Haftawaneh, also written Haftawana or haftawâne, is usually translated as “Seven Sons” in accounts of Yarsani and Kaka‘i traditions. The term connects sacred narratives about Sultan Sahak with spiritual lineages, but its interpretation varies between communities.
Distinguishing three groups of seven
Michiel Leezenberg distinguishes the Haft Tan, Haftawana and Haft Khalifa in his account of the Kaka‘i. Sacred companions, the lineages associated with the Seven Sons and the guides known as vicars have different places in that description. Sharing the number seven does not make them identical. [1]
| Term | Usual rendering | Context in that account |
|---|---|---|
| Haft Tan | Seven Companions | Sacred companions associated with Sultan Sahak |
| Haftawana | Seven Sons | Associated with the older sayyid families |
| Haft Khalifa | Seven Vicars | Guides for the religious community |
From sacred sons to spiritual families
Karol Kaczorowski’s scholarly overview explains the Haftawana as earthly counterparts of higher spiritual beings in some traditions. It links them with sayyid lineages, while emphasizing differences in names, cosmology and the counting of families. Reviewing Edmonds’s work in Iraq, he notes five older families associated with Sultan Sahak’s sons and five later families; other accounts speak of eleven lineages. The sacred number seven therefore cannot simply be turned into a universally accepted list of seven present-day khandans. The distinction concerns both inherited religious authority and how particular communities narrate its origin. [2]
What a lineage does in community life
Leezenberg describes followers connected to a pir from a sayyid family and to a dalil or guiding representative. Such relationships commonly pass between generations, creating spiritual kinship. He identifies the Ibrahimi family as especially widespread among the Iraqi Kaka‘i he studied. These are concrete connections between followers and religious specialists, documented in particular communities. [1]
Different interpretations within Guran
Martin van Bruinessen revisited his 1976 Guran fieldwork in a 2014 study. He reports contrasting interpretations of the second heptad: some interlocutors understood it as complementary to the Haft Tan and concerned with worldly existence, while others described a darker, oppositional relationship. He also documents disagreement over Shah Ebrahim’s position. In one genealogical account, Shah Ebrahim is a son of one of the Haftawaneh and thus Sultan Sahak’s grandson, linked to the Shah Ebrahimi lineage. These differences are reported beliefs within the fieldwork, not grounds for labelling all Yarsanis by one controversial theological formula. [3]
Sacred poetry and the limits of one summary
Jean During’s critical survey examines how knowledge of Ahl-e Haqq traditions has depended on manuscripts, published texts and contact with particular groups. He describes a Saranjam manuscript collection containing material on the Haftawana alongside other sacred narratives. He also notes that headings and the division into sections can differ between copies. His broader discussion warns against treating evidence from a few communities as a complete account of the religion. [4] The useful approach is to identify which community, text or scholar supports a statement, especially when discussing lineage origins and sacred identities.
An image of a living religious landscape
The accompanying photograph records the Shah Hayas shrine complex in Wardik in 2018, with its courtyard, visitors and green flags. It provides a dated view of a Kaka‘i religious setting. Its caption identifies the actual site rather than assigning the building to Sultan Sahak’s time or presenting it as an image of the Seven Sons themselves. [5]
Sources and further reading
- Michiel Leezenberg, The Shabak and the Kakais: Dynamics of Ethnicity in Iraqi Kurdistan, ILLC report X-1994-07, section 3; text reproduced by the Kurdish Academy of Language.
- Karol Kaczorowski, Ahl-e Haqq (Yarsanism), Alevi Encyclopedia, 5 October 2025, DOI 10.68413/aleviansiklopedisi.v48ng; sacred groups and social structure.
- Martin van Bruinessen, Veneration of Satan among the Ahl-e Haqq of the Gûrân region, Fritillaria Kurdica 3–4 (2014), pp. 6–41, especially 21–22; reflections on 1976 fieldwork.
- Jean During, A Critical Survey on Ahl-e Haqq Studies in Europe and Iran, in Alevi Identity: Cultural, Religious and Social Perspectives (1998), especially pp. 105–107 and 121 n. 66.
- Levi Clancy, Shah Hayas Kaka‘i shrine complex, Wardik, 10 March 2018, Wikimedia Commons; CC0 public-domain dedication.