The Conceptual Metaphor of Love in the Story of Sheikh Sanān

In the present research, with a linguistic approach, we examine the conceptual metaphor of love in the story of Sheikh Sanān from the mystical book of Attār of Nishapur, Mantiq-ut-Tayr, taking into account the theory of George Lakoff and Mark Johnson. For this purpose, we have divided the story into three periods of sharia (law), tariqat (mystical way) and truth, and in order to understand the abstract concepts of love, we have analyzed all three periods by using analytical-comparative method. Also, based on the conceptual metaphor of love, some examples of the verses of the story have been examined. The findings of the research show that Attār has used various conceptual metaphors to represent love in the story of Sheikh Sanān. The micro-metaphors used in the surface structure of the story have a basic substructure called "mystical love" that gives them coherence. In terms of frequency, the macro-metaphors of the story are placed in three categories: ontological, orientational and structural metaphors. If we pay attention to the metaphors in the story, it becomes clear that the macro-metaphor "God is love" is the most central metaphor and all micro-metaphors have played a role in the evolution of this macro-metaphor.