Mehmet Emin Ay

Ilahiler (singular: ilahi) are Turkish Sufi hymns—devotional songs in the Turkish language that praise God, the Prophet Muhammad, saints, and express mystical yearning and ethical counsel. They are a core strand of Ottoman/Turkish religious and tekke (dervish lodge) music, typically set in the makam (modal) system and performed with simple, singable melodies and memorable refrains. While ilahiler can be sung a cappella, they are often accompanied by instruments associated with Ottoman and Sufi music—ney (end-blown reed flute), ud, tanbur, kanun, and small devotional drums such as bendir and kudüm. Texts commonly draw on the poetry of Yunus Emre, Niyazi-i Mısri, and other Sufi poets. Musically, ilahiler balance accessibility and spiritual depth: they favor clear melodic contours, limited ambitus, and steady usul (rhythmic cycles) like Sofyan (4/4), Düyek (8/8), Aksak (9/8), or Semai (6/8), with occasional free-rhythm passages. They are performed in mosques and dervish lodges, in religious gatherings (zikr/sohbet), and in domestic devotional settings, and today also exist in concert, recording, and media contexts.

Sufi is a devotional musical tradition rooted in Islamic mysticism that seeks to induce remembrance of the Divine (dhikr) and transport performers and listeners toward spiritual ecstasy (wajd). It is not a single uniform style, but a family of practices that vary across regions—most notably Persian/Iranian, Anatolian/Turkish (Mevlevi), Arab, and South Asian (qawwali, kafi). Musically, Sufi repertoire tends to revolve around repetitive, mantra-like refrains, call-and-response between lead and chorus, and gradual intensification over cyclical rhythms. Melodic language draws from regional modal systems such as the Persian dastgāh, Ottoman/Turkish makam, and South Asian raga, and is often supported by drones. Texts are central: poetry by mystic masters like Rumi, Hafez, Bullhe Shah, and Amir Khusrau is sung in Persian, Urdu, Punjabi, Arabic, Turkish, and other languages. Instrumentation varies by locale—harmonium, tabla/dholak, tanpura, and clapping in South Asia; ney, kudüm, bendir, and tanbur in Turkey; oud and frame drums across the Arab world—yet the unifying aim is spiritual uplift and inner transformation.

Sufi chant refers to the vocal devotional practices (dhikr, ḥadra, inshād, ilāhī, samaʿ) used by Sufi orders to remember God through the repetition of divine names, litanies, and poetic texts. It is primarily voice-led, often unaccompanied or supported by sparse percussion (frame drum/duff, riqq) and occasionally by modal instruments (ney, oud). Melodies draw on regional modal systems (e.g., maqam in the Middle East, dastgah in Iran, raga/raga-like frameworks in South Asia) and are delivered with melismatic ornamentation and flexible rhythm that intensifies toward ecstatic climax. Chant can be responsorial (call-and-response between a leader and a chorus) or communal unison. Its texts range from Qurʾanic invocations and the Beautiful Names of God to Sufi poetry by figures such as Rumi, Hafez, and al-Busiri (e.g., Qaṣīdat al-Burda). Though styles vary from Egypt to Turkey, Morocco, Iran, and South Asia, the shared aim is spiritual remembrance and transformation through sound.