Oskar Mann was a German orientalist and linguist who visited middle east in the early years of the 20th century to conduct linguistic fieldwork research on western Iranian and Kurdish languages; he collected valuable pieces of oral literature from the Kurdish regions and published a collection of Kurdish mythologies in 1905-1906. The collection is known as “Tohfey Mozafariyyah”.
On the other side, that “genuine Kurd” was Mirza Javad Ghazi/Jawad Qazi (1881-1958); He was coming from an educated and well-known family in Mahabad city and apparently, he has met with Oskar Mann there; according to Mann’s diaries and his speech on 4th of July 1908, Ghazi has helped Mann with the studies and fieldwork in his first trip to Iran. Ghazi followed Oskar Mann to Germany and studied law there. He later returned to Tehran and worked as an official in the Iranian Ministry of Justice. This short song is recorded on a Phonograph device with support of a German scholar named Dr. Neuhauss. It is based on a line from a lyrical poetry written by the prominent Kurdish poet Nali (1800-1873).
Meaning of the poetry:[1]
“Why shouldn’t I cry [and drop tears) [as] she has broken my heart for hundreds of times!
How the liquor does not pour out [when] the glass (goblet) is broken from a hundred sides!”