21 – Maqam (Tarz) Yar Davud (“Our Friend, Davud”)

Range: C, D, E♭, F.

Time signatures in the metric sections: 4/4.

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

This maqam (a melodic-modal piece of the tanbur repertoire) has a simple four-beat metre, but according to Heydar Kaki “it has a special fervour and ecstasy that deeply moves the group of kalam singers [singers of sacred Yarsan verse], and it is one of the maqams performed as call and response between the kalam singer and the assembled group: the kalam singer sings the main sarband [refrain], then a stanza of the poem, and then each time the group answers with the sarband while clapping at the same time. That is, they clap on the first beat, and the other three beats are carried on by the tanbur and the kalam singer.” The sarband of this maqam is the first couplet:

Yar Davu haghan gian Davu

Din Davu iman Davu

O friend, O manifestation of the Truth, O our religion and faith, O Holy Davud.

According to Ali Akbar Moradi, the first stanza of this kalam is in praise of Soltan Sahak.