A Study of Death and Its Effect on Life in Saadi’s Works Based on Irvin Yalom’s Existential Psychotherapy

Death is the most definite end that can happen at any moment and at any point in life, a horrible truth that humans respond to with horror of death. Many psychotherapists, including Yalom, consider it to be the main source of anxiety, which greatly affects a person’s behavior and psyche. History has shown that poets and writers have thought deeply about death and spoken about it. Saadi, an Iranian thinker who has gained world fame by expressing his moral and philosophical wisdom, in addition to telling anecdotes in his works “Bustan” and “Gulistan” and even in his “Ghazaliat”, has discussed the meaning of death and the anxiety caused by it. Due to the importance of the subject of death, its certainty and inevitability, the current study used Saadi’s works, along with a descriptive-analytical method based on interdisciplinary studies to investigate how Saadi and Yalom help human beings to overcome the horror of death and to live happily or save themselves from its fear despite knowing about death and to face the crises and their mental and psychological problems. The findings show that facing and remembering death not only reduce death anxiety but also make life meaningful, more precious, and valuable. As a result, with such a perception, one can make death enjoyable not only for oneself, but also for others.