The provenance of language rhythm in Morsal prose texts

Language rhythm is one of the diverse aesthetic components employed in Farsi Morsal prose, which has significantly enhanced its artistic value. The research question is ‘what has been the provenance of such a rhythm garnishing that prose type?’ To find a convincing answer, a descriptive-analytical method has been employed in this article and works of Morsal prose have been investigated, utilizing semantics and structural linguistics. The results indicate that the aesthetic rhythm of Morsal prose is formed on the interior of the language. While being influenced primarily by the rhythmic recitation of the Holy Quran and then by the old Farsi poetry, Morsal prose owes its rhythmic elegance to its special syntactic arrangement, syntactic equilibrium and flexibility in starting and ending the sentences. Another factor accounting for the rhythmic elegance of Morsal prose is the use of syllabic rhythm and the melodic texts of ancient languages. This study proves that syllabic poetry did not vanish with the arrival of prosodic rhythm; rather, due to inconsistency with prosodic poetry and lack of knowledge among the rhetoricians of the Islamic period, it was considered and categorized as a kind of prose. Then, the other literary aspects of ancient languages gave a rise to the rhythmicity of Morsal prose. Furthermore, the inherent characteristics of the Farsi language and the socio-cultural components of the Samanid period led to the liberation and flexibility of the language and exerted a salient impact on the rhythm of prose.