Analysis of "Tay al-ardh" Expression in Islamic Narrations

Today, supernaturally traversing from one place to another is called "Tay al-ardh". In the Holy Quran and Imams' narrations, it has been proposed as a charismatic act and a kind of dominion in the world for special persons.  By using a historical method, this article examines the evolution of attitudes towards this expression and its composition. The findings suggest that until the time of Imam Baghir(a) and Imam Sadiq (a), this expression was mostly referred to as a material traveling across the earth and then, in that time, it was formed as a supernatural phenomenon and finally has been established in the later times; however, it was sometimes used for the same material meaning at this time too. This term composes of two nouns that are " Tay"(traverse) and " al-ardh"(the earth). Still, this composition wasn't found in narrations of Imams and, instead, the verbs " totva" and "toviyat"(in Arabic: تطوی-طویت) have been used mostly with the noun "al-ardh". Moreover, the use of this term -in both its nominal and verbal forms- isn't common in the sayings and analyses of the earlier traditionists. Still, in the times of later scholars of Hadith and then, in the Akhbariyyah school and their analyses, "Tay al-ardh"- in both its verbal and nominal forms and in the meaning of supernaturally traveling- is abundantly visible.