Military Address Therapy (Analysis of Psycho-Motivational Function of Address in Battle According to Nahj al-Balaghah)

Speech is the main tool of human arousal. The psychological, emotional, and motivational functions of speech in a variety of situations can set the stage for a variety of behavioral actions. Address, as one of the main subfields of speech, has played an important role in social behavior processes. The present study tries to examine the psycho-motivational functions of address during, before and after the battle, based on Nahj al-Balaghah.

The main method of this research is content analysis. In this way, first, the most important address of Nahj al-Balaghah about various situations of battle, before and after is examined. This data is then analyzed from a linguistic, visual and psychological perspective to determine their motivational functions. This study does not want to interpret the views in Nahj al-Balaghah based on current theories but will try to extract the general theory of Military Address Therapy from Nahj al-Balaghah through methodical analysis.

Analyzes show that pre-battle rhetoric is based on reprehensible, intentional, and visual dipoles. The addresses delivered during battle are based on stabilization, emphasis, and metaphorical images that refer to firmness. The main function of post-battle addresses is psychological refinement through insightful, reassuring, and cautious metaphors.

In Nahj al-Balaghah about the motivations and psycho-motivational structures of soldiers during battle, before and after, special views have been proposed that can be considered as a special theory in the field of rhetoric in battle.