توضیحات

This thesis examines the four motifs of love, man, nature and silence in the works of Rumi and Whitman. The motifs were chosen from among the most frequent ones in the works of the two poets which somehow determine their mindset and worldview. Each motif will be investigated in a separate entry, which is itself subcategorized for a detailed examination of the underlying themes.

     Regarding the fact that a genuine comparative work investigates the similarities as well as the differences, this research aims at both of them equally for a complete and thorough understanding of the two poets who had great influences on their cultures. Approaching the two poets not from the French school’s angle, to avoid its positivistic rules, but from the American school’s side which is more resilient and speaks simply of literature, the thesis is after applying thematology on the method of rapproachement.

     Building on the work of the comparatist Jost who, basing his theories on the German system of thematology, considers what is normally known as theme in the Anglo-Saxon world as being motif and vice versa, and investigating some other comparatists’ notions like Aldridge, Prawer and Wiesstein on thematology, the thesis argues that in spite of numerous thematic similarities between the two, there are differences which are the result of the poets cultural, geographical, political background not to mention the huge time gap between them.

Keywords: Rumi, Whitman, American School, Thematology, Rapproachement

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A Comparative Study of the Concepts of Love, Man, Nature and Silence in Rumi’s and Whitman’s Poetry

TABLE OF CONTENTS

۱                                                            Chapter One: Introduction

۲                                                          ۱٫۱٫ Background of the Study

۵                                                   ۱٫۲٫ The Significance of the Study

۷                               ۱٫۳٫ The Objective and the Scope of the Study

۸                                                                                                       ۱٫۴٫ Review of Literature

۱۳                      ۱٫۵٫ The Theoretical Framework and Methodology

Chapter Two:The Investigation of the Four Motifs and Their Themes in Jalaluddin Rumi                                                                               ۲۲

       ۲٫۱٫ Love                                                                                  ۲۵

       ۲٫۱٫۱٫ Love is indescribable                                                        ۲۵

       ۲٫۱٫۲٫ Love is the Cause of the Universe                                   ۲۸

       ۲٫۱٫۳٫ Religion of Love                                                             ۳۱

       ۲٫۱٫۴٫ Love and Wisdom                                                            ۳۲

       ۲٫۱٫۴ Beauty is in the Eyes of the Lover                                  ۳۷

       ۲٫۲٫ Man                                                                                    ۳۹

2. ۲٫۱٫ Man as a Caliph on Earth                                               ۴۰

         ۲٫۲٫۲٫ Self-awareness as the Biggest Quality of Man               ۴۲

       ۲٫۲٫۳ Self-awareness is the Key to Knowing the World           ۴۳

       ۲٫۲٫۴٫ Man’s Microcosmic Appearance (Zahir) and His

       Macrocosmic Essence (Batin)                                                 ۴۵

       ۲٫۵٫ The Human’s Rankings                                                    ۴۷

       ۲٫۳ Nature                                                                                 ۵۲

       ۲٫۳٫۱٫ The Use of Natural Imageries by Rumi                         ۵۲

       ۲٫۳٫۲٫ The Reason that Nature Came into Being                     ۵۳

        ۲٫۳٫۳٫ The Entire Nature Prays for the Beloved                       ۵۴

۲٫۳٫۴٫ Oneness of Being (Vahdat al-Vojoud)                           ۵۶                                                                                                        ۵۷                                ۲٫۴٫ Silence

Chapter Three: The Four Motifs and Their Themes in Walt

       Whitman                                                                                   ۶۳

      ۳٫۱٫Love                                                                                  ۶۵

       ۳٫۱٫۱ Amative love and adhesive love                                    ۶۷

       ۳٫۱٫۲ Love as the unifier of all religions and creeds                 ۷۲

      ۳٫۱٫۳ Love beyond good and evil                                               ۷۵

       ۳٫۱٫۴ Love the leveler                                                               ۷۷

       ۳٫۲٫ Man                                                                                     ۷۹

       ۳٫۲٫۱٫ Celebrating the Divine self                                              ۸۰

         ۳٫۲٫۲٫ Whitman’s Ideal Man                                                     ۸۳

         ۳٫۲٫۳٫ Self-reliance                                                                ۸۴

         ۳٫۳٫ Nature                                                                               ۸۶

         ۳٫۳٫ ۱٫ Transcendentalism                                                        ۸۸

         ۳٫۳٫۲ Unity                                                                              ۸۹

         ۳٫۴٫ Silence                                                                              ۹۰

       ۳٫۴٫۱٫ Whitman’s silent art                                                      ۹۳

         ۳٫۴٫۲٫ Whitman’s intuitive silence                                          ۹۴

         ۳٫۴٫۳ Death                                                                               ۹۸

 Chapter Four: Conclusion: Affinities/Similarities and Differences

                                                                                                         ۱۰۲

     Bibliography:                                                                           ۱۱۰

CHAPTER ONE

A Comparative Study of the Concepts of Love, Man, Nature and Silence in Rumi’s and Whitman’s Poetry

Introduction

۱٫۱٫ Background of the Study:                                                              

     There have always been some common aspects deeply embedded in the mind of the humans we know today as homo sapiens. The need to love, whether one’s own mate, children, the community, or in a broader term, the nature that they are living in; the need to worship a transcendental being to give them a feeling of hope and optimism even after death, especially the death of the loved ones; the need to admire the old mother nature sometimes to the extent of worshipping it, and when they couldn’t express their true inner feelings to their fellow people whatsoever, the need to stay silent. These often regarded as transcendental concepts are to be found in the oldest oral and written religious scripts of different people across the world. From the Native American shamanistic religion and their love of nature, to the Taoist’s belief in Yang and Yin, to the sufferings and silence of Buddha and finally to different beliefs in the Abrahamic religions, there are similar trends, proclivities and preferences that prove there are some common concepts, usually transcendental, which couldn’t be limited to just one language, culture and nationality. Since the aforementioned concepts are universal, those who want to study and investigate them must be equipped with a tool which suits their global scale, since clinging to only one language, culture and nationality makes them ignore a whole lot of realities, in a way that Max Weber says: “the appeal to national character is generally a confession of ignorance” (qtd. in Prawer, 13). Here is where comparative literature with its inclusive way of looking at the world comes to the fore. Comparative literary study as Prawer puts it, is: “An examination of literary texts (including works of literary theory and criticism) in more than one language, through an investigation of contrast, analogy, provenance or influence; or a study of literary relations and communications between two or more groups that speak different languages” (۸), it is, therefore, the most suitable tool for cross-cultural and cross-linguistic investigations.

     Investigating the concepts of love, man, nature and silence in the two countries of Iran and the United States of America, two poets are chosen who suit our purpose, and they are the Persian Rumi and the American Whitman. Regardless of their geographical, cultural and linguistic differences, there are dazzling thematic similarities, which looked at through the comparative literature’s lens can account for great similarities between the two cultures and countries.

۱٫۱٫۲٫ Rumi’s Life and Poetry

     Mawlana Jalal al-Din Rumi was born in the city of Wakhsh, just a few kilometers north of Balkh in the present day Tajikistan (Emerick, 7). His father Baha’al-Din, was a celebrated scholar who decided to go on a self-imposed exile in 1212, some say because of an inconsistent, rationalist rival scholar called Fakhr al-Din al-Razi and some say because of the imminent attack of the Mongols, or probably both of them. The first stop they made after leaving Balkh was the city of Nishapur, where they met the celebrated writer Farid al-Din Attar, who gave the little Jalal al-Din a copy of his mystical tract, Asrar Nameh, or The Book of Secrets and told his father Baha’al-Din that his son is soon to set fire among the lovers of the world (Zarrin-Kub, 50); however, Lewis regards this story as a myth that is added to Rumi’s biography by Dowlatshah some 200 years after Rumi’s death (Rumi Past and Present 64-65). Receiving an invitation from a Seljuk Sultan named Ala’al-Din Kayqubad, Baha’al-Din’s family was finally settled in Konya, where Sultan al-Ulama, the king of the scholars, could teach his eager students until his death.

     After his father’s death Rumi took on his responsibilities as a respected scholar and gathered around him a host of young followers until the October of 1244 when he met an unknown dervish who changed his view towards life forever. The dervish was Shams al-Din Tabrizi who engaged Rumi in privet discussions called Sohbet for about six month. It was after his friendship with this stranger that he began composing poems and started to dance in the streets of Konya. All the time the two spent together wasn’t more than two years, but the friendship made such an impact on Rumi that had it not for Shams al-Din, he probably could not have come up with such great masterpieces.

     During his life Rumi came up with two major books of poetry and some books of prose. His first book of poetry, Divan, was a 40000 thousand line book of odes, dedicated to the memory of his beloved friend Shams-i Tabrizi. His second and probably his most respected work is a 26000 line book of poetry called Mathnavi or Rhymed Couplets, which was composed after his student’s request, who asked his master to leave a record of his teachings for posterity (Emerick, 17). The student was Husam al-Din Chelepi who recorded his master’s as he dictated his epic collection of poetry. Rumi also has some books of………………

A Comparative Study of the Concepts of Love, Man, Nature and Silence in Rumi’s and Whitman’s Poetry

Aldridge, A. O. Comparative Literature: Matter and Method. Urbana: University of Illinois

       Press, 1969.

Anoushiravani, A. R. “The Necessity of Comparative Literature in Iran”, Journal of Comparative Literature. 1. 1 (2010): 7-17.

Arasteh, A. R. Rumi the Persian, the Sufi. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 2008……………………………………….

A Comparative Study of the Concepts of Love, Man, Nature and Silence in Rumi’s and Whitman’s Poetry