Reciting Ardah-Mourning Quatrain and its Usage in Mourning Ceremonies of Sistan

The local and indigenous ceremonies in Sistan region shows the rich and old culture of this region. Following the rural culture, people of this region have used poetry and songs sufficiently for maintaining and reviving the mourning ceremonies. Ardah-mourning or reading quatrain is a deeply sad and mournful song in the mourning ceremonies of Sistan. This study employs library study as well as some interviews with the informants to investigate Ardah-mourning and its uses in the mourning ceremonies of Sistan. The history, the performants, the performance, and the time and place show that people of Sistan use their own dialect for this cultural practice. Compared with other types, this practice takes the lyrics and the music as basic aspects of the ancient ethnic groups within Iran. moreover, the study analyzes the Sistani quatrains, its tone, rhythm, form, language, content, and literary features. It is general claimed that the songs and lyrics are devices to soothe the sadness among the people in Sistan.