A comparative study of concepts related to life and death in Sahifa Sajjadieh and Rumi's Masnavi from a cognitive perspective

The theory of cognitive or conceptual metaphors was first proposed by Lakoff and Johnson. According to their theory, metaphor was no longer just a rhetorical element specific to the poetry language, but they believed that metaphor is the basis of human thought. Although cognitive metaphors were first studied in everyday language, but due to the abstraction of mysticism, it gradually found its place in mystical studies. Sahifa Sajjadieh, a valuable book writen by the fourth Imam of the Shiites is one of the prayer books in which the Imam has expressed many mystical concepts in the form of prayer. Rumi's Masnavi on the other hand, is the most significant book of mystical poetry in Persian literature and has a special place in mystical literature. Adopting a descriptive-analytical approach, present study seeks to examine religious and mystical teachings about the concepts related to life and death from a cognitive perspective in these two works. The results of this research show that life and death are not detached from human beings and their existence. The nature of movement and becoming of mankind during life and his choices when faceing obstacles in the path of servanthood and love will prepare him for two different destinations and eventually encounters a self-made creature when he dies.