''Nine Heavens'' (Persian: , Noh behešt) is the second album of Iranian music group

Niyaz Niyaz ( fa, نياز) is an Iranian Canadian musical duo. The group was created in 2004 by DJ, programmer/producer and remixer Carmen Rizzo, vocalist and hammered dulcimer player Azam Ali, formerly of the group Vas, and Ali's husband, Loga Ram ...

, an acoustic electronic project. It was released on June 24, 2008 on

Six Degrees Records Six Degrees Records is an independent record label noted for its catalog of recordings from international musicians and vocalists. History In 1996, former Windham Hill employees Pat Berry and Bob Duskis founded Six Degrees Records with the in ...

. The album is divided into 2 discs. One is the electronic version of the album, while the second disc presents eight of the songs as acoustic versions with the exception of "Iman", which is mostly an electronic/ambient piece and features no acoustic instruments but includes Azam Ali's vocals. Many of the track titles were revealed on site of the band's label. ''Nine Heavens'' reached #4 in the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' Top World Albums chart.

Track listing

Disc 1

# "Beni Beni" # "Tamana" # "Feraghi - Song Of Exile" # "Ishq - Love And The Veil" # "Allah Mazare" # "Iman" # "Molk-E-Divan" # "Hejran" # "Sadrang"

Disc 2

# "Allah Mazare" (acoustic) # "Beni Beni" (acoustic) # "Sadrang" (acoustic) # "Tamana" (acoustic) # "Feraghi - Song Of Exile" (acoustic) # "Hejran" (acoustic) # "Ishq - Love And The Veil" (acoustic) # "Molk-E-Divan" (acoustic)

Lyrical sources

"Beni beni" is based on an 18th-century Turkish

Sufi Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...

folk song. "Ishq" and "Tamana" are based on

ghazal The ''ghazal'' ( ar, غَزَل, bn, গজল, Hindi-Urdu: /, fa, غزل, az, qəzəl, tr, gazel, tm, gazal, uz, gʻazal, gu, ગઝલ) is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry. A ghazal may be understood as a ...

Khwaja Mir Dard Khwaja Mir Dard (1720-1785) ( ur, ) was a poet of the Delhi School and a Sufi saint of the Naqshbandi The Naqshbandi ( fa, نقشبندی)), Neqshebendi ( ku, نه‌قشه‌به‌ندی), and Nakşibendi (in Turkish) is a major Sunni ...

. The words to "Iman" are drawn from two ruba'iyat by different authors: Mirza Salamat Ali Dabir and Maulana Altaf Hussain Hali. "Molk-e-Divan" is based on the ghazal ''Khiz tâ bâde dar pyâle konim'' by Sufi poet Khâju-ye Kermâni (خواجوی کرمانی) with a few alteratio

and "Sadrang" draws the lyrics from works by

Amir Khusrow Abu'l Hasan Yamīn ud-Dīn Khusrau (1253–1325 AD), better known as Amīr Khusrau was an Indo-Persian Sufi singer, musician, poet and scholar who lived under the Delhi Sultanate. He is an iconic figure in the cultural history of the Indian s ...

(امیر خسرو دهلوی), a 13th-century mystic and poet who, like Niyaz's vocalist

Azam Ali Azam Ali ( fa, اعظم علی) is an Iranian musician. As of 2013, she has released eight full-length albums with the bands VAS and Niyaz, as well as four solo albums. Biography She was born in Tehran on 3 October 1970, Ali spent most of her ...

, was a

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

raised in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

In other media

The songs of ''"Nine Heavens"'' were played in several episodes of

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

's television series ''

True Blood ''True Blood'' is an American fantasy horror drama television series produced and created by Alan Ball. It is based on ''The Southern Vampire Mysteries'', a series of novels by Charlaine Harris. A reboot is currently in development. The serie ...

''. The song ''"Beni, Beni"'' was played in episode 7 of

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

's television series ''

Missing Missing or The Missing may refer to: Film * ''Missing'' (1918 film), an American silent drama directed by James Young * ''Missing'' (1982 film), an American historical drama directed by Costa-Gavras * ''Missing'' (2007 film) (''Vermist''), a Bel ...

'' (2012).Missing - Music Lounge - ABC.com
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References

External links

''Nine Heavens'' review ''Billboard''
{{Authority control 2008 albums Niyaz albums Six Degrees Records albums