Investigating the Concept of Life Satisfaction in Rumi's Masnavi Using Positive ‎Psychology

In the positivist psychology, the general concept of ‘life satisfaction’ is the feedback of how a person perceives and evaluates all the situations of his life. This concept is presented in Rumi's Masnavi in a virtuous, fixed, and general way and encompasses all situations in human life. According to Rumi, complete satisfaction with life in spite of unfavorable situations can be achieved by a correct cognitive assessment of the world, belief, and adherence to the divine worldview of Islam and the implementation of specific strategies. This study, citing Rumi's mysticism, extracts the principles of life satisfaction from Rumi's Masnavi and links it with the foundations of positivist psychology. Spiritual and divine values in Rumi's mystical journey are the basis of human mental health and life satisfaction. Based on this research, it seems to be clear that Rumi considers satisfaction as a divine emotion obtained by teaching and creating compatible beliefs and acting based on divine values. Our aim in this study is to examine this general concept and its related components in Rumi's thoughts using the teachings of positivist psychology. The method of this research is descriptive-analytical based on the documentary method and the content analysis of Rumi's Masnavi. The results of this study show that life satisfaction is one of the transcendent concepts of Islamic civilization and mysticism. This notion is presented as a general and fixed educational concept in Rumi's Masnavi by promoting beliefs and skills of controlling negative emotions, increasing positive emotions in the form of anecdotes, sermons, and allegories as well as explaining concepts such as satisfaction with destinies, patience, gratitude, and contentment.