A Comparative Study of the roles of birds in Khosrow and Shirin, Leili and Majnoun

Symbols are part of the culture of a nation and in order to better understand the myths and literature of that nation, we have to realize the meanings these symbols convey. Symbol, sign, is an indication having a meaning beyond what it signifies. Symbols can be observed in all forms of nature cases in point are animals, human beings, plants, things, etc. This paper tries to answer the question that what the significations of the names of birds are in Khosrow and Shirin, and in Leili and Majnoun? How have each group of the birds been presented in these two works considering their symbolic meanings? And how to find if there is a relationship existing between their symbolic meanings? To find answers for the questions raised, first, these two works have been studied in detail, next the symbolic meanings behind the words and the figurative meanings extant in these two works have been demonstrated, then meanings with lyrical themes have been determined, and in the end, the comparison between the symbols and their meanings have been presented in Fig.