Persian Folk Song : Dorna


You were born with goodness and trust. You were born with ideals and dreams. You were born with wings. You are not meant for crawlin. You have wings. Learn to use them and fly! ~Rumi~

Click below to listen :




This week's Maitri Tune is a folk song from west Iran, sang both in original local language and in Farsi and it is a conversation with a Dorna bird (crane).​

Dorna appears in many ancient texts and paintings from the orient. It is highly present in the Alevi sacred music as Turna, symbolising the saint Hazrat Ali, or the Insane-Kamil (whole human being). The Semah sacred dance is also inspired by the movements of Dorna.

Like the human spirit it soars without limits. While flying, they stretch their neck, head and beaks forward as if stretching into the future. Their legs extend out behind, as if keeping the connection to the past. In flight, they awaken the wisdom that connects the past and the future, the new and the ancient.

In many Persian sufi poems and stories, flying symbolises the power of imagination (Parvaaze-Khial: The flight of imagination). When the mind is conditioned with narrow thought patterns and limiting belief systems, the bird of imagination is not allowed to take flight. But the human spirit, in essence, is free beyond limits. Seen from this view, this song carries the longing of the human soul to be set free. But who can set it free? Isn't the soul already free?

In another story told by Ibin-Sina, the wise Sufi healer, when a group of birds arrive at the door of the wisest bird Simorgh and ask him to open the chains from their feet, Simorgh responds: only the one who has set the chain has the power to open it. What would this mean, when brought to the context of human consciousness?

Connecting this to the spirit of our time and the spirit of Maitri tunes (radical generosity), there are some chains on the feet of generosity and our wings of imagination. Some of these chains may be in the form of deep assumptions behind the dominant cultures. For example "we are undeveloped people..." or "I do not have enough knowledge... skills... certificates... work experience... money..."

What will be possible when we unchains our feet of generosity and wings of imagination?

 



Lyrics:

May your wings never be closed
May your beaks be always colourful
Dorna!

In the skies, with clouds and winds
In the meadows, all green and serene
All the closed birds to be set free

May never be
Your wings tired
Your beaks closed

Your voice comes from the faraway mountain
With the stories of the patient stone
Coloured with moon-light and transparent tears
With the shadow of the cloudy moon
My eyes are waiting your arrival...
Dorna!


Guest editor for this week's Maitri Tunes is Kamyar from the Simorgh Journey.
 


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