Reading the Semantic Shadow of the Letter of Imam Ali (as) to Uthmān ibn Hunaif

In reading systematic literary texts, including Nahj al-Balaghah, the reader is confronted with aspects such as metric, phonetic and rhetoric aspects; Symbols that are identified by reading the semantic shadow, signs, mechanisms, coordination, and the visible and hidden relationship of the elements of the text and the visible and invisible meanings of these signs. In this article, based on the principles of semiotics and descriptive-analytical method, and by reading the semantic shadow, the forty-fifth letter of Nahj al-Balaghah (Imam's letter to Uthmān ibn Hunaif) has been studied and analyzed.The results of this research show that in the context and structure of this letter, abundance of phonetic elements of words has played a significant role in motivating and inducing meaning to the audience. Also, the repetition of vowels such as "ā" and "ī", which have caused a kind of harmony, reflecting the Imam's inner feeling towards the behavior of the government agent. The frequency of the past verb, which indicates the certainty of the Imam's serious statements and warnings, with the present verb, it conveys attention to the connection between time and advice from the past to the future.The semantic shadow of using the technique of antagonism of metaphor, the visual proportions that made the internal links of the text, is due to Amir al-Mu'minīn's emphasis on motivating the audience to thinking on his behaviors and events and persuade him.