Hüseynî

Hüseynî is one of the twelve cycles. It comes to rest on dügâh; its dominant is the hüseynî note that bears its name. Its melodic course begins around the dominant, then descends; its most characteristic stopping place is the suspended cadence on çârgâh. On the way down, the acem note is played instead of eviç, and most works use this "hüseynî with acem" scale.

In the account attributed to Safiyyüddin, it is the "note of sulh," of peace; in the list attributed to Fârâbî, too, it gives peace. Şirvânî, for his part, counts it among the makams that give sorrow and stillness. For its time, the sources here look to the same hour: Şuûrî names the morning, and Şirvânî's list points to the moment the true dawn breaks. Şuûrî deems it fitting to perform Hüseynî and the makams bound to it in the presence of Arabs; among the signs of the zodiac, he links it to Scorpio.

Sources: Scale and melodic course: Özkan, "Hüseynî", TDV İA, XIX, 21-22 (1999). The twelve cycles: Özkan, "Makam", TDV İA. Peace, stillness, dawn: Akdoğan, AÜİFD XLVIII/1, 79-81. Peace: Kalender, AÜİFD XXIX, 362. Morning, the Arab gathering, the zodiac sign: Şuûrî, Turabi edition, 165-166.