‘Pleasant Beginning’ in the Sermons of Imam Hassan Mojtaba (a.s.)

This research focuses on the opening context of the existing and available sermons of Imam Hassan (a.s.), so that while analyzing the elements of the speech, it can be clarified how the speaker influences the audience by making use of the style of pleasant beginning. To this end, the present article first defines the ‘pleasant-beginning’ stylistic device and examines its meaning in literature. Then analyzing the style and structure of the beginning of the existing sermons, it attempts to explicate the ‘pleasant-beginning’ stylistic device. The findings indicate that the sermons, in spite of their varying degrees of length depending on the conditions of the audience, have various forms of emphasis, calling and conditions. This variety of language use has been employed to stimulate emotions and awaken the latent innate nature of people.