Pir Dawud
Yarsani · deity · Yarsani traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Pir Dawud is one of the seven holy companions of the central manifestation in Yarsani belief, appointed by Soltan Sahak as the teacher and guide of the disciples. In the sacred Gurani narratives he carries the unmistakable features of an older weather-deity: he is the horseman of the gray courser and the rider of the winds, who at God's command can dissolve into water, seep into the ground, and well up again. The best known episode tells how he calms a sea-storm to save a foundering ship on which the angel Benyamin travels disguised as a dervish. As with the other companions, the spiritual lineage descended from Dawud became one of the foundational houses of the Ahl-e Haqq.
Domains
- wind and weather
- instruction and discipleship
Powers
- to ride upon and command the winds and calm the raging sea
Epithets
- Khodavand DawudHamzeh'ee, M. Reza. The Yaresan. Berlin: Klaus Schwarz Verlag, 1990. (secondary)
Relations
- subordinate to: Soltan SahakDawud is one of the holy companions who attend and serve the central manifestation Soltan Sahak.Encyclopaedia Iranica, s.v. "Ahl-e Ḥaqq." (secondary)
- companion: Soltan SahakOne of the seven holy companions (Haftan) of Soltan Sahak, appointed by him as the teacher.Encyclopaedia Iranica, s.v. "Ahl-e Ḥaqq." (secondary)
- companion: Pir BenyaminDawud calms the storm to rescue the ship bearing Benyamin; the two are constantly paired among the heptad.Encyclopaedia Iranica, s.v. "Ahl-e Ḥaqq." (secondary)
- companion: Pir MusiDawud, Benyamin and Musi form the triad of companions most often named together in the sacred poetry.Hamzeh'ee, M. Reza. The Yaresan. Berlin: Klaus Schwarz Verlag, 1990. (secondary)
Sources
- Pir Dawud is one of the Haftan, the holy companions of Soltan Sahak, appointed as the teacher and guide of the faithful, and is portrayed in the sacred narratives as a weather-deity, the rider of the winds who calms the storm.: Encyclopaedia Iranica, s.v. "Ahl-e Ḥaqq." (secondary); Hamzeh'ee, M. Reza. The Yaresan: A Sociological, Historical and Religio-Historical Study of a Kurdish Community. Berlin: Klaus Schwarz Verlag, 1990. (secondary)