The Metaphoric and Metonymic Poles of Language in Sharh al-shathiyyat of Rouzbahan Bagali; A Study Based on the Theory of Roman Jakobson

Prose books of Sufi have two types of expression: books with defeated expression style (kalām-e Maqlub) that express the states of mystic in the world of ecstasy, and books with a rich expression style (kalām-e motamakken) that express the principles of Sufism. Using analytical-descriptive method and based on Roman Jakobson's theory of the metaphoric and poles of language, the present article wants to examine Rouzbahan Bagali's ecstatic sayings (shathiyyat). Accepting Saussure's statement about paradigmatic and syntagmatic axes, Jakobson argues that metonymy is linked to the syntagmatic axis and metaphor is based on paradigmatic relations. Jakobson believes that prose has a metonymic nature but the role of poetry is metaphorical. The main question of the present research is which figures of speech has Rouzbahan, in Sharh al-shathiyyat, used the most? The results show that he employs both metaphoric and metonymic poles of language in his work. When he describes God and the Rashidun Caliphs, his way of expression has a metonymic nature, and when he describes the shathiyyat of mystics, his his style of expression is metaphorical.