09 – Maqam (Tarz) Beyan va Yari (“Hasten to Help”)

Range: C, E, F, G, A♭, B (and B♭), C.

Time signatures in the metric sections: 3/8.

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

It is one of the kalam maqams (the sacred melodic-modal pieces of the tanbur repertoire), which, in the view of Heydar Kaki, “although it has a free meter, has an inner rhythm of 2 beats and sometimes 3 beats, and the expression of this maqam bears many similarities to the maqam ‘Lami Lami’.” Its refrain, too, is the first couplet:

Hay dida giani, beyan va yari

Bayu Pir Davu, nishana-a bari

O light of my eyes and soul, hasten to help

so that His Holiness Davud may arrive, bearing the sign of the Truth with him.

Dowreh-ye Chehel Tan (“The Period of the Forty”), from which the poem of the maqam is taken, is the name of one of the chapters of the book Saranjam (“The Conclusion”). It deals with the creation of forty angels who were created in pre-eternity as keepers of the divine secret and whose spirits, in the “eighth century AH” (14th century CE), became manifest in the bodies of forty persons – forty who called people to monotheism and the oneness of God. The names of these Forty and their sayings appear in the book Saranjam: for example Soltan Sahak, Pir Benyamin, Pir Davud, Pir Musi, Khatun Ramzbar (the mother of Soltan Sahak) and lesser-known figures such as Ghamus, Azhdar, Anvar and others. Note that these Forty are distinct from the Forty of Aseyed Heydar Barakeh, who was mentioned earlier. As for Davud, who is referred to in the text of the maqam, one should cite an account of the Yarsan (the Ahl-e Haqq religious community) that shows his rank well. According to Yarsan belief, God created the world in two stages: the creation of the spiritual world and the creation of the material world. They say: “Then God willed the creation of beings, and as the first creature He created Pir Benyamin from under His armpit and named him Gabriel. After creating Gabriel, God set him adrift upon the expanse of the encircling ocean. Thousands of years passed until, at Gabriel’s request, six other beings appeared, who together with Gabriel became seven beings (Haft Tan, the Seven): Gabriel (symbolized by Pir Benyamin, a contemporary of Soltan Sahak, who held the office of Pir over all the Ahl-e Haqq) – Israfil (1- manifested in Pir Davud, a contemporary of Soltan Sahak, who held the office of dalil, that is, of instruction and guidance for all the Ahl-e Haqq 2- Israfil, the angel who sounds the trumpet on the Day of Resurrection) – Michael (1- manifested in Pir Musi, a contemporary of Soltan Sahak, who, with the title Ghalam-Zar, “Golden Pen”, served as the Soltan’s keeper of records and secretary 2- Michael, chief of the angels, the angel of mercy, charged with the sustenance and daily bread of God’s servants) – Azrael (manifested in Mostafa Davudan, a contemporary of Soltan Sahak, who was in charge of matters of order and discipline) – Hur al-Ein (manifested in Khatun Ramzbar or Khatun Dayerak, the mother of Soltan Sahak and head of the community of Ahl-e Haqq women) – Aqiq (manifested in Shah Ebrahim, Soltan Sahak’s deputy in mystical sovereignty) – Yaqin (manifested in Shah Yadegar or Baba Yadegar, Soltan Sahak’s deputy in mystical sovereignty).” It should be mentioned that in a chapter of the book Saranjam entitled Haftan va Amshaspandan (“The Seven and the Amesha Spentas”), these Haft Tan are compared with the seven Amesha Spentas. It must also be said that the families of Shah Ebrahim and Baba Yadegar are among the most important lineages that Soltan Sahak appointed to hold spiritual rank for the Yarsan forever.

Ali Akbar Moradi believes that the story of this maqam relates to the seventh century AH (13th century CE), to the time when the Soltan’s companions asked him to make the Yarsan faith public; for this faith had existed in secret in Hawraman for hundreds of years, until Soltan Sahak openly propagated it.