JOURNAL OF THE FACULTY OF LETTERS AND HUMANITIES (TEHRAN)
Year:2008 | Volume:59 | Issue:187|Papers Count:12

Nazzam was born and grew up in Basra. He learned literature form Khalil ibn Ahmad, a famous belletrist, and theology from his uncle Abu al-Hudhayl al Allaf. He studied the Arabic translations of the Greek philosophical books. Nazzam based his theology on the comprehensive theory of natural philosophy and intermingled Mutazilah beliefs and philosophical instructions. He was a potent polemist and plenary intellectual, who had polemics with his contemporary people and sects. Alongside his deep knowledge of theology and philosophy, he gained great fame in literature. His poetry is a mélange of philosophical and theological terms, which is of a sublime significance due to its novelty.Nazzam wrote several books and theses but they are all perished. Our knowledge of his ideas is drawn from the writings of other authors. Nazzam had particular ideas on different philosophical and theological issues such as God's attributes, the Qur'an's miracles, good and evil, Imamate (leadership), consensus, analogy, body, essence, substance and movement and tranquility, which are not compatible with the ideas of others.

Death as the obscure mystery of existence overshadowed the ambience of Shahnameh and in the throes of the book's events human being ever capitulates to it. Besides studying the belief in death among people, the present article tries to tackle the following issues: holding 'farewell to the dead' ceremonies, its rituals as well as the manner of holding mourning ceremonies, duration and its mores and the manner of its termination. These issues are studied with due attention to the effects of culture and ethnic-tribal features.

The present article, alongside emphasizing the worthiness of the Let's Not Write Wrongly (Dictionary of Persian Language Difficulties), mentions several points which probably reduce its scientific precision. According to the present writer, Let's Not Write wrongly as regards its positive effect it has on editors and writers and protection of Persian language deserves revision. The respected author of the book may make it more durable and enrich it by removing the problems mentioned in this and similar articles.

Semantics (the study of meaning) of the colors of light in mysticism helps us to investigate one of the holy aspects of comprehending the Divine Truth, that is to say the aspect of the theophanical manifestation of the Lord's essence. It further helps us to analyze the ascending path of mystic's soul from humanity towards divinity through resorting to the radiant lights and attaining the source and origin of the essence of light, i.e. the Light of lights.The present article tries to first study and analyze the scientific definitions and theoretical principles of Islamic mysticism based on the ideological beliefs, and finally discover the structure of this normal-intuitive movement through collecting evidence and referring to some prominent mystical and philosophical texts.

During Sassanid and Abbasid eras, the writers of Pahlavi books tried to reinterpret and redefine the conversances of Avestan texts about the spiritual components of human being according to the Aristotelian 'knowledge of the self. Therefore, some of the Avestan concepts have undergone drastic changes which are not by any means the result of their natural evolution, but are the result of effects of non-Zoroastrian beliefs. Particularly this is manifested most distinctly in "faravashi".

The significance of calligraphy in Iranians' view made renowned poets of this land use calligraphic expressions as raw material and elements of poetic imagery in their works. Under these provisions, a scrutinizing poet like Khaqani, due to his comprehensive command of the details and nuances of these expressions and through presenting them in a set of strange metaphors and allusions could create picturesque innovative implications from calligraphic realm in his poetry which are novel and unprecedented. The present research aims at revealing hidden points and contributing to the comprehension of calligraphic aesthetics present in Khaqani's collection.

The writer in the present article seeks to clarify the status of form and meaning from Molavi's point of view as manifested in Mathnavi. One of the important results of the present discussion is that if there is knowledge on a specific subject, sometimes the form can have the same function and role as meaning and as the knowledge increases, the number of the meanings one can extract from the form will increase as well. Due to the fact that Mathnavi's genre is allegoric, among all the different tools of eloquence applied in it, allusion, simile and analogy are of high frequency.Wherever Molavi's speech further nears lyric expression, the imagery of his poetry, particularly metaphor, gains more prominence and salience.

The issue of redundancy at speech level has been the focus of attention for belletrists. SQme belletrists regard over-occurrence of redundancy as a deficiency while others have talked in favor of redundancy. The present article brings to the focus the opinions of the past and modern belletrists particularly formalists very briefly. Then it analyzes the structure of redundancy and its syntactic function in a masterpiece, i.e. Mathnavi Manavi. It is widely known that the majority of alluring music of Shams Qazals (lyric poems) and Mathnavi. Manavi is the result of redundancy. Therefore, it would be proper to analyze this issue from linguistic point of view. The present article tackles the issue of aesthetics of redundancy and analyzes their structure in different parts of speech and through classifying them in consecutive, incomplete and contradictory types analyzes their syntactic function and significance at speech level.

Proverb is one of the oldest types of cultural heritage and has a history older than poetry and calligraphy. Proverbs act as the mirrors of the life of modem and past humans; therefore, they are considered authentic sources for studying the material and spiritual life. In order to provide a ground for proverb studies, first we have to take a close and detailed look at it. The aim of this article is to provide a scientific and precise classification of proverbs based on their language and expression, theme and content, rhythm and tone, aesthetics, prevalence and antiquity, volume, origin, root and the organization. This classification aims to pave the path for more precise study of the proverbs. At the beginning of the article, the value of each proverb is mentioned and a definition is provided, the components of which provide the basis for the classification. Then the existing classifications are cited and evaluated and at the end the writer's proposed classification is presented.

The process of individuation" or "the archetype of regeneration" is one of the prominent allegorical themes which form the basis of various myths and legends of different nations. Nezami's Haft Peykar (seven bodies) as one of the masterpieces of Persian language and literature is among the works composed based on this symbolic theme.The main aim of the process of individuation is to reach 'self as the core of unconsciousness which results in the unity of "ego" and "self', and to make a balance between consciousness and unconsciousn6ss. This balance is only possible if the individual meets the inner layers of his mind and after unveiling them he eventually meets his gold in the shadow or the 'al-Khizr of his being' at the core. This hidden self or al-Khizr is the manifestation of t.h.,e. most familiar form of "self'.The first layer of unconsciousness, which the individual has to come across in the process of reaching himself, is shadow. And only after unveiling the dangerous aspects of this layer he can meet with the layers of anima or animus and finally with self. The protagonists of stories which the dome-resided queens of Haft Peykar recite to Bahram in seven nights are in essence the manifestations of his shadow's aspects. Their masks have to be thrown off if Bahram's process of self-realization is to be completed successfully. Mahan, a youngster from Egypt, who, for gaining a notable profit, had been deceived by his own shadow and stood in the process of individuation, is one of the prominent aspects of this layer of Bahram's unconsciousness. The story which Azariyoun, the yellow-wearing queen in the Fifth Dome, recites to Brahram is the story of Mahan who reaches individuation. At the end of the story, by Mahan's self realization, another mask of Bahram's shadow is thrown off, and he takes another step towards self-realization.