Sama'i

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For the Tibetan village, see Samai.

Samā'ī (Arabic: سماعي; from Turkish saz semai or saz semaisi) is a genre of instrumental Turkish classical music. Along with the peşrev (bashraf), it was introduced into Arabic music in the 19th century, and became particularly popular in Egypt.

A sama'i is generally divided into four or five sections called khanat (singular khana). Each khanat is followed by a refrain called a teslim. The khanat use an iqa' (meter) of 10/8 called Samā'i Thaqil (سماعي ثقيل), with the second-to-last section usually in triple meter (3/4, 3/8, 6/4, or 6/8; often Yūruk Samā'i (يورك سماعي; also called Samā'i Dārij) before returning to 10/8 at the end.