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Transcendental Imagination from Interpretation to Reality: A Review and An Introduction of the Book “The Transcendental Imagery”

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Associate Professor of Persian Language and Literature, Faculty of Human Sciences, Birjand University, Birjand, Iran.

10.22080/lpr.2026.30499.1166

Abstract

The connection between philosophy and poetry has long been a challenging and seemingly contradictory topic in the field of interdisciplinary studies. The present study, with an analytical-critical approach, seeks to examine this symmetry in the work of The Transcendental Imagery by Dr. Mahmoud Fotohi; a work that claims a Sadrian reading of Saib Tabrizi's poetry based on the foundations of Mulla Sadra's transcendental wisdom. In the present research, the structure, content, and argumentation of the book were systematically analyzed to clarify whether the author has been able to correctly prove the claim of the connection between Sadra'i philosophy and Indian-style poetry. The results show that the forms of transcendental imagery, by utilizing the fundamental concepts of Sadra'i wisdom such as essential movement, the originality of existence, doubt, love, and beauty, have presented a new model in the reading of Safavid poetry; a model that goes beyond the rhetorical and metaphorical level and leads to a philosophical and metaphysical explanation of the forms of imagination. Although in some positions, the limited selection of verses and the philosophical interpretation have damaged the theoretical coherence of the work, it can be considered a new step towards reconciling philosophy and poetry and redefining the theoretical and aesthetic foundations of Persian poetry.

Keywords

References
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Literary-philosophical researches
Volume 4, Issue 1 - Serial Number 7
May 2026
Pages 211-230
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