Mythological Criticism of Seir al-Ibād Il al-Maād

The main theme of Seir al-Ibād Il al-Maād, the great work of Sanāī Ghaznavī, is a spiritual journey from the human to the Divine world. It is a universal theme that has profound archetypal origins in East and West. In this paper, Seir al-Ibād and its symbols are analyzed from a mythological (archetypal) point of view, and then, the transformations that this theme has gone through in some similar works of literature, is discussed. Moreover, this inquiry focuses on finding the most important archetypal bases and giving an anthropological interpretation of the symbolic signs of this work. The results of this research show that the most important mythological base of this text and the similar works analyzed is ‘ascent’. Seir al-Ibād, is the symbolic narration of the wayfarer’s journey to God. It is an internal journey from the multitude of consciousness to the unity of collective unconsciousness. In this journey perception (consciousness) gives its place to intelligence (universal awareness), and in return from this mystical unconscious experience, it resides in the status of reason and self-consciousness (faultless super-ego: mystical reason). Moreover, praising of the Prophet that appeared at the end instead of the introduction, symbolizes this return.