In its basic form, this melody is attributed to Sheykh Amīr, an eighteenth-century Kurdish mystic. Following a sudden spiritual awakening, this illiterate shepherd composed numerous poems with deep spiritual meaning and rich symbolic imagery.

Sheykh Amīr played the tanbur in a simple yet captivating manner. This melody became widely known and was often sung as an invitation to heartfelt communication with God. “Sheykh Amīrī” has since become a generic term describing a mode in which numerous melodies have been composed. Each of these melodies is called “Sheykh Amīrī,” followed by the name of the composer or arranger, or the name of the region where it is played. There are seventeen variations of this melody, from the simplest, that of Sheykh Amīr himself, to the most elaborate, that of Ostad Elahi.

The melody revolves around a mysterious scale of alternating tones and semitones, creating a dissonant counterpoint with the lower strings. The ebb and flow of the melody produced by the instrument are similar to waves dying on the shore, one after another, converging toward the final note where all dissonance is resolved and all tensions fade away.

This melody, one of the most moving in Ostad Elahi’s repertoire, reminds the soul of its origin, awakening it and uncovering memories deeply buried, inducing a sense of longing for its original abode. The melodic pattern is often accompanied by chanted verses from Sheykh Amīr in the form of an intimate dialogue, the last verse of which addresses the Creator:

Delay gonāhkār, delay zabūnbakht, cha azal gonāhkār
Ar cha rūy azal mowyāī borda-bār, pey chīsh makaftī, dūr tcha qāpī yār
Sobh-o shām sajdat āw bashar maward, salwātet wa dīn hazerāt makard 
Weyarday sālān ablay nāshenākht, majnūn-e kam fām nābīnāy kajbakht
Awan sang-e sakht dāy wa dīdey weyt, yak yak namāyān gesht āmā nareyt
Ozr-e mazurīt wa kī nakīshā, cha [wa] bordabārī pīshat na īshā
To narāy khedmat darset kam wānā, tārīkī pāy sham wa to namānā 
Marham cha qāpī yār-e māyadār, bebakhshū gonāh kalb-e gonāhkār

O sinner heart, how weak and destitute
Sinner since the dawn of creation
If only you had shown more patience in the beginning
How you have lacked respect and patience
What have you done to distance yourself from the divine abode?
From morning till night, you prostrated yourself before men
Adoring their idols
So many years on, you who still fail to understand
You who are drowning in ignorance
O mindless creature, blind and miserable!
All for this heavy stone to strike your eyes!
One by one, you have suffered the consequences [of your faults]
Is there anyone you have not humiliated yourself before?
The suffering you have endured has reached the depths of your being
You have not drawn enough lessons along the Path
Instead you have become the shadow at the base of the candle
The remedy to relieve my pain
Must be sought from that supreme Sage
Won’t you have mercy and absolve this humble servant of his sins?

Ostad Elahi played exclusively in the presence of his family and close friends. As can be heard on this recording, at the conclusion of the piece he recounts the date as the night before Sunday, March 21, 1965, which marked the beginning of Nowruz, the Persian New Year. He expresses his hope that the piece has been helpful in drawing the attention of his listeners toward the realm of truth.