Synesthesia in Nahj al-Balagha

Synesthesia as a literary device is categorized under the category of eloquence. In this regard, the intermingling of one of the senses with other sensory affairs, through the imagination and creation of new lexical combinations, helps the speaker to develop linguistic features. Subsequently, the meaning becomes tangible and the audience can understand better. This study, relying on the descriptive-analytic method, after expressing the concept of synesthesia and taking a brief look at its history, is going to investigate this literary device in Imam Ali's words. Initially, all available samples of the five senses in Nahj al-Balagha were identified. Then, in the case of any intermingling of senses, their semantic implications were investigated to indicate manifestations of the literary beauties of the Imam's words. The findings of the study show that in Imam Ali's words, rhetorical devices such as simile, metaphor, permutation, and allusion, which have a considerable scope, which has led to the creation of exquisite and beautiful imagery, which ultimately gives a better understanding of meaning for audience. According to the findings, the visual sense is more applicable than other senses, and the fusion of one of the senses with an abstract concept is considerable.