A comparative study of the mystical mysteries of Jamali Dehlavi's poem “Mehr-va-mah” with the story of Sheikh San'an by Attar

Attar's Manṭiq-uṭ-Ṭayr is one of the most important mystical works that with its coherent structure Has passed the boundaries of time and place and has affected the works of other Iranian and non-Iranian poets. "Manṭiq-uṭ-Ṭayr is the story of a search, the search for the traceless Simorgh, a spiritual odyssey that depicts the journey in the authorities and the condition of the mystics and expresses the levels and degrees of this behavior in the symbol of the search of birds". (Zarrinkoob,1999: 89). Although scholars recognize Manṭiq-uṭ-Ṭayr as epic-mystical poem,(Zarrinkoob, 1993: 207) but the effect of this poem can not be ignored on romantic literature which the "Mehr O Mah" of  Dehlavi is one of them. In the poem of “Mehr-va-mah”, "Mah" follows his dream by abandon of all his possibilities and steps on the path of mysticism and experiences annihilation by passing through all appointments, therefore the study of the effect of the mystical behavior of Sheikh San’an's story on Masnavi of Mehr O Mah of Jamali Dehlavi is placed as the subject of this research.  

This article uses a descriptive, comparative and analytical method to study the effect of the story of Sheikh San’an of Manṭiq-uṭ-Ṭayr on the poem of “Mehr-va-mah”of Jamali Dehlavi based the French Comparative School. Background research The story of “Mehr-va-mah”has two poetic narrations by Jamali Dehlavi and Hosseini Shirazi and a prose narration by an unknown author“Mehr-va-mah”, Jamali Dehlavi's poem is one of the works that despite of its literary and mystical aspects, has received less attention. About this valuable work, except for three articles: The analysis of narrative function genre and negative fictional deceleration in the lyric language (The case of study of “Mehr-va-mah”) " (Talaei et al., 2016), "Comparison of love stories of Shahnameh Ferdowsi with Masnavi “Mehr-va-mah”"(Kazemi, 2016), and" The accordance of Hero’s journey with Campbell’s model in “Mehr-va-mah”,s Epopee written by Jamali Dehlavi (Rasmi et al., 1397) no other research has been done, however, various researches have been done about Manṭiq-uṭ-Ṭayr and also its effect on other Iranian and non-Iranian works, which indicates the high influence of this Masnavi on Persian and non-Persian literature as:  Return: A comparison of the voyages of  birds in Manṭiq-uṭ-Ṭayr and the Odyssey ,(varedi, 2005) " Conference of the birds”  to  Richard  Bach’s “Jonathan Livingston Seagull " (Copa et al., 2011), A comparative study of the stages of Attar Neyshaburi's mystical journey in mantegh-ut- tair And ala tarighe-eram of nasib arizeh(Seifi et al., 2012)" Comparative study of characters of Attar’s conference of birds with characters of Becket’s waiting for Godot "(Khosravi Khorashad et al., 2012), An intertextual analysis of Sheikh San’an’s story with a view on the story of the Prophet Moses and the Prophet Khidr (PBUT) (Hejazi et al., 2014).  

The story of Sheikh San’an, while narrating of the journey of the birds, is told when the birds have doubts about the correct path of the journey to Simorgh and Hudhud, who is the symbol of wisdom, convinces the birds with this story and explains the power of love to them. Sheikh San’an is a pious ascetic who has spent fifty years with his four hundred followers in abstinence and repentance. He never violated any of the traditional Islamic moral laws until he embarked on a journey from Mecca to Rome after seeing a dream. On this journey, the sheikh falls in love with a Christian girl and to reach her, violates all the moral and religious boundaries of Islam: worships idols, burns the Qur'an, and drinks wine, but finally, through the prayers of one of his most loyal followers and the intercession of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH)   returns to himself, becomes a Muslim again and comeback to Mecca. At the end of the story, the girl who was initially portrayed as an earthly lover and whose only desire was to fulfill her worldly desires becomes a symbol of heavenly love and helps her lover to purify his soul from worldly desires pass from virtual love to real love .The mystical mysteries of this story are quite evident in the story of “Mehr-va-mah”of Dehlavi. In Mehr-va-mah”of Dehlavi, the Dervish of Badakhshan, and Khezr appear as wise eld men and when his situation is getting worse, Hz Mohammad (PBUH) as the story of Sheikh San'an apears in the dream of the hero,s companion and helps him.The mystical mysteries mentioned in the poem of “Mehr-va-mah”completely are reminiscent of Attar's Manṭiq-uṬayr. Regardless of age and religious differences of beloved, which introduces the love of Sheikh San'an as forbidden love, in both stories the common elements such as the dream, the night as the turning point of travel, travel from east to west, obstacles and dangers, the alignment of wisdom and love, the appearance of Hz Mohammad (PBUH) in the dream of the hero's companion, and disciple, the passage from virtual love to true love can be seen. This article studies the relationships of two works based on French school. 

    “Mehr-va-mah”is the longest Masnavi of Jamali Dehlavi, which is full of mystical mysteries and points. The poet, who is himself a follower of Suhrawardi, and as appears from his own words, for some time he has been sitting on the throne of Sheikhism as a guide, in apparently romantic poem,   depicts the Mystical journey and behavior well .It can be said that the poem  “Mehr-va-mah”  is a combination of the story of Attar's journey in the Seven stages of Love and the story of Sheikh Sanan. It can be said that the poem  of “Mehr-va-mah”is a combination of the story of Attar's journey in the Seven stages and the story of Sheikh San'an that hero, by freeing from himself, connects him to the highest degree of humanity and the eternal lover and unites him from multiplicity.The manifestation of the beloved in a dream, which is influenced by mysticism and an adaptation of a kind of story of Sheikh Sanan,s Attar, causes the seeker to set foot on the path of seeking  and walked from the east (Badakhshan), which is a symbol of survival, to the west of annihilation (Mina) to achieve survival with his annihilation, In both Masnavi, reason and love move in the same direction to reach the original truth. The dervishes of Badakhshan,s mountains and Hz Khidr and the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) lead him in this journey and the hero, with the help of wise helpers, passes safely through the deadly valleys  and achieve rebirth.