Pattern and beyond: An Introduction to the Aestethics of Naqsh and Painting in Rumi's Mathnawi

The scholars of pre-modern Iranian art have been confronted with a basic problem: can one talk about an aesthetic of pre-modern Iranian culture? One way to approach the privileged aesthetics in any era is studying the basic concepts of art in its written sources. Naqsh (pattern) is one of the most important concepts in pre-modern Iranian culture and all the arts deal with it. Rumi’s Mathnawi is among the most important written sources of Iranian culture: it is not only a manifestation of its contemporary culture، but has also affected the Persian and Persianate culture of its period and the next periods so far. As the subject of the present research، Mathnawi is full of explicit and implicit connotations to the patterns، forms، images، and meanings in various artifacts and arts. Therefore، the concept of naqsh is one of the basic doors which opens to the aesthetics of Mathnawi. In Mathnawi، naqsh has a dual meaning: one about the works of painting; the other as a synonym of the concept of surat (form). However، Rumi by the both meanings invites the reader to pass from the realm of manifests and forms to the realm of transcendental meaning. It is the very invitation from the pattern to the beyond of pattern that forms the heart of Rumi’s aesthetics.