Document Type : Original Article

Authors

• fatemeh Karimi ¹
• Rashid Kakavand ²
• fatemeh mohseni ²
• maryam moradi ²

¹ Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Persian Language and Literature, ka. C,. Islamic Azad University, Karaj, Iran.

² Assistant Professor, Department of Persian Language and Literature, ka. C,. Islamic Azad University, Karaj, Iran.

Abstract

The introduction to ‘Fīhi Mā Fīhi’ possesses a structure in which language transcends its merely descriptive function and becomes a medium for the creation of meaning and the lived experience of truth. The central question of this study is how such a mode of expression can be explained within a philosophical framework rather than merely through rhetorical or literary analysis. This research, therefore, analyzes Rumi’s mystical prose in the introduction to ‘Fīhi Mā Fīhi’ based on Benedetto Croce’s philosophical aesthetic theory of “intuition-expression.” According to this theory, a work of art results from the inseparable unity of intuition and expression: intuition as the immediate and living perception of truth, and expression as the necessary and spontaneous embodiment of that perception in a sensory-symbolic form. This theoretical framework allows the linguistic and rhetorical elements of the text to be understood not as decorative devices but as necessary manifestations of intuitive expression. The research method is descriptive analytical and is based on qualitative analysis of selected narrative, allegorical, and metaphorical passages from the introduction to ‘Fīhi Mā Fīhi’. In this approach, stylistic and rhetorical features such as deviation from conventional norms, the inner musicality of language, and imagery are examined in direct relation to the moment of mystical perception and the process of artistic expression.  The findings indicate that in the introduction to ‘Fīhi Mā Fīhi’, Rumi immediately embodies the moment of mystical intuition in language, so that rhetorical elements function not merely as vehicles for conveying meaning but as the very form through which meaning itself is realized. Linguistic deviations enable a break from purely conceptual logic, while the musicality of the prose strengthens the emotional and intuitive unity of the text. Thus, beauty in this prose is not an end in itself; rather, it serves as a means of opening a horizon of knowledge and facilitating the inner transformation of the reader.

Keywords

• Aesthetics
• Intuition
• Expression
• Croce
• Rumi