The Cultural Semiotics of Kashf-ul-Mahjoob: Meaning-Making Processes and Patterns

During the third phase of semiotics, special attention has been paid to semantic systems, the production and transmission of meaning, and the exploration of semantic mechanisms through various approaches. One notable approach is the semiotics of culture, which investigates meaning-making processes within a particular culture by focusing on its signs. In this research, by introducing the meaning-making model "culture-nature", the mechanism of meaning production in the mystical text of Kashf-ul-Mahjoob is explained in a descriptive-analytical way within the framework of cultural semiotics. The findings reveal that the fundamental content of Kashf-ul-Mahjoob is rooted in Hujwīrī 's ideological and cultural beliefs, using the three sub-patterns of "culture/counterculture", "chaos" or mystical order versus its absence or negation, and "self/other". The "culture/counterculture" model is employed to assign value to the signifiers of mystical culture, serving to create an identity. Moreover, the repeated mention of contrasting states of order and disorder highlights the dominance and superiority of mystical signs while portraying the opposing field as inauthentic and defeated. Furthermore, the actions of the Sufi elders are recorded as the ultimate standard of "self", while emphasizing the recognition of the details of the carnal soul as an enemy to be confronted. This establishes the farthest other within the framework of the "self/other" model.