In its original form, this melody is attributable to Sheykh Amīr, an 18^th century Kurdish mystic. The Sheykh Amīrī suite subsequently became a generic term designating a melodic type or family of airs, of which there are seventeen variants in Ostad’s repertoire, from the simplest (that of Sheykh Amīr himself) to the most elaborate (that of Ostad).