This first piece is attributed to two prominent figures of the Ahl-e Haqq tradition,1 considered to be theophanies: Bābā Sarhang and Bābā Nāūs, who lived between the 10th and 12th centuries. Whereas the spirit of self-abnegation and self-sacrifice along the divine path characterized the mystical love of Bābā Sarhang, the main focus of Bābā Nāūs was to warn us of the need to emerge from our spiritual amnesia in this world and to concern ourselves with our spiritual destiny in the hereafter: "Do you think the eye that is blind today can tomorrow see? Beware that day when you shall be blinded to all that He has revealed.”2The uniqueness of this piece lies in the fact that the entire session, from the moment the instrument is taken in hand and tuned to the concluding words that are uttered, has been recorded. The atmosphere is intimate, with only a few close acquaintances and relatives in attendance. The tuning of the tanbur can be heard, mixed with ambient noise, before the transition to playing begins with a sweet melody. The repetition of the same note that follows the first melodic phrases creates a kind of weightlessness. The playing gradually intensifies, as one can hear various melodies enriched with ornaments. The mood suddenly shifts to a joyful melody that invites a dance, as the melody alternates from one chord to another. Prompted by Ostad, a daf (frame drum) joins in; despite its overpowering presence and the rudimentary recording equipment,3 the sound of the tanbur can still be heard. Ostad Elahi was seldom accompanied by the daf—this accompaniment marks one of only two known instances to have been recorded.4After concluding the sequence with the words “Hū avval-o ākherem Yār, Yā Ali”5 (You are my beginning and my end, O Ali), Ostad Elahi takes the daf and, exceptionally, plays a few beats, providing an example of the balance and solemnity with which he played this instrument.<ol class="number"><li value=1>A mystical tradition of Western Iran.</li><li value=2>Ostad Elahi would often utter this phrase, which comes from Majma ol-Kalām, a manuscript of the kalāms of the Ahl-e Haqq tradition. Based on his in-depth knowledge of his native tradition, Ostad Elahi gathered together and rectified these kalāms, removing in the process any nonauthentic extraneous additions.</li><li value=3>A single analog, non-directional microphone.</li><li value=4>In all of Ostad Elahi’s recordings published to date, the daf can be heard only once: on Destinations (Paris: Le Chant du Monde, 2008), vol. 1, track 3.</li><li value=5>Invoking Ali, a great saint in the Shiite tradition and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad, is a way of invoking the divinity.</li></ol>

Bābā Sarhangī and Bābā Nāūsī (Nāvūsī) Suite

The three zekrs1 in this suite are addressed to Soltān;2 the first and third were composed by Ostad, while the second was composed by his father Hādj Nemat.3The first zekr is characterized by a recurring chord that concludes each phrase of the chant. An astute listener will hear a number of improvised movements of rhythm, creating the impression of multiple instruments being played at the same time.<blockquote>Soltān Sahākī Ali gīān Shāy tanīā tākī Ali gīānO Ali, my Beloved, you are Soltān Sahāk, the Lord O Ali, my Beloved, you are the unique and peerless King</blockquote>The second and third zekrs are quite close from a melodic standpoint and are especially rhythmic. Behind the simple chant lies a highly dense melody with a multitude of subtle variations and ornaments.<blockquote>Soltān-e mardān yā Ali Shafāy kol dardān yā AliYou are the Sovereign of all beings, O Ali You are the remedy for all ills, O AliSoltān sar jam Hū Hū Zāt-esh va jam Hū HūSoltān, He presides over the gathering, Hū Hū His essence is present in this gathering, Hū Hū</blockquote>As is often the case, this series of zekrs ends with “Hū avval-o ākherem Yār” (He! [You] are my beginning and my end).<ol class="number"><li value=1>A zekr is a sacred hymn in which participants repeat the refrains in chorus.</li><li value=2>Soltān Sahāk (or Eshāq) was a great theophany of the fourteenth centuries and is considered the founder of the Ahl-e Haqq order, the mystical tradition in which Ostad Elahi was raised. Addressing Soltān is also a way of invoking the Divinity, as is invoking Hū, which refers to both the personal pronoun "He" and the "Breath."</li><li value=3>A writer and mystical poet in the Kurdish and Persian languages, Hādj Nemat is regarded as a great saint of the Ahl-e Haqq tradition.</li></ol>

Suite of Zekrs

This supplication alternates between high and low tones, with restrained and more intense melodies—such as a shor phrase1 (2'11)—rising up and immediately subsiding. Ostad uses different playing techniques from the tanbur and the setār2 to produce successive waves of notes that unfold in a permanent drone on the low note.<ol class="number"><li value=1>A kind of roll produced by the right hand.</li><li value=2>The Persian setār is a classical instrument belonging to the family of long-neck lutes. It initially had three strings, but it is said that a fourth string was added in the eighteenth century by Moshtāq Alīshāh, an ecstatic mystic and legendary musician who was a setār master. The right-hand playing technique involves only the index finger, which plucks the strings in a back and forth movement, whereas Ostad's technique on the tanbur uses all five fingers of the right hand.</li></ol>

Supplication in the Bābā Jalīlī Suite

This piece is played on the choghūr,1 the traditional instrument of the Azerbaijani bards. This rare choghūr was built in Hamadān, though it resembles the shape of instruments from Urmia, with two rows of three and four strings. Dating from the 19th century, it features a carvel-built body with mulberry ribs and soundboard and a hollow ornate neck, attesting to its authenticity. The name “Seyyed Ali” has been carved on its soundboard.Gereylī is part of what Ostad Elahi called the “Turkish suites," or, more precisely, the main "royal suites.” The denomination of these pieces, which capture the intensity of one’s relationship with the Beloved, refers to the time of the first Safavid Persian kings (from 1501), who were Turkish-speaking.The melody here is joyful, and the configuration of the instrument with its many strings offers a wide spectrum of harmonic resonances. Ostad plays this instrument in his own unique way, using a cherry wood plectrum between his thumb and index finger, as is customary, while keeping the other three fingers free to produce rolls (shor) that he would combine with the plectrum strokes.The day this piece was recorded on tape, Ostad Elahi played several of his instruments and, to the surprise of those in attendance, picked up the choghūr and demonstrated considerable mastery of the instrument. In fact, Ostad Elahi had learned to play the choghūr during his youth and was intimately familiar with its repertoire. In addition, he had innovated its playing technique, notably by introducing the shor (roll). He played the choghūr less frequently over time and stopped playing it altogether during the latter years of his life, which imparts this singular moment with even greater value. Subsequently, he recorded the entire Turkish suites—some twenty pieces—in a single session. The only other recording of Ostad Elahi playing the choghūr was released as part of the eponymous double CD-Book commemorating The Sacred Lute: The Art of Ostad Elahi exhibition (Paris: Le Chant du Monde/The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2014), Shekaste, CD 2, track 7.<ol class="number"><li value=1>This instrument, along with several others that belonged to Ostad Elahi, is featured in a dedicated showcase within the musical instrument galleries of The Met.</li></ol>

Gereylī

The story of Bābā Faqīh is well-known in the Ahl-e Haqq tradition. A version of this story appears in The Book of the Kings of Truth,1 the spiritual epic composed by Hādj Nemat. The story is set in the time of Shāh Khoshīn, a 10th century mystic considered to be a theophanic figure by the Ahl-e Haqq. It recounts how a magnanimous glance from a man of God led Bābā Faqīh, a rebellious and arrogant individual, to completely transform his nature and become devoted to spirituality: "(H)earing these words, the eyes of Bābā Faqīh's soul were opened and he saw himself for what he was. He threw himself at Shāh Khoshīn’s feet, imploring forgiveness from the merciful God: 'In the proximity of Your presence, I ask that You absolve me of my faults! Blind and ignorant, I did not know You, You who are goodness! Now I attest that from the beginning to the end of time, You were, You are, and You will be Lord of the Worlds!'"2Ostad Elahi was particularly fond of this poignant and powerful supplication, often playing improvised versions that were renewed and different each time. In this recording, the melody is initially confined to a small interval, with the counterpoint on the low string and a slow rhythm without much dynamic range. It then opens and expands to cover a larger interval, allowing the incorporation of new sounds with unexpected changes in key. The rhythm is marked by syncopal phases, jolts that alternate with cascades of notes evoking dialogue and weeping.<ol class="number"><li value=1>Shāhnāmeh-ye Haqīqat (or Haqq ol-Haqāyeq) (Tehran: Jeyhūn, 1995), with a commentary by Ostad Elahi.</li><li value=2>These verses were composed by companions of Shāh Fazl-e Valī, a 9th-10th century theophanic figure in the Ahl-e Haqq tradition.</li></ol>

Supplication in the Bābā Faqīhī Suite

This hymn was composed by Hādj Nemat in 1906. The soft melody accompanies the following verses, which speak to the ephemeral nature of the material world and our finite time within it:1<blockquote>Donīā fānīyan Dāwed gīān Har Haqq bāqīyan Dāwed gīānAll in this world is precarious, O Dāwūd Only the Truth shall remain, O Dāwūd</blockquote>On one of his trips to western Iran, Ostad later modified the original lyrics and turned this hymn of mourning into one of joy.2A purposeful delay can be heard between the sung phrases, almost as if to emphasize the meaning of the words being imparted.<ol class="number"><li value=1>These verses reference the Qur’anic verses, "Everyone on earth perishes; all that remains is the Face of your Lord, full of majesty, bestowing honor.” The Qur’an, trans. M.A.S. Abdel Haleem (New York: Oxford University Press, 2016), 55: 26-27.</li><li value=2>This song and its modified lyrics, Shīrīna Leylā, appears on the CD Celestial Harmonies (Paris: Le Chant du Monde, 1999/2004), track 4.</li></ol>

Hymn

Recorded in 1964, this piece belongs to a category of Kurdish dances traditionally performed during marriage ceremonies or joyous celebrations. Ostad Elahi, however, performed this piece with a spiritual intention. With a short and repetitive pattern, it begins with an invitation to join the dance and embrace its rhythm. As the rhythmic variations multiply, they sustain the energy and vitality of the piece, inducing a state of profound spiritual joy, one that perhaps foreshadows the bliss that awaits the soul upon reuniting with its Beloved.

Hal Parka

The Eternal and the Ephemeral

Hādj Nematollāh

Tanbur

Vocal

Fourths (Sheykh Amīrī)

Soltān-e Mardān

Ali Āmān Yā Ali

Āmān Sad Āmān

Dam Dam-e Isā Ruhollāh Nāman

Donīa fānīyan

Dowre Yārāna

Dust Bejan Bejan Barza Meli

Ey Darvīsh Darvīsh

Haqq Haqq-e Hū Hū

Haqq Sefīd Pūshān

Har Va aw Soltān

Hey Dāwed (fast)

Hey Dāwed (faster)

Hey Dāwed (slow)

Jam Neyān

Papū Soleymāni

Sāheb Tūl-e Zar Dāwed

Shāh Nematollāh Valīan Haqq

Shām Āmā

Shīrīna Leylā

Shoq-e Shādīman

Soltān Sahākī

Soltān sar Jam

Wa Āmāna Kū

Wa Fedāy Manzelgāt

Wa nokht-e kalām dīdadār-e shūn 

Wālā Wītāna

Yā Soltān Āmān Āgerem Dāy

Yār dīdagīānī Benyāmīn pīra

Yārān wa bāten ye dang-ī mayū

Zāt-e Yār Dāwed Hāzeran va Jam

Ostad Elahi

Ostad Elahi called this joyful melody, whose inspiration came to him during a forty-day spiritual pilgrimage to Ali’s memorial in Najaf, Iraq, the “Najaf Melody” (Āhang-e Najaf). Incorporating passages from the Saharī and Gol wa Khār tunes, Ostad would play this melody either alone, as a central theme for other melodies, or as a linking pattern designed to ornament various modes. An “expansive” melody that shoots toward new horizons before returning to the original theme, it can be accompanied by secondary tunes or incorporated in them. This track is from a recorded session that took place in a family setting where nothing had been prepared or planned in advance: Ostad picked up his instrument, a microphone was placed before him, a recorder was turned on, and people sat and listened.Though permeated with a profound nostalgia, this piece is actually quite elating. The consonant harmonies in the major tonality create a bright and positive mood. Ostad draws upon a variety of playing techniques, at times playing on all strings with all ﬁngers, at other times only with one ﬁnger, thereby creating varied harmonic effects and a rich polyphony.

Mobārak Bādā Suite (2nd Version)

This piece is given an unexpected and original interpretation, reminiscent at times of the variations on the same theme found in the Najaf melody (see Track 1). Although it is a modal piece, dominant and tonic alternate. The ﬁrst section is prolonged by a prayer Ostad particularly liked, inspired by a basic melody (gūshe) of classical Iranian music called Mansūrī. The sung text is a prayer from one of spiritual companions of Shāh Khoshīn, a great Kurdish saint from the 11th century who elevated the tanbur to a sacred level.In this prayer, the poet expresses his exclusive love for the divine:<blockquote>You were my beginning, You will be my end You have drawn me from a drop of water I care not about Your paradise or Your hell My only hope is that You will always be with me.</blockquote>The melody in the next section was arranged by Ostad based on verses from Pīr Razbār, a revered Kurdish saint of the 14th century. Her poetry expresses the spiritual state of those who travel across the “plain” of passion in search of the divine, overwhelmed by divine love to the point of directly invoking Him in simple words, which begin as follows:<blockquote>Eshq-e Haqq wa sar sheet-e wītāna Wa[Cha] manzelgātān kām djā djītāna They are in love with Truth, those whom we call enamored with God What place shall you hold in eternity?</blockquote>This section is followed by Mobārak Bādā. A change of color and atmosphere transpires, as the overall tone becomes more nostalgic. Several themes are brought together in a passage rich with polyphonies, harmonies, nuances, and rhythmical shifts. This, in turn, is followed by a variant of Zang-e Shotorī—a soft, melodic, and serene piece whose gentle swaying evokes the marching of camels in a caravan. This musical form is found in classical Persian music as well.

Several tunes are strung together here:<blockquote>Ali āmān yā Ali / Dakhīlem wa to Ali Ali, help, O Ali / Upon You I rely, Ali1</blockquote>This verse is followed by Tchapī, a dance tune, which serves as a linking pattern to the next tune.<blockquote>Yā Soltān āmān āgerem dāy O Soltān, mercy, You have set me aﬂame!</blockquote>This verse was composed by Ostad. The Tchapī theme keeps returning throughout this improvisation, as new forms emerge at every moment in a dazzling proliferation of sonorities.<ol class="number"><li value=1>The name of Ali in this context refers to the manifestation of the Divine; Ostad sometimes invoked the name “Soltān” as well.</li></ol>

Ostad Elahi had a small Persian setār he had named bolbol (nightingale), which was a replica of his five-stringed tanbur, only smaller. A travel instrument with a flat body, he would almost always take it with him on his trips. The manner in which he played this instrument defied all expectations, for he would freely combine techniques specific to the tanbur (the rolling of the fingers on all strings) with those of the setār (using one finger only). This style of playing became especially popular among setār players who followed him. Here, Ostad is playing in an intimate family setting during the last years of his life (in the early 1970s). Despite the poor recording quality, the piece captures the spiritual fervor that united the participants.Āmān Sad Āmān This song was composed by Hādj Nematollāh, Ostad Elahi’s father, at the onset of his illumination around 1901. Its lyrics, which invoke the Creator’s attribute of mercy, are a kind of petition addressed to the spiritual King or Beloved:<blockquote>Āmān sad āmān, shāy karamdārān Karam kheyre kar, wa hāl-e yārānHave Mercy, O Merciful King Bless Your companions with Your Grace</blockquote>Ey Darvīsh Darvīsh This song was also composed by Hādj Nematollāh during the same period. It is addressed to the Lord, referred to here as a dervish, for it appears that Hādj Nematollāh witnessed the Beloved in the guise of a dervish and composed this song in praise of Him:<blockquote>Ey darvīsh darvīsh, īmānem darvīsh Ez va fedāt bām, pā benyar wa pīshO Dervish, O Dervish, my faith rests in You My life is Yours, come to me, come!</blockquote>Soltān Sahākī The music and lyrics of this song were composed by Ostad:<blockquote>Soltān Sahākī Ali gīān Shāy tanīā tākī Ali gīānYou are Soltān Sahāk, O beloved Ali You are the unique and peerless King, O beloved Ali</blockquote>Only the melody is played here.Shīrīna Leylā Initially, this soft melody was used to accompany a hymn by Hādj Nematollāh that can be translated as follows: “All in this world is precarious, O Beloved Dāwūd / Only the Truth shall remain, O Beloved Dāwūd,” an allusion to the Quranic verse: “All that is on earth will perish, but abide (forever) will the Face of thy Lord, full of Majesty, Bounty, and Honor.”1Although dedicated to Dāwūd, the archangel of mercy, this hymn invokes the divine attributes of majesty and rigor, so that when performed by a group it was considered to be ominous. During one of his trips to the west regions of Iran, Ostad Elahi modified the lyrics and turned this hymn of mourning into one of joy:<blockquote>Shīrīna Leylāna leylāna Shīrīnī khorīā vey mīkānaIt is here that we have tasted sweetness</blockquote><ol class="number"><li value=1>55: 26-7.</li></ol>

Hymns

Ostad Elahi had translated a prayer by Hazrat-e Ali1 from the original Arabic into Persian and Kurdish. For several months, he would sing it every day upon awakening. Later, he would quote certain verses of this prayer when playing the tanbur. Here, he sings an excerpt of it in its original Arabic version, interspersed with short invocations in Persian: “Ali jān, āmān” (O Beloved Ali, help me) in the Mansūrī mode (tchahārgāh dastgāh). The recording dates back to 1965 when Ostad was seventy years old. Below is a translation of a few of the verses:<blockquote>Praise to You, benevolent and glorious Lord You who knows all that is hidden and revealed My Creator, my Refuge, my Support It is You that I implore, in hardship and in fortune No matter how great my failings, Your forgiveness is greater still I have succumbed to temptation, now I am plagued by remorse O God, hear my plea For You know how miserable and destitute I am.</blockquote>Chanted sequences of a deep lyrical character, to which the tanbur answers in kind, alternate throughout this piece with rhythmic sequences and a leitmotif (minor third). The combination of these various elements—rhythm, leitmotif, repetition of ornamented notes, and unfamiliar harmonies—produces a state of elation. The second section of this piece, a sort of Zang-e Shotorī followed by a stirring hymn or zekr (Ali Hū Hū . . .), inspires one with an irresistible movement.<ol class="number"><li value=1>A great saint of the Shiite tradition and the son-in-law of the prophet Muhammad.</li></ol>

Prayer of Hazrat-e Ali

Tchapī is part of the Kurdish dance repertoire. It is played in the context of festivities or to express spiritual enthusiasm. This is one of the earliest recordings of Ostad’s music: it was made in 1960 without his knowledge behind the closed door of the room where he had been playing for about an hour. The quality of the recording is naturally poor, but the interpretation of tchapī presented here clearly justifies its inclusion in this selection. The listener is carried into a thrilling dance rhythm that is sustained throughout this masterly improvisation. Although tchapī often appears in Ostad’s playing (whether as a central piece or as a passage), it takes on a different form each time. In the instant case, it is played on a Persian scale with a neutral third, endowing it with a special quality.

Soltān-e Mardān

Details

Renditions of Soltān-e Mardān

More Hymns on same Album

Soltān-e MardānVocal

Details

Renditions of Soltān-e Mardān

More Hymns on same Album

Soltān-e Mardān