An Overview of Nahj al-Balaghah From the Perspective of Speech Acts

The present study aims at investigating the linguistic theory of speech acts in Nahj al-Balaghah. It seeks to see whether the theory of speech act can be applied for a better understanding of an ancient religious text like Nahj al-Balaghah or not. We will try to show that how speech acts have been used in Nahj al-Balaghah. As it will be shown, in some sermons the relationship between locutionary act and illocutionary act is not as expected and only by considering the context of the situation in which the sermon was presented the illocutionary meaning and the real intension can be inferred. Thus, it can be concluded that speech act analysis can be useful in various reading of Nahj al-Balaghah and can open new gates in text interpretation. Based on the findings of the article, in Nahj al-Balaghah, the declarative, expressive and directive acts have been used to express the religious teachings. Whenever it is needed to introduce the religious beliefs, declarative acts have been used, and in situations where inviting the believers to performing religious duties is needed the directive acts are used and in spiritual and mystical situations the expressive acts have been used.