27 – Maqam (Tarz) Dasi Vet Vala (“A Flower in One Hand”)

Range: D, E (and E♭), F, G, A, B♭, C.

Variable notes: E.

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

It is one of the kalam maqams (sacred melodic-modal pieces in the tanbur repertoire of the Yarsan, or Ahl-e Haqq), and its refrain (sarband) is the first couplet:

Dasi vet vala, gian yut shamama

Yaran mozgani, Bava Heyar ama

In one hand he holds a flower, in the other a shamama

Companions, good tidings to you: Baba Heydar is arriving.

According to Ali Akbar Moradi, Baba Heydar, who is referred to in the text of the maqam, lived in the eighth century AH (14th century CE), and this maqam was composed at the time of his meeting with Soltan Sahak. He was one of the great figures of the Yarsan, and Baba Heydar’s tomb is still located today in Gilan-e Gharb County (of the Kalhor tribe), in the west of Kermanshah. Interestingly, the poem of this maqam is very probably by Sheykh Amir, and in fact Sheykh Amir recorded the moment of the meeting between Soltan Sahak and Baba Heydar. Shamama, which is mentioned in the text of the maqam, is the Kurdish word for a small, fragrant melon, and it is also a girl’s name meaning “fragrant woman.”

According to Heydar Kaki, too, “this maqam is very rarely performed, because the melodic movement in it is complex and not every player and kalam singer is able to perform it; and because of the melodic structure of this maqam, listeners will feel a state of elation and joy on hearing it.”