‘Alī Tājdīnī. Farhang-e nemād-hā va nešāne-hā dar andīše-ye Mowlānā. Tehrān, Sorūš, 1383/2004, xii + 888 p.
Texte intégral
1This reference work of “symbols and signs” in the poetry of Mowlānā Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī contains over three hundred entries of widely varying length, alphabetically arranged. It is preceded by an introduction (pp. 1-8), and followed by a brief bibliography of 36 sources (pp. 887-88). Though described as a “dictionary” (farhang), it is neither particularly exhaustive, nor completely systematic. The headwords consist of nouns and proper names, many of which can be conceptually grouped as pertaining to flora and fauna; mythical creatures and literary figures; social characters and types; prophets and historical figures; nature, natural phenomena and the elements of the physical world; geography and topography; time and the seasons; religious occasions and symbols; human features; manmade objects; abstract concepts, and so on. Entries typically consist of a brief definition of the headword and a sentence or more explaining metaphorical and symbolic usages, amply illustrated by quotations (predominantly from the Maṯnavī, but drawing occasionally upon the Dīvān or the prose sources of Rūmī and Šams Tabrīzī), usually given at enough length to establish context. In the absence of any index or system of cross-references, readers may find that the headwords are not always the most intuitive or satisfactory choices of rubric: the pairs maġz/qešr and ṣūrat/ma‘nī lack their own entries, coming instead under the headword ‘Pūst’; the word qīyāmat does not appear as a separate entry, but occurs as a subheading under the entry for ‘Rūz’ (pp. 483-4).
2Rūmī has often been accused of presenting his teachings unsystematically, or in a dynamic and open-ended way that makes encapsulation and categorization difficult. This is neither the first nor the only work to attempt some systemization of Rūmī’s thought (see, e.g., Karīm Zamānī’s topical Maṯnavī commentary, Mīnāgar-e ‘ešq [Tehrān, Našr-e Ney, 1382/2003]), but approaching the task through symbols and metaphors seems methodologically promising, as it gives refreshing attention to the poet’s language and its literary and symbolic dimensions, making for a sometimes helpful resource.
Pour citer cet article
Référence électronique
Franklin Lewis, « ‘Alī Tājdīnī. Farhang-e nemād-hā va nešāne-hā dar andīše-ye Mowlānā. Tehrān, Sorūš, 1383/2004, xii + 888 p. », Abstracta Iranica [En ligne], Volume 28 | 2007, document 355, mis en ligne le 18 septembre 2007, consulté le 25 avril 2025. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/abstractairanica/21201 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/abstractairanica.21201
Haut de pageDroits d’auteur
Le texte seul est utilisable sous licence CC BY-SA 4.0. Les autres éléments (illustrations, fichiers annexes importés) sont « Tous droits réservés », sauf mention contraire.
Haut de page