Analysis of the Manifestations of Self-Actualized Personality in Saadi's Bustan and Gulistan with a Comparative Approach to Carl Rogers's Theory

In the second half of the twentieth century, the school of "humanism" emerged and the effort to raise the level of human self-awareness and discover the capabilities of modern human beings became the goal of this school. One of the proponents and theorists of this school was Carl Rogers. He chose characteristics for people on the path of growth and prosperity. Among the sophisticated and great men of Persian literature, Saadi has faced various social problems during his lifetime. In the form of anecdotes and fictional characters, he introduces strategies for man to achieve salvation. In this study, the characters of Saadi's Bustan and Golestan (his two important and valuable works) have been studied according to Rogers's model of self-fulfilling human being and have been adapted according to his view points. In this study, the authors have reviewed the characters of Gulistan and Bustan anecdotes from the perspective of humanistic psychology based on Rogers’s self-actualization model. The results of studies show that in these two valuable educational works, which are the result of Saadi's psychic and spiritual journey, personalities from various walks of life, including scholar, mystic, eremite, lord, and the wife of a mendicant man, have played influential roles. By accepting the difficulties of life, creativity, and free will in making decisions according to Rogers’s theory, they have been able to achieve self-awareness and human perfection.