The Components of Surrealism in Masnavī-ye Ma’navī; A Comparative Study

Surrealism is a school that appeared in France in the twentieth century. It has the principles that most important of them are as follows: dream and imagination, automatic writing, juxtaposition, insanity and magic. Although surrealism was introduced in Europe, its features have been seen in other cultures, especially in Iranian mysticism. It can be said that before the emergence of surrealism in Europe, Iranian Sufis have created valuable works with surrealist themes. There are deep differences between these works and western ones that indicate the originality of Iranian surrealism. Masnavī-ye Ma’navī of Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī has proposed surrealistic themes but they have remarkable differences with Western surrealist ones. The present article attempts to show these differences and similarities. The differences show the primacy and superiority of the Iranian version of surrealism. These differences include Divine grace (Karāmat), magic, the Truth, reality and Divine intoxication.