Mystical Literature
Year:2018 | Volume:9 | Issue:17 |Papers Count:7

From the viewpoint of cognitive linguists, cognitive metaphor refers to any understanding and expression of abstract concepts in terms of concrete concepts. Among the various methods adopted by Lakoff and Turner in conceptual metaphor analysis, in this research, the concept of evolution in Rumi’ s poems is examined based on the hierarchical feature of the great chain metaphor model. The study of Rumi’ s poems shows that the hierarchical feature of the great chain metaphor, which represents a kind of evolution, is also found in Rumi’ s mental set. Rumi sees human evolution as passing through the molds of plants, animals, and even human himself, and reaching the higher levels of angels and Divinenearness. The two latter levels have been overlooked by cognitive linguists. Rumi considers mortality and death a necessary condition for passing through lower levels and reaching higher levels, and displays this with a kind of directional metaphor, i. e. moving forward. It means the metaphorical perception of the features of one quiddity at a level is possible through the features of one quiddity at another level. In other words, we encounter a rebirth every time. Given the universal nature of the human body and the global patterns of our physical interactions with the world, this kind of relationship has been somewhat the same in different cultures, but Rumi’ s worldview and experiences depict a more elevated evolution for human beings than the one viewed by linguists.

Structuralists define the logic of human mind and language based on a bipolar structure; between the two sides of which there is a contrastive relationship. Subscribing to the central idea that there is a close relationship between the text generalities and its elements, structuralist critics seek the micro-contrasts of the texts in order to reach the macro-contrasts and interpret the implicit meanings or connotation of a work. In this study, the contrasts of Mathnavi and Ghazaliat of Shams are investigated and analyzed. The research methodology is based on four steps: first, delimiting the semantic field of the contrasts by considering macro-symbols in Mathnavi and Ghazaliat of Shams; second, extracting the contrasts made by Lion and Sun meta-contrasts; third, understanding the mutual relation of the contrasts; and fourth, analyzing the meaning and method of expression of the identified contrasts. The research findings indicate that in many cases natural and reasonable relations of contrasts in Mathnavi and Ghazaliat of Shams are common. Breaking away from the norms in contrastive relations is sometimes more in Mathnavi, and sometimes more in Ghazaliat of Shams. Besides, firstly, frequency and variety of departure from the norms in the contrasts of Ghazaliat are more outstanding; secondly, in some cases, conformity to the norms and departure from them are similar and common in the contrastive relation of binaries in Mathnavi and Ghazaliat; and thirdly, in a few cases, contrasts have been processed only in one of the texts.

Metafiction is one of the modern approaches of story writing in postmodern fiction whose origin is generally assumed to date back to the twentieth century. Iranian philologists also believe that the emergence and presentation of this story writing technique largely date back to the contemporary fictional works of the 70s and afterwards. However, the author claims that metafiction techniques have been deployed in Mathnavi Ma’ navi of Rumi. Accordingly, the present study, conducted through descriptive-analytical method, aims at examining the main components and techniques of metafiction in Daghoughi story in Book III of Mathnavi. The questions addressed are whether Rumi could be considered a metafictionist and a postmodern writer and which techniques of this postmodern style are seen in the story of Daghoughi, as a Persian classic text. The findings reveal that Daghoughi story is totally a metafictional and postmodern narrative whose author has applied many components and techniques of metafiction style in its creation including metafictional framing, short circuit, language plays, contradiction, paradox, and adaptation.

The concept of “ the other” is one of the outstanding features of Jacques Lacan's theory, and his major departure from Freudian thought. The basis of Freud's system of thought was based on the concept of “ ego” . He defined a great deal of issues related to mental sub-consciousness in relation to “ ego” ; an agent in the psychic apparatus which enjoys a clear and structured nature and mediates between “ id” and “ super-ego” . Nevertheless, Lacan was dubious about the definition of “ ego” from the outset, and showed that there is never a single and homogeneous image of “ ego” in the development of human psyche. In Lacan's words, “ ego” is the “ ego-the other” dialectics formed in an imaginary and symbolic stage. “ The other” is an essential part of “ ego” and is integrated with it from the beginning. “ The other” is internalized in different ways, and is always present in the psyche with the “ ego” ; even the impression or image of “ ego” is mixed with “ the other” . When “ the other” has got an outside manifestation, it might be internalized and identified with, to the greatest possible extent, and find a mental life. This is what we see in the relationship between Shams and Rumi; two wandering spirits each seeing their mental and psychological capabilities in the other, and during the process of discovering each other, they continually apply their “ ego-the other” dialectics. If we consider this metal reciprocation from the viewpoint of Shams, we realize that the basis of his relationship with Rumi is on repeated, mutual moves of the metal states of the lover and the beloved. Facets of this mirroring could be seen in various, repeated parables in Maqalat(papers) of Shams.

The present paper investigates the reflection of romantic Arabic literature of the Umayyad era in the works of Rumi (Mathnavi, Maktū bā t, Fih Ma Fih, Majā les-e Sab'a, Dī wā n-e Shams) and The Maqalat ofShams-e Tabrizi, theprimary sources of stories and verses, and a number of artistic modifications made by Rumi and Shams in the original poems and narratives. The issues addressed in this study are the reflections of the romantic literature of the Umayyad era (both stories and verses) in the works of Rumi and Shams, the changes made to these reflections in these texts, and if such changes were made by Rumi and Shams or had their roots in the references used by them. As will be shown, Rumi’ s and Shams’ works contain verses by poets of the Umayyad era as well as stories about their lives. Rumi made modifications to characters, heroes, historical time of the stories, the poets’ names, and the text of the lyrics. Some of these modifications were the result of his personal creativity and some others originated from previous sources. Rumi’ s modifications to verses were made both consciously and unconsciously, and by recalling memories. In the present article, some of the verses of Qays ibn al-Mulavvah-Amirī , Umar ibn Abirabi'a, Urva ibn Hazā m, Ahvas-e Ansā rî , Ibn-e Mayyā dah, Mu’ ā wiyah ibn Abī Sufyā n (from the Umayyad era), Hallā j, Mutanabbî , Abu Farā s-e Hamadā ni and Anvarî (from the succeeding centuries) have been identified in the works of Rumi and Shams. The history of some narratives has also been traced in texts such as Kitā b al-Aghā nī , the Divan of Majnun, as narrated by Abū Bakr al-Wā lebî , Museebat Nama of Attā r, Hezā r Hekā yat-e Sū fî an, Al-Futū ḥ ā t of Ibn Arabi, Risā lah Al-'Ainî yyah of Ghazā lī , Tamhī dā t and Nā mahā (letters) of Ayn al-Quzat Hamadani.

In Rumi’ s Mathnavi, the author-narrator has created levels of digression via continuous deployment of meta-language. Compared to other classical Persian texts, Mathnavi’ s digressions are outstanding in terms of quantity, quality and variety. Mathnavi's digressions largely serve the purpose of explanation, but the didactic-deterrent function of explanations has led to the assumption that Mathnavi is an authoritarian text and the interaction of its author-narrator with the reader is one-sided. This assumption is the result of a cursory examination of the function of these digressions in Mathnavi as well as a disregard for their constitutive factors. In this descriptive-analytical research, after classifying instances of digression in Mathnavi, their authoritarian or anti-authoritarian aspects were formulated and interpreted. The results show that Mathnavi’ s explanatory style enjoys two different authoritarian and anti-authoritarian levels. At the first level, the narrator uses preludes, axioms, reportage of the production, continuation and the ending of the stories, answers to the intended questions, interpretations of the symbols and expressions, conclusions and the like— all derived from the educational determinism and juristic education system of Maktabs— to express the meaning in a definitive and one-sided manner. On another level, via various kinds of quoting and references to different texts and individuals, and by embracing the notion of “ acquisition” (kasb) as the epistemological backbone of fana— accompanied with decentralizing subject-agency— the narrator/author suspends his authority. Thus, one can draw two conclusions: first, not all of Mathnavi’ s digressions and explanatory style are authoritarian; second, not all of Mathnavi’ s authoritarian digressions are the result of mystical epistemology.

The origin of Ta’ zieh (replication of tragic events) could be traced in Pre-Islamic rituals. It appeared after Islam as a religious play, out of inspiration from the tragedy of Karbala, and some characters and stories were added to it in its evolutional process. Ta’ zieh script of “ Hossein Ibn Mansour Halaj” is one of these conceptual metamorphoses of Ta’ zieh in which the embryo of Shams Tabrizi is formed from the blood of the executed Hossein Ibn Mansour Halaj. The main characters of this work are Hossein Ibn Mansour Halaj, Shams Tabrizi, Mowlana Rumi, his daughter and wife. This paper explicates the reason for this conceptual metamorphosis by analyzing the characterization, storytelling and narration in Halaj Ta’ zieh. The research findings show that Shams, in a new narration, is the offspring of Mowlana’ s daughter and another aspect of Halaj character. The anonymous author of this Ta’ zieh script has depicted an Islamic-Shiite and mythological narration representing his familiarity with the life and thoughts of these three great mystics (Halaj, Shams and Mowlana).