30 – Maqam (Tarz) Sey Mohammad Barav Divani (“Seyed Mohammad Gawra-Savar Holds a Lofty Rank among the Companions”)

Range: C, D, E, F, G, A.

Variable notes: E.

Time signatures in the metric sections: 7/4.

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), which, according to Heydar Kaki, “has a 14-beat rhythm in each cycle (7+7).” This maqam, too, is performed by the kalam singer and the group of those present at the jam (the Yarsan ritual gathering), and its refrain (sarband) is the first couplet:

Ey Sey Mohammad barav divani

Yar nazesh rava bu pay Yarsani

Seyed Mohammad Gawra-Savar holds a lofty rank and standing among the Companions,

for he has access to the threshold and court of the Friend.

According to Ali Akbar Moradi, this maqam is attributed to Seyed Mohammad Barzanjei, known as Seyed Mohammad Gawra-Savar, who was the father of Shah Ebrahim (one of the members of Soltan Sahak’s Haft Tan, the Seven). His tomb is still located in Hawraman today. Interestingly, religious tolerance is also evident in this poem, for it refers to the church and the idol temple, and to the idea that wherever the essence of the Truth is present, it is a sign of the Creator, and it makes no difference.