MAQAM

plural Maqamat, in Islamic music, a set of pitches and of characteristic melodic elements, or motives, and a traditional pattern of their use, forming a system for the melodic and tonal construction of performances. A maqam can be represented by a seven-tone scale. The number of maqamat in use has varied through history, with more than 100 described in the literature. The division of the octave into intervals has also varied historically. A melodic motive is based within a unit, or span of four notes, and each maqam has a typical pattern of motion among the units. The tonal characteristics of the maqam serve as a guide for improvisation, which usually proceeds toward successively higher pitch levels. The maqam is established during the solo prelude to an instrumental performance, before the accompanying instruments enter. Later in a piece, modulations to different maqamat are possible but with a final return to the original scale. In a suite, a common form in Arabic music, all sections are performed in the same maqam. By guiding the formation of melody, the maqamat set the moods of pieces and thus have traditionally been associated with the signs of the zodiac, the humours, and the elements. Present-day Arabic, Turkish, and Iranian music developed from the Islamic tradition. Compare dastgah. (Arabic: place of residence), a spiritual stage that periodically marks the long path followed by Muslim mystics (Sufis) leading to the vision of and union with God. The Sufi progresses by means of his own mujahadah (work, or self-mortification) and through the help and guidance of the masters (sheikhs). In each maqam the Sufi strives to purify himself from all worldly inclination and to prepare himself to attain an ever-higher spiritual level. The order and number of the maqams are not uniform among all Sufis. The majority, however, agree on seven major maqams: (1) the maqam of tawbah (repentance), which does not mean remembrance of sins and atonement for them but rather forgetting them along with everything that distracts from the love of God; (2) the maqam of wara' (fear of the Lord), which is not fear of hellfire but rather the dread of being veiled eternally from God; (3) the maqam of zuhd (renunciation, or detachment), which means that the person is devoid of possessions and his heart is without acquisitiveness; (4) the maqam of faqr (poverty), in which he asserts his independence of worldly possessions and his need of God alone; (5) the maqam of sabr (patience), the art of steadfastness; (6) the maqam of tawakkul (trust, or surrender), in which the Sufi knows that he cannot be discouraged by hardships and pain, for he is in total submission to God's will and finds joy even in his sorrows; (7) the maqam of rida (satisfaction), a state of quiet contentment and joy that comes from the anticipation of the long-sought union.