Diversity of Colloquial Sayings in Nezami‘s Leili va Majnoun

Nezami, the well-know sixth century poet, is a unique master of imagery in Persian literature. His love of imagery and colloquial language has led him to various proverbs and metonymies. His mastery of the theoretical and practical wisdom and good command of different branches of knowledge has caused this unique variety of his imagery.Figurative language, as one essential feature in Nezami’s works, has a key role in expressing his thoughts and ideas. His frequent use of a variety of colloquial metonymies, make him the unrivalled master of colloquial proverbs. His frequent use of proverbs in Leili  ya Majnoun  is a product of his life style and his mastery of the public culture of his era. He used these proverbs to affect the reader and to approach the colloquial language with all its social, moral, educational and cultural issues. The purpose of this study is to investigate the diversity of colloquial sayings in Leily va Majnoun.