Tanbūr

This instrument was the one most often played by Ostad Elahi, née Nur Ali (1895–1974), a tanbūr master and influential Persian thinker and jurist. Considered sacred by the Ahl-e Haqq order, the tanbūr is used to complement meditation and communication with the divine. Elahi transformed the two-stringed instrument, adding a third string and developing new playing techniques that used all ten fingers.