Examination of Symbolic Imagery of Concept of the Perfect Man in Molana's Masnavi and Sohrevardi's Stories

The most dominant theme of the richest works on mysticism is perceptive imagery which has its origin in mythology and philosophy. Given their intrinsic link to the meanings and concepts, images are considered as the intellectual life of the writer and the poet. They attempt to create images depending on their own mental and intellectual capacity as the very same images distinguish the poets and writers from one another. One of these images is the "Sun or Sunlight" which is abundant in Masnavi as a macro metaphor and in Sohervardi's works as a pattern of thought. The present study aims to first decode the dominant thoughts which led to the creation of the image of "Sun or Sunlight" for the concept of the "Perfect Man" and second, to analyze how a single image is created for different meanings or how the same concept is depicted in different images. One possible answer is that man's understanding of various phenomena is influenced by the different "states and situations" he experiences to attain different perceptions leading these understandings to be pictured by various images.