The Tanbur: The Sacred Lute of the Yarsani Faith
- Sherko Sabir
- 1 day ago
- 6 min read
Introduction
The tanbur (tembur) is the sacred lute of the Yarsani faith, the only instrument the Ahl-e Haqq venerate as holy. A long-necked lute of the Kurdish mountains, it is the voice of their sacred hymns and the heart of their worship, so revered that players kiss it before they begin to play.
For the Yarsani, the tanbur is not merely an instrument but a vessel of the divine. They call it haqqani, 'of Haq', of Truth, of God, and even the 'Voice of God'. To understand the tanbur is to touch the living, sounding centre of one of Kurdistan's most remarkable religious traditions.
Contents
What Is the Tanbur?
The tanbur is a long-necked, fretted lute that is the sacred musical instrument of the Kurdish Yarsani (Ahl-e Haqq). Played to accompany the recitation of the faith's sacred poetry, it is the only instrument the Yarsani venerate as holy, and it carries a repertoire of 72 ritual modes once reserved for initiates. It is one of the oldest instruments of Kurdistan and the beating heart of Yarsani devotion.
Key Takeaways
The tanbur is the sacred lute of the Yarsani (Ahl-e Haqq) faith.
It is the only instrument the Yarsani venerate as holy, calling it 'of Haq' (of God).
It accompanies the sacred hymns, the kalams, sung at the jam ceremony.
Its repertoire of 72 ritual maqams (modes) was traditionally reserved for initiates.
Players kiss the instrument before playing as a mark of its sanctity.
Quick Facts
Name: Tanbur (also tembur, tanbour; the Tamira)
Type: A long-necked, fretted lute
Tradition: Yarsanism (Ahl-e Haqq / Kaka'i)
Status: The only instrument venerated as sacred by the Yarsani; called the 'Voice of God'
Body: A pear-shaped resonator of mulberry wood with a walnut neck, around 80 cm tall
Strings: Three metal strings, the top course usually doubled
Frets: Around 14 movable frets, allowing the microtonal sacred scale
Repertoire: The 72 ritual maqams (modes) of the Yarsan
Heartland: The Guran region of Kermanshah, western Iran
Attestation: One of the oldest instruments of Kurdistan; central to a living faith
A Sacred Instrument
Across the Islamic world music has often been viewed with suspicion, yet within Yarsanism the tanbur is holy. It is the one instrument the Ahl-e Haqq treat as sacred, set apart from all others, and tradition holds that the divine presence descends wherever a tuned tanbur is taken up in devotion. One saying attributed to the tradition runs: wherever a tuned tanbur is played, there the divine will be.
This sanctity shapes how the instrument is treated. Players kiss the upper part of the tanbur before playing, handle it with reverence, and regard it less as a tool than as a companion in worship. To play is an act of prayer, and the sound itself is felt as a manifestation of Haq, of Truth.
How the Tanbur Is Made
The Kurdish tanbur is a work of patient craft. It stands around eighty centimetres tall, with a pear-shaped resonating bowl traditionally carved or built from mulberry wood, prized for its warm tone, and a long neck of walnut. Along the neck are set around fourteen movable frets, tied in place so they can be adjusted for the microtonal intervals the sacred melodies require.
It is usually strung with three metal strings, the top course doubled so that the melody rings out clearly. The legendary tanbur-makers of the Farmani family, in the village of Gahwara in the Guran region, are renowned bearers of this knowledge, and for the Yarsani the very making of a tanbur is a process by which ordinary wood becomes a sacred thing.
The 72 Maqams and the Jam
The soul of the tanbur is its repertoire: the 72 ritual maqams, or modes, of the Yarsan. These are played and sung at the jam, the sacred communal gathering, where a reciter known as the kalam-khwan sings the kalams, the sacred poems, to the sound of the lute. The music can carry worshippers toward an ecstatic, trance-like state, much as in the Sufi traditions, and is understood to open the way to the divine.
For most of their history these 72 maqams were esoteric, reserved for initiates and passed down only within the community. They form a complete musical and spiritual system, each mode bound to the sacred poetry and the inner meaning of the faith.
Masters and Preservation
In modern times the great master of the sacred tanbur has been Ali Akbar Moradi, of the Guran region, widely regarded as the foremost living virtuoso of the instrument and, it is said, the only person to have mastered all 72 maqams. Aware that this fragile heritage might otherwise be lost or distorted, he recorded and published the complete cycle of maqams, having first obtained the authorization of the Yarsan spiritual authorities of Guran.
His work, including collaborations with the celebrated Kurdish singer Shahram Nazeri, has carried the sound of the tanbur to audiences across the world while preserving its sacred core. It is thanks to such masters that the 72 maqams, once known only to initiates in remote mountain villages, endure today.
Sacred and Secular Tanbur
Though the tanbur is sacred to the Yarsani, the same family of instrument is also played in secular Kurdish music. Popular Kurdish singers have used the tembur to move crowds and to carry songs of love, longing and national feeling, far from any ceremony. The frame drum called the daf is sometimes played alongside the tanbur, but it is not regarded as sacred in Yarsani worship.
This double life, holy in the jam and joyful in the concert hall, reflects the tanbur's deep place in Kurdish identity. The same shape of instrument can be a vessel of worship in one setting and a voice of culture in another, without the two being confused.
Symbolism
The tanbur gathers up the Yarsani vision of a world in which the divine is hidden within the material. A piece of mulberry wood, shaped and strung, becomes the Voice of God; an ordinary act, the plucking of a string, becomes prayer. In the tanbur, sound is the bridge between the visible world and the inner reality the faith calls truth.
It is also a symbol of continuity. Carried down the generations and played in unbroken tradition since the foundational age, the tanbur binds the living Yarsani community to its origins, its holy figures and its mountains.
Debates and Misconceptions
Is the tanbur just a normal Kurdish lute? In form it belongs to the wider family of Middle Eastern long-necked lutes, and it is indeed played in secular Kurdish music. What sets the Yarsani tanbur apart is not its shape but its status: within the faith it is uniquely sacred, the only venerated instrument, bound to the 72 maqams and the worship of the jam.
Does recording the sacred maqams break their secrecy? Some have worried so, since the maqams were long reserved for initiates. But masters such as Ali Akbar Moradi recorded them with the blessing of the Yarsan spiritual authorities, precisely to preserve them faithfully rather than see them lost or corrupted, an act of protection rather than disclosure.
Related Topics
Sultan Sahak: the founder of the Yarsani faith in which the tanbur is sacred
Baba Yadgar: the Yarsani saint whose shrine echoes with sacred music
The Yazidi qewls: the sacred sung tradition of the kindred Yazidi faith
The jam: the Yarsani sacred assembly where the tanbur is played
The 72 maqams: the ritual modes of the Yarsan
The Kalam-e Saranjam: the sacred scripture sung to the tanbur
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the tanbur?
The tanbur is a long-necked Kurdish lute that is the sacred instrument of the Yarsani (Ahl-e Haqq) faith. It accompanies the sacred hymns and carries the 72 ritual maqams of the tradition.
Why is the tanbur sacred to the Yarsani?
The Yarsani regard it as the only holy instrument, calling it 'of Haq' (of God) and even the 'Voice of God'. They believe the divine presence descends when a tuned tanbur is played in devotion, and players kiss it before playing.
What are the 72 maqams?
They are the 72 ritual modes of the Yarsan, a complete cycle of sacred melodies played on the tanbur and sung with the kalams. They were traditionally reserved for initiates of the faith.
What is the tanbur made of?
It is about eighty centimetres tall, with a pear-shaped bowl of mulberry wood and a walnut neck, around fourteen movable frets, and three metal strings with the top course usually doubled.
Is the tanbur only used in religion?
No. While it is sacred in Yarsani worship, the same kind of lute is also played in secular Kurdish music. The sacred and secular uses coexist without being confused.
References and Further Reading
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