Analysis of the Types of Irony in Masnavi

Irony is one of the important and at the same time complex terms in rhetoric, philosophy and literary criticism that Persian texts have employed its potentialities under various headings such as satire, asterism, etc. In the meantime, one of the rhetorical basesofMasnavi isMawlawi's artistic and skillful use of humor and its various types. Mawlawi's specific skill in recognizing his audience and his dedication to explicate grand concepts of religion, mysticism and morality led him tochoosehumor as an indirect way of expression because of its high functionality, and great power to attract and persuade the audience.This paves the way for different types of irony to appear in the entire Masnavi, especially in its Fifth Book. Among different types of ironythat are present in Masnaviare verbal, situational and dramatic ironies. In this article, which is library-based and is done through descriptive-analytic method, the authors will investigate different modes of irony in Mawlawi’sMasnavi. It concludes that because of Masnavi’s allegorical and diegetic character, dramatic irony has a special standing in Masnavi.