Bejte

Bejtexhinj (from Turkish: beyte meaning "poem"), is a genre of literature created in Albania in the 18th century that prevailed in different cities of what is now Albania, Kosovo, Chameria as well as in religious centers.

The spread of Bejtexhinj was a product of two different significant factors. There was a demand in religious practices to write in Albanian and to free it from foreign influence. The other factor was the accretion of ideological pressure from Turkish rulers. The ruling Ottomans sought the submission of Albanians through the Muslim religion and culture. Albania rulers opened their own schools with many Bejtexhinj poets in attendance.

Bejtexhinjs wrote Albanian in the Arabic alphabet but with many Persian, Turkish and Arabic words. The Bejtexhinj literature had two development phases. The first lasted until the end of the 18th century and was characterized by secular themes. The second phase, from the end of the 18th century and through the 19th century, had a predominantly religious character.

Of the secular works, many Bejtexhinjs wrote about the positive values of love, natural and feminine beauty, virtues, works, knowledge and also alluded to the negative traits of ambition and hypocrisy. Bejtexhinjs who worked in this vein were Nezim Frakulla, Sulejman Naibi and Muhamet Kyçyku. A further step in the literature was initiated when other Bejexhinjs such as Hasan Zyko Kamberi and Zenel Bastari reflected on the events of the time, describing the hard lives of the poor, the insecurities of the future, and their discontent at the conditions of the feudal system.

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