Horses changing riders: the prehistory of two allegories of mystical union in Šihāb al-Dīn Yaḥyā Suhrawardī and Ǧalāl al-Dīn Rūmī

Gösken, Urs (2018). Horses changing riders: the prehistory of two allegories of mystical union in Šihāb al-Dīn Yaḥyā Suhrawardī and Ǧalāl al-Dīn Rūmī. International journal of Persian literature, 3(1), pp. 91-109. Pennsylvania State University Press 10.5325/intejperslite.3.1.0091

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The description of the mystical union, whether in Islam or other religions, has often been construed as defying expression by means of language. The reason given is that language, by its very nature, is represen- tational and conceptual, whereas mystical union by its very nature is a hu- man status eluding both representation and conceptualization. On the other hand, given that mystical union is considered the ultimate goal of humanity, dealing with it in religious literature also becomes inevitable, which in turn is reliant on the help of language.One way out of this seeming dilemma seems to be the use of allegorical speech.It is the meaning and the history of two allegorical expressions in Islamic philosophical and mystical literature, Arabic and Persian alike, that we will discuss in this article.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	06 Faculty of Humanities > Department of Art and Cultural Studies > Institut für Studien zum Nahen Osten und zu muslimischen Gesellschaften
UniBE Contributor:	Gösken, Urs
Subjects:	200 Religion > 290 Other religions
ISSN:	2376-5755
Publisher:	Pennsylvania State University Press
Language:	English
Submitter:	Urs Gösken
Date Deposited:	08 Jun 2020 11:49
Last Modified:	05 Dec 2022 15:38
Publisher DOI:	10.5325/intejperslite.3.1.0091
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/143236