A Comparative Analysis of Love in the Khamsa of Nizami and the Masnavi of Rumi

Love is the motive of the universe and the foundation and basis of creation, while being present in all the particles of the universe, through which all creatures are moving towards God. Love has different forms, manifesting in the universe in two ways: real and virtual. True love is just for God, and sufficient for Him who is the origin of all manifestations of the universe, and virtual love is for what is non-God, i.e., love for manifestations of existence and the universe. In the works of Nizami and Rumi, love is a key element that should be given certain attention. This study is aimed at explaining true love in Khamsa of Nizami and Masnavi of Rumi and to do so, content analysis method has been used to investigate the types of love, the difference between true and virtual love, as well as the relationship between virtual love and true love. Based on the results, there are some commonalities between the attributes considered by these two poets for love. The importance of this research is that it expresses the viewpoints of these two valuable lecturers (poets) on love and shows that both Rumi and Nizami believe in love as a current and sublime truth in the universe and the unity factor of the universe. They believe that the true love belongs to God and that virtual love is a means of reaching true love.