31 – Maqam (Tarz) Tala Savaran (“He Who Rides Tala”)

Range: B (on the bass string), D, E, F, G, A, B♭.

Variable notes: B.

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), with a heavy meter, and its refrain (sarband) is the first couplet:

Tala savaran kavam, ey vanahu

Baghi pay yaran gian gian ey vanahu

He rides Tala and has brought permanence and immortality as a gift to the Companions.

“Tala” is the name of the horse of Shah Ebrahim, and this maqam, too, is in praise of Shah Ebrahim (the rider of Tala being Shah Ebrahim himself). Shah Ebrahim’s tomb is in Baghdad today, because he had gone to Baghdad to guide the Yarsan people. The poem of this maqam is likewise transmitted from the daftar (book of sacred verse) of Sheykh Amir.

As for the color white, which is mentioned in the text of the maqam, it should be said that this color is of great importance to the Yarsan; white is the color of Pir Benyamin. It is the color recommended for the clothing of those present in the jamkhaneh (the house of the jam, the Yarsan ritual gathering). Of course, the custom of wearing white also existed among the Zoroastrians, and it goes back to the Mithraic and Zoroastrian roots of this faith. Yarsan sources also mention that the great figures of the Yarsan wore white. White is the color of light, and of purity and sincerity.