Fading in Fading and Finitude in Finitude:‎ Linguistic Criticism of the Network of ‘Fading, Finitude, and Inexistence ‎‎(Nonentity)’ in Attar’s (Sonnets)‎

Paying attention to the mystical language of Attar on the one hand and the study of the language of sonnets from the perspective of modern linguistic perspectives on the other hand could reveal the need for further research. The present study focuses on the frequency of using the concepts of ‘fading’, ‘finitude’, ‘inexistence’, and ‘existence’ in Attar’s sonnets. The concept of finitude in Attar’s sonnet is expressed by different structures, words, phrases, sentences, and forms so much that the main and major topic of his sonnet is apparently ‘finitude’ -- aconcept which in fact had occupied his mind and diction and resulted in applying various verbal and semantic elements in this network. This network has not been linguistically examined yet. Therefore, this study has examined it in Attar’s sonnets through documentary and library research, and based on general and structural linguistics. Accompanying and evoking concepts, Attar devoted many themes, symbols, allusions, and expressions to the frequent topic of a mystic (seeker) and lover’s fading and finitude. Identifying such cases via structural linguistics can offer the readers a new insight.  Based on the results of this study, not only contrasting and antonymy, but also semantic evoking, synonymy, and nominal collocation (noun+ noun/ noun+ adjective, etc.) seem to influence Attar’s diction and discourse. However, he never ignored using the phonetic association of /f/ to express finitude. Besides, in this conceptual network, he referred a lot to the heroes of religious and mystical ‘finitude’ and ‘death seekers’ such as prophet John (AS), Imam Hussein (AS), Idris (AS), and Hussein Mansour. The results showed that the notion of ‘finitude’, ‘poverty’, and ‘existence’ occupied Attar’s mind so much that his sonnets’ diction is mainly devoted to express and illustrate numerous linguistic elements and images in this regard. Moreover, the structure and form of most of his sonnets depend on such systematic structural techniques.