Document Type : Scientific-research
Authors
1 Faculty of Humanities, Persian Gulf University, Bushehr, Iran
2 Faculty og Humanities, Persian Gulf University, Bushehr, Iran
Abstract
Shahab al-Din Yahya Suhrawardi, also known as “Sheikhe Ishragh”, (1154–1191) or the founder of the Iranian school of illumination, is an Iranian philosopher who has widely deployed semantic functions of narrative mode in his mystical works. Going beyond the conventional and traditional approach of narrating allegorical anecdotes, he started to create his own narratives to present his intended philosophical and mystical concepts to the audience in form of “plotted” narratives.
Fi Haqiqat al-'Ishq (On the Reality of Love) treatise also known as Munis ol-Oshaq (Companion of Lovers) is one of Suhrawardi’s distinguished and valuable Persian writings in the field of narrative. In this work, he describes the reality of life and the beginning and destination of existence from his own philosophical-mystical view.
This treatise—which is an interpretation of the Qur’anic story of the Prophet Yusuf (Joseph) and based on Suhrawardi’s illuminationist view—is presented as an independent narrative more detailed than his other narrative-based writings and with a more elaborate plot. Unlike other dialogic narratives, Fi Haqiqat al-'Ishq is an action-based one that has been considered one of the most elaborate and structured narratives of Suhrawardi.
The story begins with the first step of creation, which is the creation of the intellect by Noor ol Anvar (Light of Lights). From the outset, the intellect is endowed with three features: “beauty”, “love” and “sorrow”; all three are brothers and from the same origin. However, despite the devotion of “love” and “sorrow” to “beauty”, who is the eldest brother, “beauty” inhabits Joseph’s body, reaches the peak of independence and autonomy, and spurns the brothers. Yearning for reunion with “beauty”, the two brothers set out on a journey of austerity so that in companion with Jacob and Zulaikha they could set the ground for reaching their goal.
Examining the structure and plot of this narrative based on structuralist theories reveals multifaceted dimensions of its hidden semantic layers regarding Suhrawardi’s illuminationist doctrine. Since Fi Haqiqat al-'Ishq is centered on the binary oppositions between the “material” and “spirit” as well as “light” and “darkness”, the actantial model proposed by Algirdas J. Greimas (1917- 1992), the famous French semiotician, was applied to achieve a kind of detailed analysis of the narrative. The model is built on binary oppositions by which different structural elements of a narrative, including the plot and the characters in both deep and surface levels, are analyzed.
In Suhrawardi’s illuminationist philosophy, which emphasizes on the originality of “light”, there is a basic binary opposition between “light” and “darkness” and consequently between “heaven” and “earth”, “abstract” and “material” as well as “ignorance” and “knowledge”. In Fi Haqiqat al-'Ishq, which briefly reviews the great event of creation alongside the spiritual journey of soul to the source of life in two parts, this thinking system dominates; a manifestation of which is the binary opposition between “beauty” and “love”. As it continues, the independence of “beauty” and its separation from “love” kindle the “love’s” passion for reunion, which turns him into a traveler (Salik) in the second half of the story.
Studying the actions and the arrangement of the narrative actors, based on the actantial model, proves that the main action in the first half of the story is “creation” which has been performed by different actors throughout successive stages. The result of this action is the creation of the heavens and the earth as well as endowing the earth and earthly creatures with the grace of creation. The main action in the second half of the narrative is the “spiritual journey”; which is known as a way for the earth inhabitants to return to the spiritual and heavenly origin of life. In this regard, the transformation of the actors both on the side of the earth and the heaven (transformation of “beauty”, “love” and “sorrow” to the earthly characters of Joseph, Zulaikha and Jacob) displays the extension of the great event of “creation” in both heavenly and earthly realms (both deep and surface levels).
The contrasting plot of this narrative demonstrates the confrontation of the two main substances of “light” and “darkness” (spirit and material) and briefly explains the descending arc of life (the extension of the grace of creation from Light of Lights that resulted in the creation of the heavens and the earth) and the ascending arc (spiritual journey of human being to reconnect to the source of light). This structure adjusts to theory of opposition and actantial model of Greimas. Examination of this narrative based on the mentioned model shows that the two basic actants (“beauty” and “love”) in deep level accompanied with the two actors in the surface level (Joseph and Zulaikha) are the different manifestations of the light and darkness who have been integrated in the process of the creation. Considering the existing opposition in the deep structure of the story, which causes the separation between the brothers, the most important sequence in this narrative appears to be disjunctive.
Fi Haqiqat al-'Ishq is a brief literary and artistic expression of the author’s philosophical mindset. In this work, Suhrawardi briefly reviews the great event of the creation and the origin of the life to initially remind the reader of the spiritual history of the world and to show another dimension of the truth in the second half of the narrative; the fact that we, human beings, are prisoners in the dark well of the mundane world and the only way of liberation and reconnection to the source of “Light of Lights” is awareness and setting out on a journey of austerity. In this story, “love” is the actant who firstly made this hard journey but in fact the actors of this action (spiritual journey) are all devoted travelers who have stepped on this path to reach the eternal truth and “Light of Lights”.
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