A Hermeneutic Analysis of the Storyof ‘thePiousand the King’ (from the Second Chapterof Golestan) based on Qur’anic Concepts

In some anecdotes, Saadi himself has clarified the existence of a different level of meaning by telling stories and interpreting them. However, there are also anecdotes that can be considered to have another level of possible meaning, which can be found via interpretation. The story of "the Pious and the King" from the second chapter of Saadi's Golestan has signs of such stories in terms of characters, speeches, actions and events. This descriptive-analytical research concerned answering the questions of the meaning of the unusual actions of the characters and how the understanding of the hidden meaning becomes possible through the works having the same horizon of expectation. In this study, the hermeneutics and specifically the "hermeneutic cycle" as well as the theory of intertextuality were used. In other words, through the grid of Qur’anic signs and texts that overlap with Saadi's "mental horizon" and has emphasized common concepts through simile or description, as well as Saadi's own interpretations of other stories, another level of meaning of the text was specified. The findings show that at its deeper level, this story suggests the relationship between man and the devil, who seeks to mislead humans with various tricks. Saadi's anecdote seems to be an extension of ayah 64 of Surah Al-Isra as is the case with the order of the ayah.