Research on the Forms and Functions of Ontological Metaphors in the First Book of Masnavi

According to many experts, Sheikh Shahabuddin Suhravardi has proposed common aspects between ancient Iranian wisdom and Islamic philosophy and mysticism in his works. By entering the world of symbolic signs, he approached the field of conceptual metaphor. Light (Noor) and Divine Glory (Farr-e Izadi) are macro metaphors containing smaller metaphors, which will be obtained from the purity of the soul and as a result of a sensory-perceptual interaction between the subject and linguistic signs. The semantic connection of the linguistic signs of divine glory and light in the divine narrative discourse is highlighted under the correct cycle of interaction and exchange of value. Although divine glory is related to the chosen man of truth, and light is related to the creator of man and the world, they pass through a path from Earth to Heaven. Also, the relationship between this light and ‘black light’ in mysticism is worthy of investigation. Are truth and metaphysics, according to post-structuralists, illusions formed in the system of metaphors? Verse 35 of Surah Noor is the most important metaphor of the Qur'an, which has an absolute general and special relationship with the conceptual metaphor of the divine circle. In mystical thinking based on unityism, light cannot be completely separated from darkness because the existence of both is necessary in the world and light is the origin of all light and darkness. The present study, with the approach of semiotic-semantic analysis, deals with how to produce meaning from similar linguistic signs and uses the theory of imperfection of meaning by Greimas to achieve its goals. Among the four narratives proposed by him, ‘adaptive narrative’ and ‘mixed narrative’ will be a guide for the interpretation of the conceptual metaphor of light and its connection with divine glory. IntroductionSheikh Shahabeddin Suhrawardi was the initiator of removing the distance between the wisdom and myths of ancient Iran, Islamic philosophy, and mysticism. His attention to Divine Glory (Farr-e Izadi) and light in his writings is one of the reasons to prove this issue.The conceptual metaphor proposed by Likoff and Johnson (1980) has a broad concept beyond rhetorical metaphor to the extent that the frequency of conceptual metaphors in any text is considered an indicator of the author's style. According to Greimas, every text contains conceptual metaphors that can be analyzed by semiotics. The metaphorical function of language in the direction of knowing the truth is not hidden from the researchers, and Suhrvardi also approached the field of metaphor, especially conceptual metaphor, by entering the world of symbolic signs. Among all the signs, this study investigates light and divine glory with the approach of truth analysis and metaphysics. The relationship between this light (pure light) and black light in mysticism is worthy of consideration. In this research, these two issues have also been explained. A semiotic-semantic method will be discussed in order to prove the capacity of mystical texts in revealing the meaning in this way. Materials and MethodsQualitative content analysis of the text in an inductive way was chosen among several methods in this research in order to discover their hidden meanings by analyzing the linguistic messages of the target words. Therefore, we deal with the metaphorical function of language in recognizing the truth, conceptual metaphors, and the relationship between light and divine glory in Sohrawardi's view. Research FindingsTaking into account its dimensions and the abilities it creates in its owner, divine glory is a conceptual metaphor that has an absolute general and particular relationship with the conceptual metaphor of Surah Noor verse 35: "Allah is the light of the heavens and the earth...". That is, divine light includes that divine glory that deserves competent people. The outstanding point about divine glory is its connection with light as if in addition to the unique features that appear in someone after divine glory is assigned, a light can be seen in his face that distinguishes him from others. The light that is taken from the source of light, which is God, and according to verse 35 of Surah Noor, is an inherent light from which the incidental lights come into being.Suhrawardi considers light and darkness as the bases for dividing the universes, emphasizing light and the power of light over darkness, and establishes a relationship between light, science, and power. He divides the universes into four groups: Anvar Ghahreh, Anvar Modabareh, Sourolmoalegheh, and Barzakhan (the world of senses).In this division, Anvar Ghaherh, or the intellectual abstract is placed in the highest rank which dominates all other universes and the shining of these lights creates some abilities in competent people. Efforts to purify the soul and maintain inner purity are directly related to preserving divine glory and divine confirmation. Discussion of Results and ConclusionsSheikh Shahabeddin Suhrawardi by creating the link between wisdom and the ancient Iran myths and Islamic mysticism, on the one hand, provides the ground for receiving the interactional tradition among the followers of both spectrums. On the other hand, by discussing an adaptive and mixed narrative, he has made the perception of the indescribable truth possible to some extent. In his belief, mystical conduct provides a basis for people to benefit from divine glory.In mystical thinking based on unification, light cannot be completely separated from darkness because the existence of both is necessary in the world, and light is the origin of both light and darkness. The black light design among mystical experts and attributing it to the metaphysical world first caused the astonishment and opposition of religious people and experts. But by separating its multiple meanings in a hierarchy into ‘praised blackness’ and ‘reprehensible blackness’, this doubt was resolved. The black light of ‘praised blackness’ means the manifestation of the unknown essence of truth, the qualities of glory and love mixed with ecstasy. Iblis is the manifestation of the black light of ‘reprehensible blackness’ that constantly distances itself from the other levels of this light.In Greimas’ belief, when facing anything, its true meaning is always hidden and its deviant meaning is revealed, hence the relationship between the signifier and the signified is not responsive to semantic productions, and this lack of meaning is compensated by referring to the science of phenomenology. If Suhrawardi considers the sun as a tangible sign, a symbol of Noorolanvar in this universe is to compensate for this lack of meaning. Out of the four narratives proposed by Greimas, the ‘adaptive’ and ‘mixed’ narratives will be helpful for the interpretation of the conceptual metaphor of light and its connection with divine glory.