16 – Maqam (Tarz) Ali Ali Hu Hu (“Ali Is the Truth”)

Range: C, G, A♭, B (B♭).

Variable notes: B.

Time signatures in the metric sections: 4/4.

Tuning: Haft Dastan or Barz (C, C, G)

This is one of the kalam maqams – sacred maqams (melodic-modal pieces of the tanbur repertoire) sung to the sacred verse of the Yarsan (Ahl-e Haqq) – in a four-beat metre and, according to Heydar Kaki, it is reserved for prayer and supplication. The sarband (refrain) of this maqam is the first couplet:

Ali Ali hu hu, mawlam Ali hu hu

Dasam va daman Pir Benyamin bu

Our master is Ali, and our hand of devotion holds fast to the hem of Pir Benyamin’s robe.

The poem of this maqam was also composed by Nowruz Sourani, and perhaps the maqam itself is of late origin too. According to Ali Akbar Moradi, these verses are likewise among the Yarsan zekrs (devotional invocations).