"Turchia. Hicaz Hümayûn Ilâhî. Yâ Resûlâllah bize gör n’itti âsi ümmetin"

Instead of a traditional 'Festschrift' for the distinguished (and beloved) Italian ethnomusicologist Serena Facci, it was decided to publish in her honour some previously unreleased musical recordings made in the field by individual researchers/ethnomusicologists that participate in the book. The recordings have been, then, described, analysed and contextualised in the book. In my case, I describe and analyse a piece that I recorded in Istanbul, in a dervish centre, in the summer of 2024. The piece introduces a long and very lively nocturnal session of zikr (remembrance, mention) of the vocal type (jahri) that took place in the centre (tekke) of the Halvetî Cerrahi Sufi brotherhood in Karagümrük (Istanbul). The poetic text (güfte) is by Nizamoğlu Seyyid Seyfullah (16th century), and it's entitled "Yâ Resûlâllah bize gör n’itti âsi ümmetin". The musical composition (beste) is by Şikârizâde Ahmed Efendi, in the maqām (musical mode) Hicaz Hümayûn.