Religious Songs and Mystical Songs: A Comparison from the Perspective of Performance

By studying the ancient and folk roots of religious and mystical songs, we can find the oldest Persian poems in these songs. In the present article, by using analytical-descriptive method, we compare religious songs with mystical ones from the perspective of performance. One of the most important issues regarding the composition and performance of these songs is the precise identification of the fields of religious and mystical songs. Thus, the form, language and content of the songs are described and analyzed.  The research findings show that religious and mystical themes, as two different areas, have formed the main theme of the songs; the content and performance of the songs show the difference between the two themes, and the songwriters were aware, from the beginning, of the difference between the two fields of thought, mysticism and religion. The composers and performers of religious songs are darāvish, chāvosh-khānān, tazieh-khānān and noha-khānān. The creators and performers of mystical songs are called āshiq, suz-khān, beit-khan and tasnif-khān.  The tone of these songs is sincere and the music is mostly based on the lyrics.