The Interpretation of the Symbolic Meanings of " Fish" Motif in Rugs of the Safavid Era in the light of Movlana's Mathnavi

Since long ago the motif of “fish” has been one of the motifs employed in Persian artworks. As well as having extraordinary beauty of form, fish has deep symbolic meanings and has motivated Persian artists of different ages to employ it in their works. Rugs of Safavid era are among such artworks. Both in ancient Iranian mythology and also in Islamic culture, fish has enjoyed a significant meaning and role. Since Movlana in his Mathnavi has offered special interpretation of symbolic meanings for fish, it has been tried in this paper to examine the symbolic meanings of fish motif in Safavid rugs in the light of Movlana’s interpretation. In this article, these questions have been answered: (1) What is the place of fish in ancient Iranian mythology and also in Quran?; (2) What are the symbolic meanings of fish motif in Mathnavi?; and finally (3) What are the symbolic meanings of fish motif in Safavid rugs in the light of Movlana’s Mathnavi? This motif carries with itself several symbolic meanings like: mystic, path of truth, perfect human and the man from heaven, as well as different meanings such as: earth, body, and earthly man.