The Relationship between Image of Death and Man in the approach of Nahj al-Balagheh

The use of metaphoric literature and the creation of beautiful images is one of the key features of the words of the Quran and hadith specially Nahj al-Balaghah in expressing the deep and perfect concepts of religion. Among the issues in which imajinative illustration is evident, is ‘death’ and human’s relationship with it. The present article is aimed to discover the image of human’s relationship with death, in Nahj al-Balaghah. This study is a library study with a descriptive-analytical method. The results of the study indicate that: Nahj al-Balagha depicts death in two general images; in the first one, death is considered as a dangerous and harmful creature such as a hunter, fisherman, and murderer, storm, arrow, and things like that, which may have a surprising and difficult encounter with human at any moment. In another image, death is resembled to a leader of a group of travelers who can move the group to a certain destination by his sudden command. By doing good deeds, which are like dressing in piety, one can have not just a harmless, but also a welcoming death. And on the contrast, by following the inferior wishes limited to the material world, he will be negligent of death and a surprising sudden death will attack him.