The arts of the broadly constructed Iranian world--literature, music, visual arts and performance--have long been the civilizational glue that has held members of the Persian speaking world together. In a real sense the arts have transcended religion, ethnicity, political differences and national boundaries to create a common Persian heritage. In this paper I will examine the core strengths of Persian arts, showing how they are rooted in a common ideology of contrast between the spiritual "inside" and the secular "outside." Both must be present for art to exist, and a core of cultural understanding must be shared by members of society in order for these expressions of the human spirit to form a common Iranian identity.