Yā Shāh to Bā Man Bāshī
This piece was recorded in Ostad’s home. After he begins to play, a microphone is gently placed in front of his tanbur; he continues playing, absorbed by the intimacy of his dialogue with his Creator.
An excerpt of this piece titled Wālā wītāna was released on the CD Celestial Harmonies (track 2) and on the double CD (“Reverence,” track 2) accompanying the commemorative book marking The Sacred Lute: The Art of Ostad Elahi exhibition at the MET. Here, the entire piece has been made available to restore its complete spiritual significance. Rendered on the five-stringed tanbur, the melody develops in a subtle manner, alternating between high-pitched and low-pitched responses that produce a veritable conversation, a musical dialogue. The playing of the left hand is powerful, while the index finger of the right hand, which Ostad uses as if he were playing the setār,1 strikes the strings in a way that greatly amplifies the sound of the instrument2. Though the rhythm frequently varies during the piece, no hiatus is heard throughout.
The melody of the next passage was arranged by Ostad Elahi based on verses by Pīr Razbār. The only woman with the spiritual rank of an archangel in the Kurdish Ahl-e Haqq tradition, Pīr Razbār is a highly revered saint who lived in the 14th century. The mother of Soltān Eshāq, her spiritual pole, she was entirely devoted to him.
The first verse of the poem, “ Wa[Cha] manzelgātān kām djā djītāna,” can be translated as “where and in what standing do you wish your abode?” Ostad has interpreted this verse as follows: Along your journey, at what point do you wish to stop? At the opulence of this world? At the abundant blessings of Paradise? The purpose of this path (which is revealed to you) is for you to reach the Truth/God. Once you arrive at the Truth, everything will be resolved; you will have knowledge of everything.
As for the second verse, “Eshq-e Haqq wa sar sheet-e wītāna,” which can be translated as “Carry the madness of love of Truth in your heart and in your heart be enamored with God!” Ostad has said the following: It is after a person has gone through all of the spiritual stages that the love of the Truth/God blossoms in one’s heart. When one reaches a state where all the pleasures in this world are no longer a pleasure, one becomes boundlessly enamored with the Truth, such as Mansūr,3 who uttered, “I am the Truth!” or Zachary,4 who laughed as they tortured him, or Hoseyn,5 who wore a smile on his face when they decapitated him. In this state, the body and the world no longer mean anything. From there, one reaches a state of rapture, a state in which wherever one looks, it is God/the Truth that one sees, and one is ready to be launched by God into the realm of Perfection.
Wa[Cha] manzelgātān kām djā djītāna
Eshq-e Haqq wa sar sheet-e wītāna
Wa[Cha] manzelgātān kām djā djītāna
Rāy Haqq rāsīan rāsī rītāna
Ya shart-e eqrār shart-e shātāna
Bāqī ākherat manzelgātāna
Ya dām-e balā ya balātāna
Eshq-e Haqq wa sar sheet-e wītāna
Dīn-e āshekār bar malātāna
Eshq-e Haqq wa sar sheet-e wītāna
Wa[Cha] manzelgātān kām djā djitānaWhere and in what place do you wish your abode?
Carry the madness of love of Truth in your heart and in your heart be enamored with God!
Where and in what place do you wish your abode?
The path of Truth is righteousness, righteousness is the path
This is the pact of acceptance, this is the pact
Spiritual (permanent) era is your abode
This trap of pain is the necessary evil
Carry the madness of love of Truth in your heart and in your heart be enamored with God!
It is the apparent path that is now revealed to you
Carry the madness of love of Truth in your heart and in your heart be enamored with God!
Where and in what standing do you wish your abode?
Carry the madness of love of Truth in your heart and in your heart be enamored with God!
This chant is followed by a supplication that Ostad Elahi was quite fond of. Its melody was inspired by Mansūrī, an archetypal learned Persian melody (gūshe). The chanted text is a poem written in honor of Shāh Khoshīn6 by one of his spiritual companions, who conveys his boundless love for the Divine:
Az avval to būdī yā dīn yā dīn Ali Ali Ali Hū Hū
Ākheram to bāshī
Az qatre-ye āb-e, Az qatre-ye āb-e manī ey dīn Ali Ali
Manat kardī naqqāshī yā Mowlām yā Mowlām
Bā behesht o dūzakhat hey Mowlām kārī nadāram
Omīdvāram yā Ali to bā man bāshī AliFrom the beginning, there was You
In the end, it will be just you
You, O Almighty, my Faith, my Breath!
You, O Almighty, my Faith, my Breath!
You molded me from a drop
O my Lord!
I have no need for Your paradise or Your hell
What I hope, O Almighty
Is that You are always with me, You!
This passage is followed by Mobārak Bādā (second version, Celestial Harmonies, tracks 1 and 2). Both the color and the mood shift, giving way to a more nostalgic tone. A series of themes coalesce, offering an array of rich polyphony and harmonies, nuances and rhythmic changes. The suite is a sort of Zang-e shotorī7—a melodious, soft, and serene piece whose moderate swaying evokes the tingling bells of a moving caravan.
1 The Persian setār is a classical three-stringed instrument belonging to the family of long-necked lutes.2 Ostad used to play the Persian setār in his own personal way, at times plucking the strings “in reverse”—that is, from top to bottom in order to mark the accents. For more information, see Jean During, The Spirit of Sounds: The Unique Art of Ostad Elahi (Cranbury, NJ: Cornwall Books, 2003).3 Mansūr Hallāj (d. 922), a martyr celebrated in the East, was put to death after having declared in a moment of ecstasy and mystical union: “I am the Truth.”4 Zachary, who was the father of Saint John the Baptist, was wrongly accused of a crime and sawn in half.5 Hoseyn (626-680), the grandson of the prophet Muhammad and the third imam in Twelver Shiism, was martyred in Karbalā.6 Shāh Khoshīn, a prominent eleventh century Kurdish saint, formalized the tanbur as a sacred instrument.7 Zang-e Shotorī (“camel bells”) is a melody inspired by the movement of a caravan of camels. It is said that Ali (a prominent saint of the Shia tradition and son-in-law of the prophet Muhammad) adjusted the sound of the bells of his camels (Zang-e Shotor) so that the ensuing melody would stimulate their pace.
Yā Shāh to Bā Man Bāshī
My Beginning and My End