This eight-part suite relates to Nezāmī’s tragic story, the impossible love of Farhād, the Kurd, for Shīrīn, the Armenian princess, at the time of the Sassanid king, Khosrow Parvīz. Transposed to a spiritual level, the theme is expressed through sober and nostalgic melodies.

a. Shīrīn Mayā Khāl

b. Lāwe Lāwe
This ode, which expresses the suffering caused by the absence of the Beloved, is by Hādj Nemat.

c. Gharībī
This theme evokes the feeling of nostalgia and loneliness caused by the soul’s exile in the body.

d. Gel wa Dare
This term suggests a departure from and return to the origin, a likely symbol of the soul returning to the Creator after having wandered on earth. The theme is more dynamic, accompanied at times by a counterpoint.

e. Seyd Khāmūsh’s Saharī
Seyd Khāmūsh was a 15th century mystic, and Saharī refers to a melodic type, which he used to play in his own way. This is one of those pieces that was known only to Ostad, and while it is not usually included in this suite, he added it in this particular improvisation.

f. Sanam Hāy Sanam
This melody presents the devotion of a pious person to his Beloved.

g. Tārī Hey Tārī

h. Shīrīn Khāwar
Based on an ancient Persian folk song, the semitones in this melody evoke a more nostalgic minor mode. Many notes are played with the left hand, producing melancholic overtones.