10 – Maqam (Tarz) Lav Hay Lav (“Lulla, Lullaby”)

Range: C, D, E, F, G, A♭, B (B♭), C.

Variable notes: B.

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 sacred verse – and it is performed in the Barz tuning. According to Heydar Kaki, “like the maqam ‘Hay Lava’, it was composed by the disciples and servants of Soltan Sahak and carries the same story of a lullaby for the Soltan.” Ali Akbar Moradi, too, believes that the companions of Soltan Eshagh (that is, Soltan Sahak) sang and hummed this kalam to him in his cradle to lull him to sleep when he was an infant. These companions are named as Pir Davud, Pir Musi and Pir Benyamin. In its lowest register, this maqam moves from the note C on the yellow string up to B♭ (with a hint of D♭). It is accompanied without hand-clapping at various ceremonies and is what is called ghara-chuyi.

Darvish Faregh, from whose daftar (collection of verse) the poem of this maqam is taken, is one of the prominent poets of the Yarsan (Ahl-e Haqq) and one of the Chehel Tan (the Forty), the companions of Aseyed Barakeh; like Darvish Dusteh, he left behind a daftar containing 100 kalams.