فصلنامه ادبیات عرفانی و اسطوره شناختی
سال دوازدهم شماره 45 (زمستان 1395)

Myths express the beliefs and values of a people. In the passage of time, they have been manifested in the poems of Iranian people and Persian poem styles. In 10th A.H. century and after establishment of the Safavid dynasty a basic change in Iranian society and all of its art and thought schools took place. In this period, a poetic style, called Indian style, was formed in Persian literature that was entirely different from its older styles and changed the Persian poetry formally and semantically. The method of using of myths by poets is one of these changes. Indian style poets refer to myths as unsacred concepts, myths like Khidr, Water of Life and Christ that have the most frequency in Persian mystical poems. The Indian style poets of the Safavid age pay attention to the earthly world and this-worldly facts. The poems of this age are transformed to this-worldly ones.

The mortality of soul is one of mystical subjects that Sanāī has entertained it in his poems (gazals). Image schemas are meaningful structures and novel patterns. The sensual experience and interaction with environment and external world shape these image schemas. They can help to learn about the mentality, consciousness of poet, and his way of conceptualizing and categorizing. Motion schemas are one of important and very useful parts of image schemas in studying mystical texts. By analyzing motion schemas, it is possible to find why they have been center of attention for Sanāī. In the present article, first, three schemas are considered in the gazals of Sanāī: ‘love as journey’, ‘religion as journey’ and ‘bohemianism (kalandari) as journey’ and then, a cognitive analysis of them are presented.

Outlook, as the human view to world and himself/herself, provides answers to the fundamental questions of man about the world, the creation of world, the situation of creatures in the world, the position of man in the world, the afterlife world and the end of existence. Plotinus, one of the thinkers of the 2th century, has opened a new way in philosophy. Mulānā Jalāl-al Din Rumī, the Persian poet and mystic of the 12th century, based on his mystical outlook, has a special view regarding being and world. The main question of the present article is about how these two thinkers view existence and being. For answering the question, at first, we analyze their ideas about world-view and then study the similarities and differences of them.

By presenting the archetype of hero's journey, Joseph Campbell has tried to show that this archetype has a common pattern in narrative texts of different nations. He believes that the archetype has three parts: departure, initiation and return. The present article, studies the way in which the journey of Darab (in Darab Nama of Tarsusi) with the archetype of hero’s journey correspond. Piki invites Darab to journey and at first, Darab delays in responding his request, but then, he begins his journey. After overcoming the guards of ‘the first gate’, he enters ‘the road of examination’ and prevails upon obstacles. Then, he comes face to face with the tempter woman and finally marries Khodabanoo. Darab is successful in making peace with his father and reaches final blessing (barakat). Despite his refusal at first, finally he returns to his homeland and triumphs over the guards of ‘the return gate’, and after overcoming the difficulties, he becomes the master of two worlds. Even though some of the patterns presented by Campbell are not present in the story, but the results show that the journey of Darab corresponds with his overall pattern.

The aim of present article is to study the story of Rostam and Sohrab based on moral virtues in the thoughts of Aristotle. According to Aristotle, virtue is a praiseworthy ethical habit between excess and negligence. Some of these virtues are courage, honesty, nobility and hauteur. In the present article, after a cursory examination of the Aristotelian approach to moral virtues, they are studied in the story of Rostam and Sohrab. The analysis of the story shows that there is a considerable correspondence between virtues and moral conducts of the characters of the story and Aristotelian virtues. It also shows that moral codes have an important function in Shāhnāmeh and the behaviors of Iranian heroes. The moral behaviors of Sohrab, considerably correspond to Aristotelian virtues.

Dialogue has opened a new horizon for reading texts in literature. By using dialogue, Attār of Nishapur has tried to explain the relationship between master and devotee, so to interpret spiritual journey (Suluk) and transformation of personality. Also, in education there is a kind of verbal and intelligible interaction between master and devotee that helps to reach the devotee to intelligible and personal perfection. So, it seems that we can find some reasonable interactions between spiritual journey (Suluk) and education in analyzing the relationship between master and devotee. Based on theory of constructivism, the present article attempts to re-read the relationship between them and to analyze the story regarding the journey of the birds towards Simorq. We focus on the dialogue as an element that provides coherence, and consider the functions of this theory. Emphasizing on dialogue helps to know the importance of the other, as well as organizing and partnership.

In the passage of history, man has objectified his images like immortality by external symbols. Man nourishes the concept of immortality in order to escape death and mortality; this is done by elements of nature. One of these elements of nature is fire which is used to show the mysteries and symbols of immortality. In the passage of time, the concept of fire is seen through generations, and has been preserved in certain terms. In Persian language, the terms like ‘ojaq-koor’ (she is sterile) ‘ojaqe khaneh’ (fire-place) and ‘ojaqe khanehat khamoosh mabad’ (I wish you have son) contain the term ‘ojaq’ or fire-place that denote to son and having no child to carry a man’s name. In the present article, first, we consider one of the most important symbols of fire that is according to the people of antiquity contains the notion of immortality. Then, the linguistic signs that show the relationship between the notion of immortality and fire-and-son are entertained.

In the present article, after the expressing the differences and similarities of myth, rite and mysticism, it has been attempt to analyze the mythical sacred time and space and the related rites in the Persian prose texts till 7th A.H. century. The common foundations of mythology and mysticism and common human unconscious show that in the passage of time, the sacred time and space have developed similar functions. The mystical texts reveal these similarities. We can refer to these functions: world denying, the intuition of God, knowing polite etiquette, the return to eternal time and space, experience of relaxation, catharsis, understanding the presence of gods and quest for wants.

One of the myths about places of pilgrimage in Iranian culture is the myth that tells about the absence of girl from fountain or well which is reflected in public beliefs. Perhaps, the background of this myth is the story of stealing Shahrnaz and Arnavaz, the daughters of Jamshid, by Zahhāk and being freed by Jamshid, and the story of the absence of Kei-Khosrow from the fountain. Some scholars believe that in Aryan culture the stealing girl or cow is connected with absence of rain. This article indicates that this myth has five basic elements: the absence of girl in a determined place, the place of absence that is usually connected with water (fountain or well), the evil that the girl is absent for deliverance from it, the dream that narrates the story of absence and holiness, and the holiness of the place and the holding the rites of pilgrimage. The places include all Zoroastrian holy shrines (pirangah) and many Islamic Shrines as well. The exact analysis of elements of the myth needs to notice the location of fountain, water, stone and sacred rock, wickedness of the evil force and its attack on the holy force, spell bounding of water and blessing, and water shortages. Also, the relationship of the myth with Anahita is proved in the article. Since the myth appears in dream, a psychological analysis is employed. As a result, in pre-Islamic era, the shortage of water in fountains and wells relating to the absence of Anahita, transforms to the absence of the daughter of saint in Islamic period.

The present article attempts to compare the idea of 'unity of Being' in the thoughts of Ibn Arabi, Jāmi and Shabestari. Ibn Arabi has a key role in formation this idea. Among the poets and writers of 7th and 8th A.H. centuries, Jāmi and Shabestari played an important role in enforcing and developing the ideas of Ibn Arabi. Like Ibn Arabi, they believe that there is nothing in the universe other than the Truth (God) and all of the pluralities are the different manifestation of God. The present research shows that Jāmi and Shabestari, like Ibn Arabi, believe that all things are manifested in God; they use rhetorical mediums like sea and its manifestations, number, mirror and light, and glow of light through the colorful mirrors for explaining the idea of 'unity of Being'.