 2023 a wave of AI-generated "new" Zirek songs has muddied the picture.
For his full life story, see our Hassan Zirek artist page.
Hassan Zirek: quick facts
- Born: 29 November 1921, Bukan, Eastern Kurdistan (Iran)
- Died: 26 June 1972, Bukan, aged 50
- Birth name: Hesen Abdullah Rahman
- Also spelled: Hassan Zirak, Hesen Zîrek, Hasan Zirak
- Dialect: mainly Sorani (Mukriyani), with songs in other Kurdish dialects, Persian and Azeri
- Radio stations: Kurdish section of Baghdad Radio (from 1953), Kurdish Radio Tehran (from the late 1950s), Kurdish Radio Kermanshah (from 1962)
- Known for: the largest recorded body of Sorani song of the 20th century
A life in brief
Zirek was born in Bukan and lost his father as a child. He never went to school and could not read or write. As a teenager and young man he worked wherever he could find work: across Iranian Kurdistan, in Sulaymaniyah, Kirkuk and Baghdad. He sang all the while, soaking up the songs of every town he passed through.
In 1953 he joined the Kurdish section of Baghdad Radio, alongside names like Ali Mardan and Tahir Tofiq. In the late 1950s he moved to the new Kurdish Radio in Tehran, and in 1962 to Kermanshah. There he recorded with a strong radio ensemble that included the young kamancheh player Mojtaba Mirzadeh. Many listeners regard the Kermanshah recordings as his golden period.
In 1966 he published Chirikey Kurdistan ("The Cry of Kurdistan"), a verse autobiography written down with help from his wife Media Zandi. English Wikipedia notes that it led to his ban from Iranian state radio. His final years were hard: arrests in both Iraq and Iran, surveillance by the Shah's secret police, SAVAK, and poverty. He died in Bukan in June 1972. Some Kurdish sources claim he was poisoned; this has never been proven.
Why there are so many Hassan Zirek songs
There are three reasons for the huge catalogue.
- He worked for radio, almost daily, for years. A Kurdish radio official of the 1960s, Shukrullah Baban, is quoted as saying they had recorded about 1,500 songs in Zirek's voice. English Wikipedia gives a more cautious "over a thousand."
- He improvised. Zirek could hear a poem once and set it to a fitting tune on the spot. He also re-sang the same song with new verses, so one title can exist in several versions.
- Titles were never fixed. Most listeners heard him on the radio or on home-taped cassettes and named songs after a memorable line. The result: one song can have two or three names. For example, the song many people call Kirmashan Shari Shirinim is originally titled Khoshim Dewê Kiche Jiran.
So when you search for a Hassan Zirek song and find three different recordings, that is often normal.
The greatest Hassan Zirek songs
Asmar: the "Asmar" songs (ئەسمەر)
"Asmar" (dark-skinned beauty) is one of the words most associated with Zirek, and there is more than one "Asmar" song:
- Asmar Yarim Jwane (ئەسمەر یارم جوانە), "My dark beloved is beautiful". According to Kurdish sources this was his first recording, made at Baghdad Radio. In a later recording Zirek complained that the radio had broadcast it under another singer's name.
- Resh Asmar (ڕەش ئەسمەر), recorded in Kermanshah.
- Derdit le Min Resh Asmar (دەردت لە من ڕەش ئەسمەر), "Let your pain fall on me, dark Asmar", recorded in Baghdad. This is the version that most often comes up on YouTube and SoundCloud.
If someone asks you for "Asmar by Hassan Zirek," ask which one.
Mestim (مەستم)
Listed in Kurdish sources as Mestim Mestim ("I am drunk, I am drunk"), a love song recorded both in Shno and in Baghdad. The "drunkenness" is the classic image of Kurdish and Persian love poetry: the lover intoxicated by the beloved. It is a good example of how Zirek could make a simple repeated phrase feel urgent.
Gewherê (گەوهەرێ)
Gewherê ("O Gewher", a woman's name meaning "jewel") is one of his most-played songs today. There are at least two recordings: one made in Kermanshah and Tehran, and another in Baghdad. Several restored and subtitled versions circulate online, which has introduced the song to a new generation.
Newroz (نەورۆز)
Zirek's Newroz is one of the few songs English Wikipedia names among his notable works. It was recorded in Tabriz, Kermanshah and Tehran, and it remains a staple of Kurdish New Year celebrations. For more songs of the season, see our article on Newroz music.
Ey Nishtiman (ئەی نیشتیمان)
"O Homeland." One of Zirek's patriotic songs, which Kurdish sources link to his troubles with the authorities. Alongside the national anthem, Ey Reqîb, it belongs to the core of Kurdish patriotic song.
Hewri Lar (هەوری لار)
"The slanting cloud." Recorded in Bukan, and one of the six Zirek songs that received a new orchestral backing in 2023 by Abdullah Jamal Sagirma. Kurdish sources note Zirek had permission to sing this tune, which was not his own.
Kwestanan Khal Khal (کوێستانان خاڵ خاڵ)
A mountain song recorded in Shno, Sulaymaniyah and Kirkuk. It is a fine showcase of the high, open sound of his voice in the summer-pasture songs of Mukriyan.
More songs worth knowing
- Jarsa (جەرسە)
- Kewyar (کەویار)
- Belenger (بەلەنگەر)
- Nalashkena (ناڵەشکێنە), named after the place near Bukan where he is buried
- Mahtab (مەهتاب), sung for his daughter, set to the tune of a Tahir Tofiq song
- Qizh Kali Lew Ali (قژ کاڵی لێو ئاڵی)
- Khan Baji (خان باجی), recorded in Tabriz, which mixes Kurdish with Persian, Azeri, Armenian and Turkish
- Bom Bille Toze Toze (بۆم بڵێ تۆزە تۆزە), Zirek's Kurdish version of the tune of Umm Kulthum's Ghanili Shwaya Shwaya. We come back to this in our upcoming Umm Kulthum biography.
His maqam-style free-rhythm pieces are a world of their own: Sewzelê, Firmêskî Gesh, Wa Min Nexoşim (sung when he was already ill) and Demêk Saqî, on a poem by Wafaei.
Songs you can play: Hassan Zirek notation on KurdNote
We have transcribed three songs associated with Zirek's repertoire. Each notation page has a free PDF and audio:
- Arami Giyanim (ئارامی گیانم): a gentle ballad in maqam Bayati, and our favourite starting point for beginners.
- Ashna (ئاشنا): a deep love song with rich ornamentation.
- Azizekem (ئەزیزەکەم): a tender song to the beloved that arches up through Bayati.
Bayati is no accident. Analyses of his melodies find that Bayat and Segah are the scales he used most, mostly in 2/4 and 6/8 time. If you want to understand why his songs sound the way they do, our upcoming guide to what a maqam is is the place to start.
Two popular titles that need care
Hemû Şewê (هەموو شەوێ)
This is one of the most searched titles under his name. But the version that most people share, which opens with "every night I talk with myself and my God," is labelled on at least one Kurdish music site as a new AI-generated song released in 2024. It also does not appear in the published lists of his radio recordings. We could not confirm an original Zirek recording with this title, so treat it with caution.
Jwani Jwani (جوانی جوانی)
On streaming platforms, a song called Jwani Jwani is credited to Farhad Zirak, a different singer. We found no reliable source for a Hassan Zirek recording by that name. The shared surname seems to cause the confusion.
How to spot an AI "Zirek" song
Since 2023, AI tools have been used to create new songs in Zirek's voice. Some are open tributes; others are passed off as lost recordings. A few clues:
- The sound is too clean. His real recordings come from 1950s and 1960s radio tapes, with hiss, a live ensemble and a slightly narrow sound.
- No recording place or date. Real songs can usually be traced to Baghdad, Tehran, Kermanshah or Tabriz radio, or to private gatherings.
- Modern lyrics or production. Drum machines, pop harmony or very modern vocabulary are warning signs.
Where to start listening
- Derdit le Min Resh Asmar, for the classic Baghdad-era voice.
- Gewherê, for his most-loved love song.
- Newroz, for the festive, communal side.
- One Kermanshah recording with Mojtaba Mirzadeh, to hear why these years are called his best.
- A free-rhythm piece like Sewzelê, when you are ready for his art at its most intense.
Then play Arami Giyanim yourself. For more songs in the same tradition, try our Sorani folk for beginners playlist, and see where Zirek stands among his peers in 12 famous Kurdish singers.
Read more: the Hassan Zirek book
KurdNote hosts a free Sorani book on his life and art by Ibrahim Farshi: Hassan Zirek: Artist of an Oppressed Nation. It is the best next step if you read Kurdish and want to go deeper than a song list.
Sources
- Hassan Zirak, Wikipedia
- حەسەن زیرەک, Sorani Wikipedia
- گۆرانیناسیی حەسەن زیرەک (Hassan Zirek discography), Sorani Wikipedia
- Hama Shawi by Hassan Zirak, AI version, MusicKordi
- Jwani Jwani by Farhad Zirak, Spotify
- Hassan Zirek lyrics archive, Textî Gorani
Start with the notation for Arami Giyanim, then explore the rest of Hassan Zirek's world on his artist page.