A new look at the metaphors of ontology in the Safavid era based on Dehdar Shirazi's letters and Faiz Kashani's epistemology.

"Existence" and "being" are fundamental concepts in Islamic philosophy and mysticism. These concepts have been extensively addressed in the history of Persian literature and thought in many mystical and philosophical works. This includes the works of the Safavid period, which are no exception. In particular, Rasā’el-e Dehdār and Osul al-maʿāref, representing the Iranian and Shia currents of thought in the Safavid period respectively, delve into the important cognitive concepts of God, existence, and being. These concepts are depicted through conceptual metaphors within these two works. This study adopts a descriptive-analytical approach to examine the prominent existential metaphors present in Rasā’el-e Dehdār and Osul al-maʿāref, and explores their connection to the social and intellectual discourse of the Safavid period. The central hypothesis of this article posits that ideas of graded unity, numerical unity (Oneness), and existential unity have emerged and manifested themselves in the form of metaphors such as the sun, the spot, and the sea. By examining and comparing these metaphoric images and their clusters, we aim to shed light on the shared intellectual foundations of these three schools of thought, which reflect the ideas of Iranian Shia Sufism.