The Narcissism in Ahmad al-sāfi al-Najaf's Poetry

The psychological concept of self-fascination, aka narcissism, is a highly vivid display in the poems of Ahmad al-Sāfi al-Najafi. The spread of this concept in Sāfi’s poems is due to the sufferings in his life, especially during childhood. This article attempts to provide a vivid definition of narcissism while evaluating its emerging factors in al-Sāfi al-Najafi’s character and literary works, and yet examining this concept in multiple layers in his poetry. Focusing on descriptive-analytical approach, authors of this research have thoroughly approached four different layers of narcissism concept in his poetry and have studied relevant samples to each one. These four layers are respectively labeled as: Egoism or individual narcissism, Narcissism against ordinary folks, Narcissism against other poets, and Narcissism against critics. The purpose of this category has been to provide a psychological framework for analyzing the intensity of the reaction of Sāfi’s egotistical character to several levels of heterogeneity with the outside world. Accordingly, the poet’s self-fascination increases parallel to the audience’s disagreement surge.